Scott Cochrane was happily building houses in Denver when he answered the call to help out at the family business, Cochrane Supply & Engineering, a Michigan-based distributor of building automation controls.

Armed with a business degree and a construction background, Cochrane jumped into the field, studying HVAC at a local community college; working with his father, company co-founder Don Cochrane Sr., for a few years; and becoming president in 2000. Cochrane Supply remains in the family. Don Cochrane Jr., Scott Cochrane’s brother, is the CFO.

The company has been on a growth trajectory, opening a location in Denver last year, then another in Dallas after acquiring a company there, and then a branch in Columbus, Ohio, early this year. Cochrane Supply now has locations in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Colorado, and Texas. About 35% of the company's revenue, according to Cochrane, comes from software sales and servicing, and between 80% and 90% of that involves software used in HVAC. Such software, he said, often integrates several building systems.

Cochrane is also the president of Canada Controls, a distributor in Mississauga, Ontario, and was recently appointed to the Continental Automated Buildings Association (CABA) board of directors.

Earlier this spring, Cochrane took a break from preparing for Controls-Con 2023, Cochrane Supply's biennial smart building controls conference, which was held in April in Detroit, to talk to Distribution Trends about his career and his company. Here, edited for length and clarity, is the conversation.

DT: I understand you’ve had quite a bit of growth in the past couple of years. Tell me a little bit about that.

Cochrane: We have found that there’s a lot of opportunity in the building automation industry in territories that we weren’t serving.

In the old days, building automation was driven by single manufacturers — a company would come in and do a project. Well, today, building automation is a mix of different products from different manufacturers, and then software layered on top. And while it’s become easier in some ways, it’s become complicated in others.

At Cochrane Supply, we focus on support and training for contractors. So we’re really being brought in by the local contractors, by some of our manufacturers, to help them expand their businesses with these products that we represent.

DT: What motivated you to work in distribution, and did you at some point consider another career path?

Cochrane: Yeah, my story is, I was out and they sucked me back in.

DT: I’ve heard that one before.

Cochrane: Graduated from college, and I was actually framing houses in Denver, Colorado.

And I love construction. I always have loved construction and building things and being involved in the process, and so when I was called back to come help my family, it was a really good fit for me, both based on the fact that I had been educated with a business education, and that ... I really liked that industry. I was happy to get in a place where I could serve the contracting industry, as I came from it. And I can truly appreciate some of the challenges that contractors have to go through.

I’ve loved it ever since I got into it. And I really love the business because of the technology side of it. I love the mix of technology with construction.

DT: You earned a business degree from Eastern Michigan University and studied HVAC at Macomb Community College. No. 1, how did that prepare you for what you’re doing now? And, secondly, you said you studied marketing?

Cochrane: I was in their business school, and I did receive a bachelor’s of science in business from Eastern Michigan with a marketing major.

The business school at Eastern Michigan really taught me the vocabulary I needed to understand how to run a business, how to be a business person. It gave me the base business knowledge I needed to kind of, I would say, be dangerous in the business world. (Chuckles.)

As I entered into Cochrane Supply, I was moving from the framing or the carpentry trades and now I was starting to serve the HVAC trades. As a contractor, I learned it’s important to know what you’re talking about. And as such, I went to Macomb Community College for their trade program on HVAC, which was wonderful.

I was maybe in my mid-20s, and I was in there with 17-year-olds, but it was great, and I learned the basic knowledge of what an HVAC technician would learn. I did that so that I could better serve my customers, who are primarily HVAC technicians.

DT: Tell me a little more about the history. Why did your dad start the company? Where was the first location?

Cochrane: So my dad worked at Honeywell back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, and Honeywell transferred him to Detroit. At that time, if you wanted Honeywell in a building, you called Honeywell and Honeywell showed up in a truck and put it in your building.

So he was there when essentially Honeywell decided that they were going to start working with independent mechanicals, which essentially opened up the opportunity for a distributor to start selling to independent mechanicals in these towns.

So my dad left Honeywell with another Honeywell gentleman named Cal Odom. Together they started Cochrane Supply in 1967. I know of at least three other distribution companies that were started by people who worked at Honeywell.

DT: So how have you and the folks at Cochrane been able to weather all the turmoil of recent years, with the pandemic, supply chain problems, inflation, all the changes in the HVAC industry? How have you been able to stay on top of those things?

Cochrane: Well, I like to say we never took a day off during COVID. Construction industry didn’t stop and we didn’t stop either. And I’m thankful that, as an industry, we were able to continue to operate throughout. We actually did better in some ways. So we feel fortunate that we were able to keep working the whole time.

Of course, we’ve all had some economic changes in the business, and I feel like we’ve been able to change our business to meet those economic challenges. ... We think there’s more coming, and we’re ready to change in the future as well to get ready for what’s coming next.

DT: What do you think is coming next?

Cochrane: Well, obviously, the pandemic did damage to (the market for) large commercial buildings, especially ones that are primarily for office use. There will probably be a bit of a downturn in that construction space coming up here.

Obviously, places are empty now. In our industry, of course, there’s a ripple effect, so I think there will be some more changes with our industry because of that. I think these large commercial office buildings have a ways to go before they’re back to, I would say, being healthy from a business perspective.

But I also think there’re more opportunities than ever, because of new technology, new services, new capabilities. As things have gotten harder, ingenuity has increased, and innovation. We’ve seen more innovation in the last couple years than we’ve seen in quite a while.

DT: So what was the best business advice you’ve ever received?

Cochrane: I would say it came from my father. And it was kind of like the one thing he told me: “No matter what, you’ve got to do this,” which is simple: “As a distributor, we have to do what we say we’re going to do. Do what you say you’re going to do.”

It may seem simple. But believe it or not, it’s the key to a good relationship in the construction industry, in my eyes, and I use it all the time with our new people.

DT: What was the worst business advice you’ve ever received?

Cochrane: “When things go bad, cut your arm off. It will grow back.”

In reference to when your business is going bad, make huge cuts to your business, and then let it grow back. My response back is, no, your arm does not grow back. So that was bad advice.

DT: Interesting. Did somebody literally use that arm metaphor?

Cochrane: Yes. ...

DT: So who are some of your non-HVACR business role models or heroes? And tell me a little bit about why you picked who you did.

Cochrane: I think my favorite business role model is Warren Buffett. I liken myself to a Warren Buffett and the concept of “slow and steady wins the race.”

You know, I’ve watched and studied and read a lot about Warren and how he approaches the business world. Never in a big hurry. Takes his time. When he invests in something, he doesn’t just jump in and jump out. He goes the distance. He makes a long-term decision.

As you watch everybody racing around him, if you watch, his wealth, he’s just growing and growing and growing. (Chuckles). He’s doing something right. I would like to have people think of me like him down the road someday if I were successful.

DT: Well, it sounds like you are successful, so ...

Cochrane: Getting there. Trying.

DT: … we’ll say you’re the Warren Buffett of building controls distribution.

Cochrane: Like it. ... My competitors would hate to hear that.