It’s official … BC Group International’s Ken O’Day retired after 31 years supporting one of the leading providers of test and measurement equipment for the worldwide technical services marketplace.
However, O’Day began to fine tune his negotiation skills before BC Group was even founded.
“My first paying gig was when I was 4 years old and was asked to be the ring bearer for my uncle’s wedding. It was supposed to be a volunteer job, but I kept threatening to throw the pillow with the ring,” O’Day shares. “My dad said I would get a dollar if I delivered the ring without incident. I did my duty and immediately requested my pay while still on the altar. The twin 5-year-old flower girls immediately negotiated a dollar each with their dad, starting off my career as a labor leader and negotiator.”
After high school, O’Day attended and graduated from University of Missouri in 1969 with a degree in business administration. He went to work at a local branch of the St. Louis YMCA where he earned certification as a cardiac rehab tech.
“As a result of that experience, I was offered a sales position with a locally owned medical company, selling ECGs, Holter monitors, stress test equipment and lab equipment,” he says.
After seven years, he started a medical distribution company in the St. Louis area in 1981. “Out of necessity, I learned how to calibrate and repair the items that I was selling as support for my customers. I had my own business from 1981 until 1995,” he says.
When he saw an ad that said the family-owned BC Group was looking for a salesman to sell biomedical test equipment and calibration services, O’Day applied.
“I started working for BC Group as their first salesman, allowing the owner to focus on the business and the expansion of the depot and onsite calibration business,” he recalls.
BC Group was originally a Bio-Tek dealer and Owner Bill Collier decided he wanted the business to be a one-stop shop for biomeds and, eventually, go worldwide.
At the time, BC Group only sold used test equipment and distributed other companies’ products but continued to add products to enhance its offerings, O’Day says.
“Around 2002 we decided BC Group would start offering test equipment under our own name,” he says. “Several test equipment manufacturers agreed to provide their products for us, giving birth to the green labeled BC Biomedical product line. This worked for several years, but many of those companies were bought out or merged, leaving BC without a reliable source for our BC product line.”
A chance meeting between Bill Collier and the owner of a local engineering company turned out to be the salvation for the BC Biomedical product line.
Mel Roche, the owner of the family-owned engineering company (JPC Controls) provided BC with the design and manufacturing capability for BC Biomedical devices from that point on.
Fast-forward about 20 years and O’Day was ready to retire. However, the COVID-19 pandemic changed lots of plans that year.
“It was not a good time to hire a replacement and do training. As it turned out, we hired Tim Welby, my replacement as vice president of sales and marketing, in 2021. I spent several months getting things transitioned. I was now working part time, attending tradeshows and working on small projects for the company. It has finally got to the point where it is time to move on to full retirement,” O’Day says.
Except, if you know Ken then you know there is a story to go with his new retirement date.
“I did have a shaky start with BC Group that might have cost me my job on the first day,” O’Day recalls. “I was supposed to start BC Group the first of the year in 1995, but since January 1 was a Sunday, I assumed we would be off on January 2 since the holiday was on a Sunday.”
“I showed up on the third of January,” he continues. “No one said a word until I overheard an employee talking about a customer conversation from the day before. I asked if we were open on the second, followed by, ‘Yes, and we didn’t think you planned to take the job after all.’ I apologized and promised that I would work one extra day after I finally retire. That was 31 years ago, so I guess they didn’t hold it against me. I still owe the company one day beyond my retirement date.”
“I know the company is in good hands and I can focus on the thing that makes me the happiest, my marriage and my 5 grandkids. Now that I have more time, maybe my kids will want to have more grandkids to make me even happier (or not),” O’Day adds.
Bob Jakubczak, a former system director of HTM, was a longtime customer and remembers that O’Day was always “dedicated to his customers.” He also looked out for his customers.
“We took on a hospital that was in need of HTM,” Jakubczak says. “They had no test equipment that was working. Ken and his team loaned us equipment and sent over his team the next day to repair the test equipment. His legacy is how he was dedicated to the advancement of HTM.”
BC Group President Mel Roche applauds O’Day on an amazing career.
“Ken worked for me for 20 years and never ceased to amaze me with his depth of industry knowledge and people, along with his willingness to share and help. We design and manufacture our own products,” Roche says. “Ken has always been a key factor in the determination of what we make and how it functions, always with an eye towards the end user. He never quit pushing for our products to be upgradable, so the user didn’t need to just get rid of them and buy new ones but had a path to keep them at the cutting edge with upgrades if they so choose. His focus has always been on how we can make products that help make things better and safer for our industry and the people we serve.”
Roche believes O’Day’s legacy is one of shared knowledge.
“Ken has always been a teacher by nature. You can never help but learn something new with almost every conversation,” he says. “He has a depth of knowledge from years of experience, but as importantly he always takes the time to share that knowledge with everyone he works with. His legacy will be the hundreds of people he has helped to be a little happier, a little smarter and a little better and the work they will continue to do based on what he has shared with them and the example he has set for them.”
BC Group Senior Account Manager Tom Sweeney summed up the career of his colleague with simple but true words.
“Ken is among the best liked and most respected sales executives the HTM industry has ever known,” Sweeney shares. “Playing an integral role in helping build BC Group International into one of the most successful and most respected companies in the HTM universe.”
