āMy most unfavorite saying is āIf it aināt broke, donāt fix it,āā Dick Gross said. āIām always trying to think of ways to improve things.ā
Indeed, his inventive mind helped him evolve from a service professional to a manufacturer of products meant to make techniciansā lives easier. After a stint in building maintenance, Gross settled into the pool industry for a lifelong career. He started his own business, Purity Pool Service in Redding, Calif., in 1961.
He soon realized that some of the tools available at the time werenāt as efficient as he wouldāve liked. So he came up with modifications for the tools he was using, as well as new ones. By 1973, āServiceā was dropped from the company name, though it still employed some working maintenance techs at the time. But the firmās main focus shifted to products, specifically his inventions and product modifications.
Grossā first industry invention was a segmented vacuum that he made for the Loyola University pool. It was 4 feet long and made it possible for him to clean that pool in half an hour. Though the product didnāt take off, Gross wasnāt discouraged. He next developed the Non-Clog Skimmer Ball, meant to keep larger debris from entering a pool suction line, which the firm still sells.
Not surprisingly, the former service tech also was interested in finding ways to improve the design of pool scoops and rakes. For example, in 1971 he introduced a pool net with a turned edge for scooping. And so it goes.
āIām thinking all the time,ā Gross said. āIām working on two or three things right now, but I canāt talk about them yet. I did just finish a trio of rakes ā you can slide nets on them.ā
Currently, heās president/principal designer at his family firm, but some management changes are in the works. One son, Rich, who started with his father at age 15 and helped design tools, is set to transition from vice president to president in the next six months. Wife Julie will move from operations manager to business manager, and daughter Kate will take over Julieās previous job.
So what does the company founder like to do in his leisure time? Dick Gross said heās a Scrabble aficionado and enjoys boating. He also likes to āfix things that arenāt broken,ā and test products in his own backyard pool.