United Motor Products' Rick Maxwell Is an Industry 'Lifer'

In the latest episode of “AMN Drivetime,” Babcox Media CEO Bill Babcox sits down with Rick Maxwell, president and owner of Cleveland-based United Motor Products.

Maxwell is what some in this industry call a “lifer.” He’s been involved in the industry since he was about eight years old, working along his father, who began as an aftermarket salesman in 1965 for the originator of B’laster.

“He worked for a couple other companies in sales, and that’s how I got into it,” Maxwell said. “I was on the road with him staying in hotels, doing changeovers. … It was fun. … After that he decided, ‘Hey, since I’m a sales guy, I want to own a parts store.’ So that’s what he did. He opened a couple parts stores, so I got into working in a parts store.”

Maxwell described his dad as a “serial entrepreneur” who was always thinking about the next thing, which is how they went from sales to parts store owners to making spark plugs. “I was making spark plug wires by hand, you know, with a vise and putting the terminals on. And we would take the orders in the morning from the customers, I’d build the sets, we’d deliver ’em next day out of our car. So, it was fun. It was working at home and again, hanging out with the family. It was good.”

After about two years, they moved into a small facility and developed a consolidated spark plug wire line, and according to Rick, this is when things took off. “We’ve kind of just kept moving and morphing into the next thing. So we did that for a while, and then we moved into a little bigger facility, about 10,000 square feet, and we were there for about 10 years and grew the business, and then we moved into where we’re at today.”

Today, the company has a roughly 20,000-square-foot facility in Cleveland, and another 10,000-square-foot facility in Bradenton, Florida, offering an extensive range of engine-centric products.

During the podcast, Rick and Bill also talk about:

:53 – Growing up in the family business
3:26 – The origins of United Motor Products
4:41 – What running a family business means to Rick
6:11 – A look at UMP’s full product offering
7:11 – The scoop on Rick’s other roles as partner in Engine Technologies and United Manufacturing Services
7:33 – How these three businesses work together
9:14 – Changes in the marketplace today
11:43 – The importance of staying nimble and agile
13:32 – Rick’s take on the EV market
16:03 – What’s next for UMP?
18:54 – The ever-popular Lightning Round!