Valterra co-founder George Grengs will retire at the end of this year, ending more than four decades as a fixture in the industry.
In 1981, Grengs and his partner started Valterra Products Inc. in a small warehouse in Pacoima, California, just north of Burbank, and started making and selling the Grentec line of waste valves and fittings. Later, those products were rebranded under the Valterra name which is so well-known today.
In the 1980s Valterra jumped into the skateboard business. Grengs ran the sales, marketing and product development during this period, and the brand struck a chord nationally among the skater crowd. Valterra brand skateboards became nationally recognized thanks to being featured in the 1985 “Back to the Future,” with Marty McFly – Michael J. Fox – riding and holding a Valterra board in some of the early scenes.
Over the years Grengs’ responsibilities covered all aspects of the business but his mainstay was in sales and marketing where he established a strong distributor-based business for both the RV aftermarket and OEM sales channels. In addition, he oversaw the Pool & Spa/Industrial divisions and directly managed the skateboard sales to chain stores in the 80s and 90s.
In 2013, the company did a recapitalization with Scott Capital, a private equity company, and Valterra became an LLC with Grengs as the CEO/President. With new capital behind the company, Valterra began an aggressive acquisition program including Phoenix Faucets, Rodale/Mighty Cord, Minder Research, Diamond Lighting, Go Power! and Monochem tank treatments. It was a busy time, the company said, and Valterra’s growth was dramatic.
Most recently, Grengs was involved with the 2021 sale of Valterra to Dometic during the COVID-19 pandemic. Grengs said he’s retiring incredibly proud knowing that the transition over the last 18 months has been seamless with no impact to its customers.
In 2019, RVIA recognized Grengs with the Jim Barker Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant contributions to the RV Aftermarket.
Grengs will retire from full-time leadership of Valterra on Dec. 31, but will continue to function as an adviser to Valterra in 2023. Leadership for Valterra will move to Bryan Fletcher, who is general manager, and Hal Harvey, chief operations officer.