The Past

Founded in 1987 as Pro Technical Products by Al Provenzano, SupplyCore had its beginnings as a traditional supplier of mechanical components for the Aerospace and Defense Industries. It was literally a one-room operation housed in a former factory in Rockford, Illinois. It would be a year before Pro Tech, as it was called, would win its first contract with the DoD. Shortly after receiving its first contract award, Terry Provenzano joined her husband at Pro Tech. By the early 1990's Pro Tech had more than 10 employees and had expanded its service offering to include aftermarket parts for the Agricultural and Construction Industries.

Unlike most strategic outsourcing, materials management, and integrated supply organizations, Pro Technical Products had no formal affiliation or organizational relationship with the suppliers it utilized. This independence and objectivity allowed for the greatest possible gains for its customers, and the most unbiased performance reporting and supplier recommendations.

Over the next few years, the product and service scope broadened to include MRO items as well as the specialty and engineered items it originally managed. Pro Technical Products established a subsidiary operating entity in 1992 to focus on commercial activities and supply chain management. This experience and exposure has allowed Pro Technical to become a recognized tool for select Fortune 500 companies as a supply chain management vehicle for private commercial businesses. These commercial operations were assimilated into Pro Technical Products in 1998.

Begining in the mid-90s, the government started to change the way they bought, bases were closing down and a new initiative was coming out of the DLA called the Prime Vendor Program. Pro Tech began offering integrated supply and web-based procurement services for MRO materials in 1997 with a staff of just 12 employees. 



Rapid Growth

On June 11, 1998, Pro Technical Products was awarded its first DLA MRO Prime Vendor Contract to serve as the sole source for all MRO (Maintenance, Repair and Operations) materials for military bases in the North Central Region of the United States.  The North Central Region encompasses 12 states located primarily in the Upper Midwest, Midwest, Plains, and Mississippi River Valley areas. It was around this time that our name changed to SupplyCore.

In 1999 SupplyCore was awarded the Japan and Okinawa MRO Prime Vendor contract. SupplyCore outgrew its Rock Street office and moved to the third floor of the National Bank building on State Street overlooking the Rock River and renamed itself SupplyCore.com. By this time the company was valued at $2 million.



In 2000, the Defense Logistics Agency awarded SupplyCore the Material Handling Equipment Prime Vendor Contract which was worldwide in scope. With the success of these three large international contracts, the company rapidly grew to 60 employees. Peter Provenzano is promoted from Director of Business Development to become President and CEO. Projected value: $60 million.

SupplyCore was listed in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 and 2004 editions of Inc Magazine’s Fastest Growing Privately Held Companies in the U.S., and was entered into Inc. Magazine’s Hall of Fame for achieving five consecutive years of exceptional growth. During this period, SupplyCore would achieve a 4000% compounded growth rate.

By 2002, the Internet had become commonplace, as well as having drawn significant negative attention after the technology market crash, so SupplyCore drops the .com to become SupplyCore. SupplyCore was awarded an additional contract by the DLA: Zone 2 of the Southeast Region MRO Prime Vendor Contract which included Alabama, Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina.

SupplyCore then had 90 employees in three major offices, Rockford, IL, Charleston, SC, and Okinawa, Japan, with support offices in California and Ohio. Sales grew to $70 million.

Shift in Focus

SupplyCore realized the strong potential of government and military procurement and, despite supporting several commercial organizations at the time, decides to focus entirely on government and military procurement and integrated logistics services.

In 2003, SupplyCore was awarded the Iraq MRO Prime Vendor Contract. SupplyCore also began offering products through the GSA Hardware SuperStore and select services through its GSA Complete Facilities Maintenance and Management contract.

SupplyCore was awarded two more significant overseas contracts in 2004 in Europe and the Middle East. The first was Zone 2 of the MRO Prime Vendor South of the Alps, which covered Spain, Portugal, and the Azores.

The second was for the CENTCOM Region in December 2004 which included 23 countries in the Middle East and Northern Africa: Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, U.A.E., Iran, Bahrain, Qatar, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Kenya, Somalia, Pakistan, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Seychelles, Kyrgystan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. SupplyCore also formed SupplyCore Middle East, a partnership with a Saudi Arabian company to provide trucking, warehousing and local purchasing efforts for faster service and hands-on support.

The following year, in 2005, SupplyCore was reawarded an expanded Pacific Region MRO Prime Vendor contract which included Japan, Okinawa, Singapore and Diego Garcia.

In 2006, The U.S. Army awarded SupplyCore a contract for the operations of its Interceptor Body Armor (IBA) Warehouse. SupplyCore's North Central and Southeast Region contracts are renewed by the DLA. SupplyCore once again outgrew its offices and moved to 303 North Main Street in downtown Rockford, occupying the 7th and 8th floors.

SupplyCore acquired MARRV, the Manufacturing Alliance of the Rock River Valley, in 2007. The Defense Supply Center Philadelphia (DSCP) extended SupplyCore's existing CENTCOM and Pacific Region contracts.




Focus on the Future

Today, SupplyCore maintains a worldwide network of offices in Japan, Okinawa, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, California, South Carolina, Florida, Ohio, Georgia. Its headquarters remains located in the heart of Rockford, Illinois, where it was founded. It currently holds four MRO Prime Vendor contracts and two worldwide GSA contracts. We have approximately 100 incredible associates contributing to our global network.

SupplyCore’s aim is to help the armed services and the DLA improve their procurement processes and eliminate waste while providing better service to the warfighter. SupplyCore has spent twenty years streamlining and improving its ordering processes as well as its supply network, which translates to more efficient purchasing for the armed services and federal agencies.

SupplyCore would like to take this opportunity to thank you, as a loyal customer, for your support. We look forward to serving you for another twenty years!


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