Business View Magazine | February 2018

176 177 S eneca Companies,Inc.,a familybusiness in the petroleumservices industry,was founded in DesMoines,Iowa in 1972,byChris Risewick, father of the company’s current President,JC Risewick.“Hewas looking for a job to help put himself through college at Drake University,”JCrecounts.“My grandfather was amanufacturer’s rep for OPW,which is a company that makes nozzles and other hardware for the gas station industry.He got mydad connectedwith a friend of his that was starting a companyand needed a sales rep.So,mydad took the job as a sales rep and then the person that he startedwith had a non-com- pete issue and got a cease and desist letter.Theyhadn’t sold anything yet,but theyhad a couple of good prod- uct lines.So,the guyaskedmydad,‘Well,do youwant to keep trying tomake a go of it?’Andmydad said,‘Sure.’ And he never made it back to college,after that. “He started the company selling nozzles and other SENECA COMPANIES “THE COMPLETE SOLUTION” SENECA COMPANIES AT A GLANCE SENECA COMPANIES WHAT: A multi-faceted service provider in the petroleum services industry WHERE: Des Moines, Iowa WEBSITE: www.senecaco.com