ORS Nasco CEO Kevin Short on leadership, growth and 33 years in distribution

Kevin Short’s career in distribution started with advice from his father, a chemical manufacturer, who told him distributors “make money and have fun.” Short took that advice at 19 and went to work for a chemical distributor. For his first two years, he drove a forklift, managed inventory and collected bills before he was allowed to call on a customer. That foundation carried him through 33 years and three industries. Today he is CEO of ORS Nasco, the nation’s largest pure wholesaler of industrial supplies, and Treasurer of NAW’s Board of Directors.

In this episode of Distributors Deliver, recorded at NAW’s 2026 Innovators Summit in Nashville, NAW CEO Eric Hoplin talks with Short about how ORS Nasco has completed six add-on acquisitions in 19 months while keeping the leaders of those companies on board. Short explains the four traits that guide the company’s culture, likability, tenacity, curiosity and humility, and how ORS Nasco became an early adopter of AI by starting with product recommendations for its inside sales team. He also shares advice for distributors evaluating new technology, including using their branch networks to run smaller tests before making big bets.

The conversation also covers Short’s mainstage discussion with 3M CEO Bill Brown and what it was like representing the industry in Washington as NAW’s 2025 Board Chair. It closes on a lighter note with the story behind the nickname President George W. Bush gave him and the golf courses still on his bucket list.

🎧 Also available to stream on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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If you are an NAW member, distribution leader, or part of an organization supporting wholesale distribution and you would like to be considered as a future guest, contact [email protected].

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