Wolf Creek: The History of Wolf Creek Company

The History of Wolf Creek Company

Special Agent Knowles Assigned to Irrigation Duty

How does a Korean War veteran and FBI Special Agent end up in the wholesale distribution business? Back in 1960, Bud Knowles was a special agent with the FBI, leading the Dayton, Ohio office. But he had a yearning to work for himself and saw the opportunity to start a landscape company. From this spark of inspiration, he went to work. Bud combined his organizational skills learned in the Marine Corps, where he was a Second Lieutenant during the Korean War, together with his interest in business and accounting developed during his time at Wichita State University.

Wolf Creek Company began in 1961 as a landscaping company, but quickly blossomed with the addition of a retail garden center, nursery business and eventually irrigation installation. Even back then, supportive customer relationships and fair business dealing were the hallmarks of Bud’s philosophy, winning him the loyalty of both customers and suppliers. Wolf Creek was an early dealer for Toro’s Moist-O-Matic irrigation products and installed over 40 golf courses plus residential and commercial sites. Agricultural irrigation was added with the Valley (Valmont) and Bauer product lines.

Wolf Creek – Focused on Leadership in Wholesale Distribution

By the 1970’s, Bud Knowles began consolidating the burgeoning operation into a single focus: to be the top-ranked wholesale distributor in the area. Seeing Bud’s success, Rain Bird quickly appointed Wolf Creek Company as a distributor for both turf and golf products. The company’s service area rapidly expanded from just one portion of Ohio to a broad regional area encompassing Ohio, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

Today Bud is enjoying retirement and continues to give advice to his sons, Scott and Chris who have taken over the operation.

Scott Knowles, a graduate of both Ohio State and the University of Nebraska, is now company President. He is often the face of the company within the industry, working closely with contractors and designers and taking an active role in trade associations and government affairs. He’s been a champion of professional education and certification, developing Wolf Creek’s contractor educational program into a model that’s respected throughout the nation.

Chris Knowles leverages his background in Accounting and Business Management to drive many “inside” aspects that make working with Wolf Creek a breeze: unmatched inventory availability, top-tier logistics, flexible ordering terms and well-staffed locations. He works closely with Wolf Creek’s vendor partners to offer the widest selection of professional products in the region.

As Wolf Creek Company moves past its 50th year in business, we know our success depends on the success of our customers. Therefore, we spend a lot of time in the field meeting with suppliers and customers, getting the pulse of the market and offering our help to entrepreneurs like ourselves.

We seek to never lose our connection to the market. We do not want to ever be a corporate bureaucracy where customers are “just a number” and senior management is isolated from customer feedback. Our in-depth product and customer knowledge plus a team with decades of field experience is what makes the Wolf Creek stand apart.

We sincerely appreciate the trust that our customers have placed in us. We pledge to do all we can to earn your business. And if you’re new to Wolf Creek, we invite you to experience the difference today!

Our Values: We Succeed When Our Customers Succeed

    The vision and values established by Bud Knowles continue to be carried forward by the current team at Wolf Creek
  • Provide the best products available in every category. Partner with the top lines that offer quality, value and service.
  • Treat employees and customers fairly. Remember the “golden rule”.
  • Do the right thing. Honesty and integrity are remembered.
  • Keep getting better. Try new things. Encourage others to learn and improve.