Utah trucker launched an industrial supply company in eastern Idaho and now it’s celebrating 60 years of business
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IDAHO FALLS – LaVar Thacker was hauling freight for a trucking company in Utah when he decided to start a business that sold the very things he was hauling.
It was June 1964 and the Heber, Utah man opened BISCO (Bonneville Industrial Supply Co.) in a small shop where Walmart on Utah Avenue now sits. He began selling tools, personal protective equipment and other products for manufacturing plants.
Today, the company occupies a 27,000-square-foot building across the street from its original location and has grown to include locations in Pocatello, Soda Springs and Boise. It has clients throughout Idaho and Wyoming. One of its biggest customers is the Idaho National Laboratory.
This year marks 60 years since the business launched in eastern Idaho and Vice President Garrett Thacker, who is LaVar’s grandson, tells EastIdahoNews.com he’s proud to be a part of a business that’s been in his family for generations.
“Our family built it and has maintained it for 60 years. The relationships we’ve built (with clients and industry leaders is something I value). I’m proud to say we’re part of the company’s 60-year history,” Garrett says.
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About 200 people attended a company celebration last week, and Garrett is pleased with the turnout.
In a conversation with EastIdahoNews.com, he and his dad, Kent, reflected on the company’s history and how it got started.
When Lavar was hauling freight in Utah, Kent says his dad had some friends who worked for Herrick Industrial Supply in Ogden. It was that relationship that sparked the idea to open a similar business of his own.
Another friend, Frank Wilson, owned Paramount Supply, a pipe supplier in Idaho Falls. When Wilson heard LaVar wanted to open an industrial supply business, he talked LaVar into opening it in eastern Idaho.
LaVar heeded his friend’s advice and his friends at Herrick helped him get established.
“Both of LaVar’s parents died when he was in high school. For him to build this (business without any parental support is amazing),” says Garrett.
“Uncle Neal (LaVar’s brother) was his first employee,” Kent adds.
The pair worked together to grow the business in those early days.
In 1986, more than 20 years later, construction began on the current building at 515 South Utah Avenue.
BISCO started expanding to the other side of the state and the Boise location opened three years later, according to Kent. At that point, it was only a matter of time before the Pocatello and Soda Springs buildings were added.
“Today, we have anywhere from 15-25 employees throughout each location,” Garrett explains. “That’s pretty cool that we went from two employees to what we have now.”
LaVar has since passed away, but Kent and Garrett are running the business today.
With hundreds of clients scattered throughout Idaho and Wyoming, BISCO continues to grow and evolve, including the types of products it sells.
“A new product comes out every month, it seems,” Garrett says. “The INL hears about it before anybody, so they want us to get it for them. DEWALT and Milwaukee Tool are always competing. We’re always trying to get the better tool.”
The Idaho Falls location is being remodeled over the next several months and Garrett is excited for the community to see how it looks when it’s complete.
Like many business owners, Garrett says making it through the COVID-19 pandemic was a challenge. Despite these and other struggles over the years, Garrett says the business is still thriving and he wants to see the business continue to be successful for another 60 years.
