One of the oldest businesses in Houston and Texas County now has new ownership.
Mountain Grove resident Seth Harker now owns ARPCO Pump Service after purchasing the business from David Arthur last Thursday (Feb. 23). Harker has owned Harker Pump and Plumbing for about 10 years.
Harker and ARPCO both purchase equipment from the same source in Springfield – Harry Cooper Supply. Arthur said that connection helped lead to the sale of his business. “Seth called me and we talked for hours,” Arthur said. “I gave him a figure and he said, ‘I can do that.’ He bought my truck and the ARPCO name and phone number.”
ARPCO Pump Service was founded in 1967 when Arthur’s father, Glen, and mother, Phyllis, bought existing pump businesses in Houston and Cabool. The half-century old firm was based out of the couple’s home for several years, before moving into a building on U.S. 63 south of Houston in 1976. Arthur, 58, began working for ARPCO right out of high school and has stayed on for 39 years.
“That’s a long time for anybody to do one job,” he said. “There’s about a million stories. It’s been a long run.”
Arthur’s parents were dairy farmers prior to getting into the pump business. Phyllis worked at ARPCO until a week before her death in October 2015. At age 82 – after almost 49 years with ARPCO – she was recognized by the Missouri Senior Employment Coordinating Committee as a regional winner of the 2013 Outstanding Older Worker of the Year award in 2013. Arthur said the late 70s and early 80s were busy times.
“We had two trucks and two crews going and averaged about more than 300 pumps a year,” he said. “It was really rolling.”
Arthur took the reins of the business when his father passed away in 1994. A building erected next to the original structure in 1976 burned down in 1998. Despite the hardship, Arthur kept the business going without borrowing any money. A blessing from the equipment supplier helped in a big way.
“One day their truck backed up to the door and I said, ‘it’s not your day to be here,'” Arthur said.
“They said, ‘Mr. Cooper said to put you back in business.’ They opened the truck door and there was everything I needed. “I said, ‘guys, I don’t know when I can pay for this.’ They said, ‘you’ve paid your bill on time all these years and Mr. Cooper said he’s not worried about it. He knows you’ll pay whenever you can.'”
In keeping the ARPCO name alive in Texas County, Harker will allow customers to be able to dial the same phone number they have for 50 years: 417-967-2583.
“I really appreciate all the customers and their faithfulness over the years,” Arthur said. “I hope they stay with ARPCO, because I believe they’ll still be in good hands. He’ll do the job right and care about it, and I think that should be one of the first qualities of a business, not the price.”
Arthur is a member of the Houston City Council and is running for reelection in April. His son, Caleb, is CEO of Missouri Sun Solar.
Arthur said several people have asked him what his plans for the future are now that he’s no longer running ARPCO Pump. He said he intends to follow God’s lead.
“For 58 years I’ve made the decisions in my life, and now maybe it’s time somebody else did,” he said. “So I’m going to wait and let God tell me what to do. Who knows what that’s going to be; I might help out with the solar business and I might help someone doing something else. But whatever it is, it’s going to be different.”
One possibility is joining a friend involved in ministry in Liberia, Africa. “He once told me I was at some point going to Africa,” Arthur said, “but I said, ‘no way will I ever go to Africa.’ When I told some of my other friends I was going to let God tell me what to do next, they said, ‘oh, no, you’re going to Africa.'”