BY DENNE GOLDSTEIN
02/05

It was not magic, but hard work and years of experience that gave him the ability to see the vision and then act upon it. But let’s start at the beginning.

Abrams was born in San Diego, California. His father was in the Navy. At the age of six his mother moved to Connecticutt, where Abrams grew up and attended elementary school. He spent his junior high school and high school years in Columbus, Ohio, and then attended the University of Rochester in New York. He joined the ROTC and went to school on a Navy scholarship. He received his degree in political science and international relations.

Upon graduation, Abrams entered the Navy, where he served on active duty for six years as a Surface Warfare Officer. He spent two and a half of those years aboard a guided missile destroyer in the engineering and communications department. He then spent a year as commanding officer of the military group on a merchant tanker, and finally completed his active duty in naval intelligence.

Upon his discharge, Abrams moved back to Southern California and chose to work in the financial markets. He worked for a private investment company, where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions. (This private investment firm had eight operating companies; part of Abrams job was to look for acquisitions that would fit within those companies.) In some of these acquisitions, he would get involved at the operating level. He gained experience that helped pave the way for the future.

At the same time, Abrams was attending night school at the University of Southern California. Three months before he received his master’s in business administration in May 1996, Abrams found a small company, located in San Diego, California, that made advanced composite materials. He did a leveraged buyout, acquired the company and began to grow it. Within the next four years, he sold the company, bought it back, grew it some more and sold it again. Abrams refers to this as his “real MBA.”

By this time, Abrams had gained some solid “hands-on” experience. He believed he could do it again, and in June 2000 he acquired an electronic components company. But there’s an old saying, “Timing is everything,” and time was not on Abrams’s side. Six months after acquiring the company, the “dot com” market imploded; hi-tech companies were going out of business left and right. It was not the time to be in electronic components. In June 2002, Abrams closed the company. After a short stint doing a start-up in satellite based tracking systems, Abrams realized was that he was better suited as a “turn-around” guy, as opposed to a “start-up” person. The next phase of his storied career serves as a reminder of how important networking is in any business that you’re in. It helps keep your finger on the pulse, it keeps you aware of what others are doing, and equally as important, you develop personal relationships.

Abrams had met Jim Swartwout, some years earlier. Swatwout is CEO of Summa Industries. A public company listed on the NASDAQ, Summa Industries purchased the holding company that owned Agricultural Products, Inc., in 1997. Ag Products had irrigation products for the agricultural market and a few products for the landscape market.

Abrams joined Ag Products in January 2003 as vice president of sales and marketing. Six weeks later, he was made president. His mandate: turn the company around and build it into a profitable, successful company.

“We have great people and great products, but over time, with all the changes in management, the direction and focus became blurred,” stated Abrams. “My job is connecting the links. I had to give our people the resources, tools and the confidence to do their jobs, and they’ve performed very well.”

“Ag Products did not have a significant presence in the landscape market, remarked Abrams. “In January 2004, we acquired the Wade Rain and Pepco micro irrigation divisions of Wade Manufacturing, which gave us some key products for the landscape market as well as a key manufacturing facility in our largest ag market, the San Joaquin Valley. It was an excellent acquisition, their product lines complimented ours. It was a perfect fit.”

Since joining Ag Products barely two years ago, Abrams, through skillful management and great team building, took the company from $13 million to $25 million. In 2004, the Aquarius Brands name was added. “Aquarius Brands reflects our long-term strategy to build and acquire companies in the water handling business,” stated Abrams. “Ag Products, Pepco, Wade Rain--all come under the umbrella of Aquarius Brands.”

So where does he go from here? “The fun part is building the company,” Abrams confesses. “We will continue to look for acquisitions as well as grow internally.”

What does Abrams do when he’s not working? A few years ago, he gave up boating for flying. He holds a private pilot’s license, owns his own plane. Sometimes Abrams will use the plane on short business trips. It saves a lot of travel time.

With all the business travel he does, he looks forward to staying home and relaxing. He enjoys being with his wife, Amanda, son Daniel, 8, and daughter Allison, 5. “It’s a great time watching them grow up. It’s a great time to be in the water handling business.”