J.H. Botts’ General Manager, Larry Spelman, has a leadership style that reflects his passion for football, which he developed in high school and college.
Spelman attended the University of Richmond on a football scholarship and, after playing quarterback and tight end, graduated in 1990 with a double major in criminal justice and sociology. After a period of interviewing with and considering the Secret Service, he decided to pursue another career path.
Spelman launched his professional career in Cleveland, Ohio, at Mentor Lumber and Supply in the Building products industry.
His first boss, he said, was a tough Marine and the lessons he learned from him early on in his career are invaluable.
“They were things that you don’t know until you do them, and I learned many of them through trial and error. I’ve actually used a lot of those lessons here to change the culture at JH Botts and grow our Botts Family from when we first started,” he said.
It was there in Ohio that he met his wife Kathleen, who graduated from the University of Akron. Spelman said after meeting her, “We’ve been together every day since. She’s my true life partner!” Over time, the Spelman family expanded to include three boys, Ryan, Bradley, and Kevin, who paved the way for Larry’s opportunity at JH Botts.
One day, when picking up his youngest son, Kevin, at a friend’s house, Spelman met Michael Friel, the owner of JH Botts. The chance meeting led to a friendship and eventual conversation about their work. Friel revealed he owned three companies and was looking for someone to run one of them.
Spelman, who had worked in Ohio and then for a while back in New York/New Jersey, was open to Friel’s opportunity in Joliet, Illinois. He became general manager at JH Botts in 2016.
“Mike Friel owns St Louis Screw and Bolt, and his family’s company is Haydon Bolts in Philadelphia. He’s a great owner and a great man. We run JH Botts like it’s a family business. We’re extremely agile,” Spelman said.
And yes, among the Botts’ leadership team are members of the Spelman family – including his son Bradley as Group Controller.
“We have a board of directors that we report to once a year. We present a business plan, and then we execute it. Among the three businesses Mike owns, there are 60 people here and close to 80 in St. Louis and another 55 in Philadelphia.”
JH Botts makes anchor bolts and Foundation Cages for the Utility and DOT Lighting markets from raw materials and stocks many 1/2″ to 3 1/2″ diameter round bars in 20-to-40-foot lengths. They also use various grades of material, including special diameter rebar, stainless steel, and other assorted carbon steel grades.
And that’s where Larry Spelman’s worldview, reflecting his passion and experience in football, shines. He has a unique ability to identify a person’s talents and skills, placing them in a position to excel for the whole team.
He calmly went through the Botts team’s “roster” with pride in his voice, like a coach describing why his team will do well in a particular game.
“I’ve got extremely strong partners in each segment of the business. So I work for them, for instance, Martin Wrona in production and purchasing. Samantha Wilder-Dickson takes care of HR. I work with my son, Brad, on the accounting side with Brenna Anderson. Drew Penhale, Lauren Wroblewski, Veronica Umphofer, Mike Gahan and Jericka Kiss take care of sales. Mike Valaitis was just promoted into our operations manager position,” he said.
“We’ve got some really talented, strong people in production and maintenance that allow us to continue to develop our business processes.”
Spelman relayed story after story of Botts’ employees – how they’ve grown into crucial roles from entry-level work.
“That’s the fun part of leading,” he said.
He emphasized that small businesses have all the tasks big companies have, with fewer people to meet those demands, causing individuals to multitask more.
Spelman said that often makes each individual better at what they do.
And although Spelman says he went through a time when he had had enough of football, the sport left an indelible mark on his company management.
“In football, there’s an absolute great work ethic that you have to have. You have to be where you’re supposed to be when you’re supposed to be there. When you instill that discipline, it helps and goes a long way,” he said.
But playing the sport didn’t have the most significant impact on his management style, he said.
“When my boys started playing football, I got into coaching and gained more from coaching. That’s helped me in leadership and business and in the one-on-one contact, and team contact. Just being able to work through processes through a coaching mindset has helped me a lot…”
As with any winning team, there have been challenges during his time at Botts. Working on projects for the Illinois Department of Transportation has been frustrating as government sources paused funding during the first quarter of 2025. Then issues arose with tariffs and supply chains, leading to economic confusion.
But the biggest challenge for Spelman is time, he said, and for a fascinating reason.
“The biggest challenge right now is time in a day, time in a week, time in a month, and a year. How much time do we have with our key people that we’ve leaned on for years and years and years? Their lives are developing and changing, and their time constraints have changed dramatically. You’ve got six or seven people who have helped transform this business that now have more demands at home. Houses need more attention as their families grow, which takes more time. So where we used to be the dominant part of their time, now we’re sharing that time.
“We’ve had to add resources and add people, and in turn we have to share responsibility and knowledge. We have to grow all of those people. So that’s why the biggest challenge is time for me,” Spelman said.
But that ties to his vision of success at JH Botts, he said.
“My biggest goal was to set everybody up for success. We are not succeeding if we’re not making lives better – and that goes for all 60 people that work here. Everybody’s got to be in a role where they’re better off than they were. That is absolutely the reward beyond a paycheck, beyond a bonus. What are they going to say about me at the end of my time? I would want them to say I influenced their lives and family for the better. That’s the most important thing to me,” Spelman said.
Spelman is in line to be TMA’s Board Chairman in 2027, and he looks forward to the opportunity.
When he moved to Chicago, he was concerned about meeting like-minded people with similar challenges. He found community at TMA and is especially grateful for the honor of serving on TMA’s Board of Directors.
“The team has been great, working with Patrick Osborne, Dennis LaComb, Craig Zoberis, Bob Clifford, Shiv Sivakumar, and the entire TMA staff. You could go down the list of people that I’ve been able to work with in the board environment. It’s been great. I realized some of my challenges aren’t that big a deal because other people have much larger challenges,” Spelman said.
Emphasizing teamwork, actively observing and learning from others, caring for their needs, and tapping into and developing their strongest skills – they are all invaluable lessons learned on the football field.
And all are aspects of what Larry Spelman knows well that will either bring about or sustain excellence in whatever endeavor he undertakes.
Cover story from TMA’s 2025 Fall News Bulletin by editor Fran Eaton.