La Famiglia: Reviglio brothers follow father’s footsteps at Western Nevada Supply

To say that Rick and Ted Reviglio grew up with Western Nevada Supply would be a gross understatement.

More like the family business founded by Jack Reviglio and Bill Higgins in 1964 is the only life the brothers have ever known.

Jack Reviglio was 26 when he first started selling plumbing supplies at Western Nevada Supply. Over the past five decades the business has since expanded into wholesale sales of HVAC, paint, underground utilities, irrigation, high-end plumbing products, industrial pipes, valve and fittings and many other types of construction supplies.

Western Nevada Supply had two other locations before settling in at its current home at 950 S. Rock Blvd. in Sparks. The company also has branch locations in Carson City, Elko and Winnemucca in Northern Nevada, and Bishop, South Lake Tahoe, Susanville and Truckee in Northern California.

Western Nevada Supply employs more than 350 people between its eight locations. It’s been a family-owned business since its inception — and the family theme still plays a large role in Western Nevada Supply’s corporate culture, says Rick Reviglio.

“We are 100-percent Italian, and I think you see that in our culture of ‘La Famiglia,’ the family,” he says. “One of the best blessings for Ted and I was to grow up around a family business.

“If we wanted to see our dad on the weekends, we were down here running around,” he adds.

Jack Reviglio was the driving force of Western Nevada Supply for decades. He rarely took time off and worked on growing the business from sunup to well past sundown. The Reviglio boys always knew when their father came home from work because the aroma of cigar smoke would waft from room to room.

Dinnertime was always a family affair, but right afterward Jack would retire to catch up on company paperwork. It was something he did until Western Nevada Supply switched to computer invoicing and billing systems in the mid 1990s.

“He looked at every invoice that was written up,” Rick Reviglio says. “Every invoice ended up back on his desk, and he would make sure it was written right and was priced right. From the time he started in ’64 until we went to computers, he looked at every invoice.”

Being constantly immersed in the business also meant the Reviglio boys grew up attending all sorts of local functions, from University of Nevada, Reno athletics to the Boys and Girls Clubs to local church and school events.

Ted Reviglio “officially” joined Western Nevada Supply his sophomore year in high school. He previously worked at the family alfalfa ranch in Yerington for three years.

Jack Reviglio didn’t treat his sons any differently than any other new hire. Ted’s first job was pulling weeds in the yard and running a broom.

“Dad never held any hierarchies whatsoever as we were growing up,” he says.

“Dad lived and worked it 24/7,” Rick Reviglio adds. “It was about working hard, treating others with respect, you are no better than anyone else, and you give 110 percent. That was the culture we were raised in by our mom and dad.”

Today, Ted Reviglio serves as Western Nevada Supply’s vice president and runs the Truckee location. He’s overseen the day-to-day operations of many of the company’s branches — his first leadership role was running Western Nevada Supply’s Elko branch in 1994.

Rick Reviglio remembers doing a lot of sweeping, unloading heavy cast iron tubs, loading trucks and grunt work such as vacuuming dust from supply shelves during his entry into the business. Unlike Ted, who has never worked for any other business in his entire career, Rick worked for a plumbing supply manufacturer after studying at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, Calif.

Rick Reviglio is the company’s president and general manager. He joined Western Nevada Supply in 1992. His first management job was running the company’s plumbing division.

Their roles in the company also began to increase as Western Nevada Supply transitioned to computers in the mid 1990s. Since Jack Reviglio wasn’t able to take a part in every invoice anymore, he transitioned to other roles and pushed more responsibility to his sons.

Jack Reviglio died in 2011 at the age of 73.

“He was a great loss because he was such a great presence,” Rick says. “Even if he wasn’t writing orders, looking at orders, or dealing with day to day stuff, that’s the guy that started it. His personality was such a presence.”

The brothers are well aware of the difficulties of carrying on the Reviglio name to the third generation at Western Nevada Supply. Although Ted has four children and Rick has three, none are currently employed by the company even though several have worked for Western Nevada Supply in the past.

Like their hard-working father, both Reviglio sons are in it for life. The family passed on an opportunity to sell Western Nevada Supply in 2006 at the height of the real estate boom.

“The goal is to keep it as a family business,” Rick Reviglio says. “I might be 92 and die at my desk. Ted is a bit more sane than I am. But we both live the business and want to keep it as a family business.”