Tri-County Community Guide 2023 | Page 16

BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT

Renfro Supply honors rich history while planning for bright future

An early photo of staff members of Renfro Supply Company gathered for a business meeting .
A little more than a hundred years ago , a group of Whitley County men had an idea . They wanted to start a business that would serve the needs of Whitley County and the surrounding communities while maintaining high standards and solid , steadfast ethics .
With this goal in mind , Simon L . Renfro ; his brother , C . W . Renfro and their brother-in-law , James Murphy founded Renfro Supply Company . They purchased a building that was built in the late 1800s and was once a grocery store . The building had a huge selling point in that it was positioned near two important sources for commercial transportation at the time , the Cumberland River and a major rail system .
BY GINA STORY | Correspondent
LEFT : A cover of “ Renfro Revelations : A Magazette ."
Now , 101 years later , the company is still going strong housed in the same building where it began . Over the years , as the business world changed and got bigger so did Renfro Supply Company , expanding its physical location to the surrounding area , however the legacy that the founders left behind remains the same : an ethical and community focused business .
“ We certainly want to operate ethically with a sense of honesty and integrity ,” said Burley McFarland , the current president and chief executive officer of Renfro Supply Company . “ Everything we do is driven by our ethics . Our goal is not just to make money , hopefully profits are the end result , but we don ’ t compromise our