Tom McGuire

Chief Executive Officer Air Hydro Power

Last Reviewed: September 26, 2026

Executive Summary

Tom McGuire has led Air Hydro Power, an industrial distributor of fluid power, automation, hose, motor and pump products based in Louisville, Kentucky. He joined the company in 1992 and was one of the three managers who bought it in 1998. Since then it has grown from a business with six salespeople and about $10 million in sales into one with 27 locations in five states, nearly 400 employees and more than $200 million in annual sales. In 2023 he and his co-owners sold the company to Houchens Industries, making it wholly employee-owned through Houchens’ ESOP. On 10 September 2026 Air Hydro Power announced that Jason McGuire, who is not related to him, will become CEO on 1 October 2026. Tom McGuire will retire from day-to-day leadership and take a consulting role with Houchens.

Career Highlights

• Joined Air Hydro Power in 1992, when it had six salespeople and approximately $10 million in annual sales.
• In September 1998 bought the company with Matt Ott and Dick Beaven when owner Art Hackmiller retired. The purchase included a hydraulic repair operation, Premier Hydraulic Services.
• Air Hydro Power reached $100 million in sales 21 years after the buyout and $200 million six years after that.
• As one of the majority owners, sold the company to Houchens Industries. The deal closed in January 2023, and the company became a 100% ESOP company.
• Air Hydro Power has announced that Jason McGuire will succeed him as CEO effective 1 October 2026, and that he will move to a consulting role with Houchens focused on acquisitions and special projects.

Professional Journey

Air Hydro Power was founded in 1961 as a Louisville distributor of Parker Hannifin products, and it is still built around fluid power. McGuire joined in 1992. The company then had six salespeople and about $10 million a year in sales. In September 1998 the owner, Art Hackmiller, retired and sold the business to three of its managers: J. Richard Beaven, Thomas F. McGuire and Matthew W. Ott. At Houchens’ acquisition, Beaven said that two of the three had started in the shipping and receiving department.

Under the new owners the company grew both organically and through acquisitions. It bought Louisville Metal Hose in 2004. In 2016 it acquired Total Hose in Alabama and Hose House in Kentucky, then Power-Motion in Birmingham in 2017 and Alabama Bolt in 2018. In 2021 it acquired Uland Supply, Gatterdam Industrial Supply and Huntington Hose. Over the same years it added branches in Alabama and Florida and robotics lines, including Universal Robots. The company reached $100 million in sales 21 years after the 1998 buyout and $200 million six years later. In 2020 it sold a minority stake to Supply Chain Equity.

The owners then chose employee ownership. Air Hydro Power had considered forming its own ESOP in 2019. Instead, Ott, McGuire and Beaven agreed to sell 100% of the company to Houchens Industries of Bowling Green, Kentucky, one of the largest wholly employee-owned S corporation ESOPs in the United States. The sale closed in January 2023. At the time McGuire said the partnership provided “the growth capital and resources to support the strategic plan that our management team desires and deserves.” The acquisitions continued under Houchens: Lebanon Power and Apparatus in December 2023 and Baker Bohnert, a Louisville expansion-joint specialist, in July 2024. AHP also opened a southern headquarters in Madison, Alabama, and its first ParkerStore inside a Houchens-affiliated Ace Hardware.

On 10 September 2026 Air Hydro Power announced his succession. Jason McGuire, who joined as executive vice president in January 2026, will become Chief Executive Officer on 1 October 2026. Tom McGuire will leave day-to-day leadership after 34 years and take a consulting role with Houchens. In that role he will assist Air Hydro Power on acquisitions and special projects and support other Houchens companies. “Our growth has never been about one person,” he said in the announcement. “It has been the result of talented people across sales, customer service, operations, engineering, finance, and every other part of the company working together to take care of customers.”

Education

No education record was found in the sources consulted.