By Thomas A. Parmalee

It’s been almost six months since the Dodge Company, which has been serving the funeral profession as a family-owned company since 1893, named Tim Collison as CEO and director of sales and marketing.

The new title reflects the role Collison has played at the company for the past few years, the company noted when it announced the news.

Having worked at Dodge for decades, Collison is a familiar face to funeral professionals, and he’s honored to lead a company with such a rich history.

While some may not think of a company that is best known for making embalming chemicals as innovative, he says it continues to grow and try new things.

“Dodge has maintained and grown the volume of chemical sales over the past decade, likely due to less competition as others in our field have consolidated or changed their business models,” he said. “Demographics have also played a role, as the number of deaths per year has increased, so even with the increase in cremation, demand for embalming chemicals has not been impacted as much as would be expected.”

Also, even though the company’s manufacturing focuses on embalming chemicals and chemical sundries, it distributes a wide range of products used in funeral service.  “Dodge is also seeing very good growth in other markets such as anatomical preservation and organ and tissue procurement,” he said. “We understand that having an ever-increasing share of a shrinking market is not a path toward success, so we look to expand our market into areas where there is expansion.”

We recently had the chance to catch up with Collison to learn more about how Dodge has changed over the years, the lessons it learned during the pandemic and more.

You went to school to become a funeral director … but you have been working at Dodge a long time. I know you are licensed in Michigan, but do you do any work for funeral homes as a funeral director/embalmer?

My first 20 years with Dodge was spent traveling a fairly large territory, so I didn’t have the opportunity to consistently work at a funeral home.  I did continue doing some technical work when the opportunity presented itself, to try out some new techniques and assist when I could on challenging cases.

How did the opportunity at Dodge come about all those years ago … and what made you join the company in the first place? Have you ever regretted not taking a more traditional path as a funeral director/funeral home owner, etc.? 

I was familiar with Dodge products from my resident training and the firm where I was employed as a funeral director/embalmer.  A friend called me to let me know the Michigan position was open, so on a lark, I called in and they sent me an application.  Once I met Arnold Dodge, interviewed, and found out more about The Dodge Company, I thought it was a good opportunity for me.  Initially after taking the position, I missed the community interaction I had when I was at the funeral home, but didn’t miss the nights, weekends and holidays I had been working.  The two Dodge’s I originally worked for, Arnold and Mike, convinced me that I had found a position more in tune with my personality and work habits.  In addition to that, the management style at Dodge fit very well for me.

Your company was founded in 1893. That is incredible! I’m wondering if you know of any other companies that have been around so long – and how proud are you of your company history? You must have some pretty interesting items in the archives …

The longevity of the company is a true testament to the Dodge family and their business philosophy.   I’m not aware of any other company that has remained family-owned since its founding.  Over the years, going through old documents and spending time in the museum, you gain a perspective of how funeral service has changed and adapted with the times.  From cooling boards, hand pumps, gravity injectors, and glass bottles to where we are now with modern, safe equipment that makes it much easier to accomplish our work safer and more effectively.

Some funeral professionals may think of Dodge as simply an embalming fluid company, but you’ve added quite a bit to your offerings in recent years. What new products and services have resonated the most in the marketplace?

For years, many funeral directors did not know that Dodge had been manufacturing and distributing cremation products since the early 1980s.  Since then, we have partnered with many companies such as Glass Remembrance, Insight Books, and Capture Bead Keepsakes.  When Consolidated Funeral Services opened their doors, Felix Tsatskis and Peter Richardson chose Dodge to do their marketing.  This partnership grew to over 5,000 funeral home websites and changed the business model in the industry.  Dodge is very proud to be part of this success story and is enthusiastic about moving forward with Tribute Technologies.

We’ve heard a lot about the “pull-forward effect” of COVID-19 and how it’s affected the bottom line of some consolidators and large funeral homes. Have you seen any effect at your company, and if so, what have you observed? 

The pandemic certainly impacted Dodge since we are the largest provider of disinfectants, PPEs, and embalming chemicals in our field.  We noticed an upsurge in sales for anything pandemic-related, however, many of the products we distribute such as EPA registered disinfectants and some PPEs became unavailable, or we had to limit sales since manufacturers were limiting allotments.  Since Dodge manufactures our embalming chemicals and other chemical products, we were able to meet the demand for those items.  Purchasing began leveling off last year, going back to pre-pandemic levels.  In my opinion, our ability to supply our customers throughout the pandemic won Dodge some new customers.

How concerned are your customers about the use of formaldehyde in products, and how popular are your formaldehyde-free products? 

The concern about formaldehyde use ebbs and flows with the amount of publicity it is receiving.  My professional history goes back to when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration originally created the formaldehyde standard, so that’s a few years.  Formaldehyde is used because it performs a unique function in preservation.  It has been used safely for decades, and technology has increased to the point where adequate ventilation eliminates formaldehyde presence almost immediately.  Dodge has continuously researched and developed low formaldehyde and formaldehyde-free chemicals for over 40 years.  Formaldehyde-free arterial chemicals such as Freedom Art have not sold in great quantities since they do not provide the results that most embalmers desire.  While they do provide preservation to allow viewing and ceremony, the fixative qualities that formaldehyde provides are not present.   They are also more costly than formaldehyde-based embalming chemicals.

Recent tariffs have affected a variety of funeral suppliers. Has your business been affected, and if so, how are you responding or adapting to minimize the impact?

For Dodge, as with our competitors, the major impact was the increased cost of manufacturing due to raw material increases.  The term used for this cost factor is the “landed cost,” which includes freight and tariffs.  Since many raw materials used in our chemical manufacturing are imported, Dodge’s price to manufacture increased.  An additional factor is that during the pandemic, some raw material manufacturers went out of business.  This caused our chemists and manufacturing team to research new sources as well as finding the best prices for quality raw materials.  The result of these issues is that going forward, Dodge has redundancy in its sources for raw materials.

Tell us about your on-site seminar, which is always popular.

Currently, Dodge hosts one clinical 1 ½ day seminars per year in Las Vegas.  We have approximately 120 registrants in attendance.  Dodge speakers also present at numerous national and state conferences yearly.

Why should funeral professionals make it a point to go to a Dodge seminar, and when is the next opportunity? 

The Dodge seminars focus primarily on technical issues such as long-term preservation, restoration after organ and tissue donation, and other relevant issues that impact embalming and embalmers.  There are few programs available that solely have this focal point.

How did the pandemic affect your seminar business, and how did you pivot as a business to serve customers?

Due to travel and gathering restrictions, we cancelled the 2020 seminar in Las Vegas.  We were back to a normal schedule in 2021, with a very good registration.

What has changed PERMANENTLY at Dodge as a result of the pandemic – and/or what lasting lessons did you learn?

Dodge had already had some individuals working at home prior to the pandemic such as Customer Service and other departments.  This practice increased extensively during the pandemic.  After Massachusetts discontinued some of the restrictions that had been put in place, we allowed most employees to decide whether they would like to continue working from home, coming back into the office, or having a hybrid workweek.

One lesson that was learned was that customers appreciate seeing a sales representative coming in the door.  There was an element of service that was lost when contact was primarily by phone, email, or text.

Are you hiring? How can folks who want to work for you get in touch, and what type of people are you looking for? 

While there is little turnover of sales representatives, it does occur periodically with retirements.  We currently have 42 sales representatives in the U.S., and we plan to keep all of the states represented, so keeping an application on file is the best way to ensure you know when an opening occurs.  Dodge sales representatives must be graduates of a mortuary science curriculum and have achieved licensing as a funeral director/embalmer.  Applications are available on our website.   

Looking ahead, what do you see as your biggest challenge … and your biggest opportunity? 

When I shifted roles at Dodge from sales representative to management, Mike Dodge told me that it was important for Dodge to find new business.  We have seen the increase in the percentage of cremation over the years, so the challenge is to find new markets and opportunities.  The largest opportunity we have is that our customers value personal contact with trusted advisers.  Dodge sales representatives work to be a valuable asset to their customers.  We know from 130 years of experience that value provided to our customers creates value received by Dodge.

Do you have any other thoughts or anything else you’d like to share? 

Funeral service is an unusual field of work.  Ask any random person sitting next to you on a plane.  Understanding funeral service practitioners is what has made Dodge successful and grown the business over the years.  The Dodge family has always had a heart for funeral service and funeral service education, which is why the majority of our sponsorships are directed at education.

Being transparent, offering the best quality products at a fair price and having knowledgeable sales representatives walking in the door has proved to be a winning combination in the past and we are confident will be in the future.

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