For over 60 years, Natare Pools has made a name for itself as a vital part of the American swim industry. Today, the company is known as a major commercial pool and commercial systems manufacturer, with a sterling reputation both nationally and globally. The team is able to take on any project in the swimming industry from both products and systems standpoints, and has grown into a world leader in designing, manufacturing, supplying, and installing the highest quality stainless steel pools, spas, equipment, and complete aquatic systems.
Natare Pools boasts a more complex history than one might assume at first blush. The business began in the 1960s in Indianapolis, Indiana, launched by its Founder, Owner, and long-time President, Mike Walsh, a young swim coach at the time. With a young family, and looking to improve his fortunes, Walsh identified a gap in the swimming market when it came to obtaining important equipment like swim caps, buoys, and competition products. He then decided to open Mike’s Swim & Gym as an equipment distributor and spent the next two decades steadily building it.
It was in the 1980s that Walsh saw an opportunity for his company to become a manufacturer as well as a distributor, which allowed it to grow even further, morphing into Recreonics, a one-stop shop pool equipment supplier that became known across the United States. A decade following this, the company changed its name once more to its current identity: Natare Pools. The change was also internal, as Natare became solely about manufacturing after Walsh split with his business partner; as a result, the partner kept the Recreonics name and still operates that business from Louisville, Kentucky.
Growth continued, and another big change to the Natare identity took place. The business was purchased from Walsh in 2022 by his workforce, making it an employee-owned company, something that came about to reward the employees’ hard work and ensure that its people were being taken care of.
Current President and Chief Executive Officer, Troy Yoder, says everyone in the company shares in the benefits now, including annual profit sharing; becoming employee-owned has further improved performance in an already-motivated workforce. Yoder says that internal operations are handled the Natare way, which boils down to doing a job the right way without making excuses and going the extra mile to make the customer happy.
The Natare workforce also offers design services and consulting for any pool-related project. When it comes to consultation, Sales Manager, Joshua Albertson, notes that these services are something that the company engages in with its clients every day. Everyone at Natare is ready to answer any question or follow up on any interest when it comes to what a customer wants to accomplish.
The current team is what makes the company work so well today, says Albertson, describing the outstanding group of people who are more than just colleagues or co-workers, but more like friends and family, making this a great place to be. He says that the average tenure among the roughly 55 Natare employees is 13 and a half years, an impressive statistic.
Yoder adds that the company has had great luck, especially this decade, in finding good people who are willing to do what it takes to get a project done the Natare way. He believes the company has a strong team of young workers who are eager to travel the country in pursuit of the next project, which translates into wins for the company, the customer, and those employee-owners themselves.
In addition to the combined strength and intellect of the many people that have worked—and still work—here, founder Mike Walsh’s blood, sweat, and tears went into making the company what it is today, Yoder says. This effort was made without selling to outside interests, although Natare still gets those inquiries daily.
According to Albertson, becoming an employee-owned business has helped everyone understand that the happier the customer is, the better the chance Natare will have of working with them again. “As owners, we depend on the next project,” he says. “We are all the boss.”
To be sure, the last four years of employee ownership weren’t always smooth sailing. Early in the new phase of the company’s story, Yoder says that the challenge was getting Natare’s people to buy into the idea instead of simply leaving things up to a leader figure. Since then, it has been a continually positive experience for Yoder and everyone to see the company’s progress as well as the workers’ excitement. Even clients comment on how the care, detail, and precision of the workforce has improved from its already-high standard.
Beyond its continuing internal evolution, the main way the company has grown in the past decade is through the volume of work it is taking on. “We have the infrastructure in place to handle a lot of varied projects at one time,” Albertson says, something that could not have been said even as recently as five or six years ago but is possible now that the company has the right people in place. As these projects are not all in the same phase of development at the same time, Natare has the capacity to work through each one, whether a project is in the production, fabrication, or installation stage.
Indeed, Natare Pools has a busy docket at this time. The number of projects on the go, as well as their complexity of scope and vision, is interesting, Albertson says. As the world is ever-changing—and events halfway around the world still affect local operations—there is a strong degree of anticipation over these growing opportunities, and there will always be something to work on for the long-lived business. Yoder says that the swimming pool industry is moving, and the number of opportunities is not slowing down.
Along the way, Natare Pools has built not only its skill set but considerable recognition from both its industry and the local communities that benefit from its projects. The company has even netted a few awards for its consistent effort and attentive work ethic.
Looking ahead to the latter half of the decade, Natare Pools sees no need to reinvent itself—only to continue building on the foundation that has carried the company for more than six decades. That means refining its products and processes, embracing opportunities as they arise, and continually finding ways to make a strong operation even better. As Albertson puts it, “If things can get even one percent better, then everyone benefits in the end.”
That philosophy reflects much of what has defined Natare throughout its evolution: a willingness to adapt without losing sight of what matters most. From its beginnings as a small distributor to its emergence as a leading manufacturer of complete aquatic systems, the company has grown by recognizing opportunities, investing in its capabilities, and putting people at the center of its success.
Yoder half-jokingly says that the goal moving forward will be to keep heads above water. Behind the humor is a straightforward commitment: manage every lead and project as effectively as possible, continue delivering products and services to the highest standard, and remain responsive to the customers and communities that have helped shape the company’s journey. For Natare Pools, staying true to the Natare way is about continuing to move forward together, one project at a time.
