News

Industry Loses Former HP Products Owner

Donald “Ames” Shuel, former owner of HP Products Corp., passed away September 9, 2022. He was 86 years old.

Shuel was born on July 5, 1936, in Princeton, Indiana. After graduating from Indiana University and serving as a 2nd lieutenant in the U.S. Army, Ames purchased HP Chemical in 1964. He later renamed the company to HP Products and gradually expanded the company through a series of 13 acquisitions to become the largest independent industrial supply distributor in the Midwest. Shuel helmed HP Products until 2014, when he sold the company.

For nearly 50 years, Shuel was an active leader in the cleaning industry, serving on advisory councils for such companies as Scott Paper Co., SC Johnson, and Spartan Chemical Co. Inc. He was also a member of the board of directors for Triple S. In 1988, Shuel was named Entrepreneur of the Year by the Kelley Business School at Indiana University, and in 2011, the university named their new athletic center, the D. Ames Shuel Academic Center. Shuel was inducted into the Indiana Business Hall of Fame in 2016.