Company
HISTORY
The company was formed in Portland in 1937 by Wayne Janes. Erwin “Bud” Braley joined the company in 1941 and the company acquired the business name of Janes & Braley. The company represented the Sloan Valve Company and the National Steel Corporation, which was acquired and became part of AO Smith. Don Gray was the National Sales Manager for National Steel until his departure, when he joined Bud Braley in 1969. The company name of "Braley-Gray & Associates" was established in mid 1969 shortly after Don joined the firm, and our territory grew to include Boise/SW Idaho.
In 1975, Pat Files joined Bud and Don until Bud retired in 1982. Bud passed away in 1983 and Pat acquired his share of the company. Together, Pat and Don began to shape the company into what it is today. Representation of several additional long-time manufacturers began during Pat’s early years including Jay R. Smith and Acorn Engineering (1982). Pat’s philosophy of writing strong specifications and out-servicing the competition earned some fiercely loyal customers.
In 1990, Pat’s son Tom began working full-time for the company. In 1996, he began a 4 year buyout of his father and became the primary owner of Braley-Gray in Portland. Shortly after, Pat and Tom launched the Seattle operation, known as Commercial Application Sales. Pat was the managing partner for the Seattle office until his retirement in 2005.
Success continued for both offices with sales growth and additional product offerings. AB&I Foundry was added for Oregon, Washington, and Alaska.
In 2006, the Boise office was opened with the first brick and mortar representative building in the area. What began with a resident sales manager, the office added Jay R. Smith and Sloan inventory as well as additional personnel. In 2008, the Boise office began representation of the AB&I product line.
Also in 2006 (in Seattle) Greg Skaggs began to acquire the shares of Pat Files and became managing partner for the Seattle operation. Later that year, the decision was made to change the name of the operation to Braley-Gray Washington. This change has allowed us to better market our company throughout the Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska territories.
In late 2007, Orion Fittings made Braley-Gray Washington their representative for Western Washington and Alaska.
Today, we currently represent 13 different manufacturers. Our philosophy is to represent manufacturers that strive to be leaders in their respective businesses. We will add additional manufacturers in the future if there is a good fit philosophically and if it fits into our business model.