With no money available to fuel his ambitions, Dave chose to pursue a variety of sales positions until he could save enough money to start his own business. At that time, he was offered an opportunity with Haden Company in Dallas, Texas to begin learning the sales and production side of the sports construction business. In July of 1975, Dave established Ponder Company in Lubbock, Texas as a sole proprietorship. The goal of Dave’s venture with Ponder Co. was to establish an honest, reliable, and debt-free company that would act as a consultant to churches, schools and other government agencies for their sports surfacing needs.
It was at this time that Dave discovered Robbins Inc., then newly acquired by the Stoehr family, and began two years of negotiations to become the sports flooring specialist for West Texas. In 1978, to expand sales and better cover the region, Ponder Company opened an office in Amarillo, Texas. Dave moved to Amarillo and spent the next two years establishing Ponder Co., as the only sports surfacing specialist in West Texas. Dave then began expanding Ponder Companies’ product line to include factory -direct wood and residential flooring lines, specialty equipment including sauna and whirlpoool equipment, hot tubs, folding doors, and commercial kitchens for commercial and residential use; Pro-Gym carpet by Collins and Aikman, and a variety of other indoor and outdoor synthetic running track surfaces.
In 1979 as racquetball was increasing in popularity, Robbins asked Ponder Company to become their racquetball specialist for West Texas. Ponder spent the next year learning the racquetball business and expanding their market share in other lines. In 1980, Robbins encouraged Ponder Co. to expand its racquetball court coverage to the Dallas and east Texas markets. Ponder found great success selling and installing racquetball courts in the early 1980s. In 1983, Robbins asked Ponder to take over all North Texas for their sports surface products and Ponder Co. opened its Dallas office in 1983. In 1983, Dave established Ponder Co. Inc., with himself as president and Frank Mooney as vice-president. Ponder Co. then spent the next few years establishing and developing its business model.
Since this time, Dave Ponder and Ponder Company have successfully operated in the entire North Texas market and have expanded to also cover Colorado and Wyoming. Dave Ponder is a fixture in the Robbins dealer network and the entire industry. Dave has made a significant impact, not just on the company he has developed, but on the entire industry.