Class of 2008:: The Young Family, W.F. Young

Charles Young was certainly dubious about his son Wilbur’s decision to abandon a fairly successful career selling pianos to launch another one in the business of making liniment for horses and, eventually, people. In fact, as a condition for loaning his son $500 to take his venture to the next level, the elder Young required that Charles place the letters ‘p,’ ‘d,’ and ‘f’ next to his name in correspondence and advertisements for his products. They stood for ‘Pa’s Darn Fool.’

To say that Wilbur Young would prove his father wrong would be a gross understatement. With his wife, Mary Ida, Wilbur started making horse liniment in a tub in their farmhouse kitchen, would go on to create one of the more recognizable brands in health care — Absorbine Jr. — and even coined the phrase ‘athlete’s foot’ in the process of marketing one of their later creations. The company they grew together, W.F. Young, has been a fixture in Greater Springfield, and a major employer, for more than a century.

It all started with a product called Absorbine Veterinary Liniment, a blend of herbs and essential oils that, Wilbur Young would come to discover, would keep a horse from going lame while gently reducing swelling and stiffness. This was the somewhat accidental creation that showed enough promise to make Young want to quit piano sales go into business for himself. But it was another discovery — that the product worked just as well as humans — that allowed the business venture to really take off. That product would come to be called Absorbine Jr. Antiseptic Liniment. It was brought to the marketplace in 1903, and it’s been in continuous production ever since.

Its subsequent success forced Wilbur Young to expand his fledgling business and its production facilities, and for the capital to do so he turned to his somewhat reluctant father. He parlayed what amounted to a business loan into a thriving enterprise that has developed a wide array of products for animals and humans, with a track record of innovation that continues today, with CEO and President Tyler Young, fourth-generation manager, at the helm. The company typically introduces between five to 10 new products a year, with recent additions including new insect repellants for horses and an amino-acid supplement that helps provide strength and stamina in horses while supporting lean muscles.

More than a decade ago, the company transitioned out of manufacturing and now bills itself as a virtual marketing company. Production of the entire network of brands is outsourced throughout the U.S.; the operations department of the company manages production from the company headquarters in East Longmeadow. After 80-plus years in Springfield, the company moved to its new offices in the East Longmeadow Industrial Park in 2000.

For nearly 120 years of innovation — and for proving Charles Young wrong — the Western Massachusetts Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame proudly inducts the Young family into the Class of 2008.