On Monday, December 4, HdL Companies Founder Bob Hinderliter passed from pancreatic cancer. Bob passed peacefully, and during the last months of his life, looking back, he felt most grateful for the full life he led. His greatest joy came from being a husband, father and grandfather. He was also a successful entrepreneur and proud of the business he founded and how it had grown to positively impact hundreds of local government agencies across the nation. Bob is survived by his wife Debbie, his three children Matt, Lisa, and Paula, and seven grandchildren.
“Bob made an incredible impact on local government and created a tremendous company and team of people who owe a deep debt of gratitude to Bob. Bob was a mentor and friend to me personally, and he will be dearly missed,” commented Andy Nickerson, president of HdL Companies. “From the entire HdL family, our condolences are extended to the Hinderliter family. We endeavor to carry out his legacy in our work everyday at the firm.”
Bob’s founding of the company and its pathway to success involves legends of the industry and weaves together luminaries of California local government.
In August 1983, after working for ten years as the city manager of Commerce, Robert “Bob” Hinderliter, 42 years old, resigned from his post to begin a new career in the private sector. Bob believed that cities were failing to utilize sales tax data to their best advantage, and by the fall of 1983 he had developed the first computerized sales tax data program devoted exclusively to analyzing California sales tax allocations. On October 12, 1983 the firm, Robert Hinderliter & Associates, was awarded its first contract with the City of Monterey Park where Lloyd de Llamas was the city manager.
It was in early 1985, with eleven more cities having been added to the client list, that an article about the company was published in the Los Angeles Times. The Times article was noticed by Dick Nevins, a Board Member at the State Board of Equalization representing the 4th District that included much of the Los Angeles basin where Bob’s clients were located. Mr. Nevins liked to make presentations to City Council members in his District and share some of his unique insights on the SBE’s closely guarded sales tax data. When Mr. Nevins read about cities sharing their confidential sales tax data with Bob’s company, he drafted letters to all of Bob’s clients informing them that they could no longer provide him with the confidential information.
Soon after, Bob, and two of his clients; City managers Frank Tripepi and Jack Simpson met with Mr. Nevins to try and broker a compromise, but Nevins refused. Without access to the data, Robert Hinderliter & Associates would be out of business.
For the next six months, Bob, with the help of Frank Tripepi, Jack Simpson and lobbyist Joe Gonsalves worked on legislation (AB1611 – Author: Dominic Cortese) that would allow consultants to have access to the confidential sales tax data if they were so authorized by the local governments they served.
In July 1985, Governor George Deukmejian signed AB 1611, which amended section 7056 of the State Statute. If not for this legislation, HdL would likely not exist today.
In 1987, Lloyd de Llamas purchased 50% of the company and the firm’s name was changed to Hinderliter, de Llamas & Associates – later known as HdL Companies. The two partners had complementary skill sets which strongly contributed to the company’s success. Through the combined hard work and ingenuity of Bob and Lloyd the firm grew rapidly, while continually staying focused on hiring talented staff and providing outstanding customer service – priorities which continue to be hallmarks of the organization today.
Donations in Bob’s honor can be made to:
Friends of the Seal Beach Library
707 Electric Avenue
Seal Beach, CA 90740
Tax ID# 95-328558