Connections - Fall 2012

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Education Connection Fund Scholarship Winners

FA L L 2 0 1 2

CONNECTIONS Outdoor ADVENTURES True Stories Of

Monster Fishing And More

Improving Perfection GETTING HOOKED ON LAKE OF THE WOODS

LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

DSG

On The Grow W.A. Roosevelt & MDM Supply

Join The DSG Team

ON THE COVER |

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DSG ADDS W.A. ROOSEVELT AND MDM SUPPLY

DSG is growing, and that means The Power Of We is getting even stronger.

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OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

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EDUCATION CONNECTIONS

We love the outdoors as much as anyone, and the proof is right here. Check out three pulse-pounding stories of action, danger and gravity-defying mountain goats.

The DSG Education Connection Fund helps students to get ready for the trade industries. Catch up with three of our past recipients, and find out where the trades are taking them.

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IMPROVING ON PERFECTION

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THE MONSON FAMILY LIVES LIFE IN THE FAST LANE

Take a trip to northern Minnesota and enjoy some of the world’s best fishing. Whether you’re in search of trophy walleye or just an escape from everyday life, Ballard’s Resort on Lake of the Woods makes any trip something special.

For employee-owner Stan Monson, drag racing is a family affair.

PROFILES |

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COOL CUSTOMERS

Sometimes big jobs need big ideas to make them a success. When a fresh-produce distributor in Wisconsin needed to cool a gigantic new warehouse, DSG/W.A. Roosevelt was on the case.

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METER READING ON THE MOVE

Great things happen when utilities work smarter, not harder. Read about three cities that are finding out how productive you can be when you have the time.

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CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

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WHEN FIBER CAME HOME

Meet one of the innovators responsible for bringing fiber-optic broadband to the world.

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BUILDING FAITH

Read about an inspirational project that took teamwork to become a reality.

51 FROM AUSTRIA TO AMERICA: 300

YEARS OF POWERFUL PRODUCTS

What do utility companies have to do with 14th century weaponry? You might be surprised!

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FIXTURES | Editorials Welcome Additions – Tom Rosendahl......................................................................4 The Speed Of Sound – Todd Eber.......................................................................... 55

Meet The DSG Team Mike Tupa – Fargo, ND........................................................................................ 6 Plumbing Quotations Team................................................................................. 11 Sunday Rivals................................................................................................... 14 Dan Miller – St. Paul, MN................................................................................. 17 John Gearman – Sioux Falls, SD ......................................................................... 21 HVAC Quotations Team..................................................................................... 25 Tom Urbanek – La Crosse, WI.............................................................................. 30 Stan Monson – Aberdeen, SD............................................................................... 41 Brian Adam – Sioux Falls, SD............................................................................. 49

Grow Your Business Don’t Be Afraid To Raise Your Hourly Service Rate................................................... 8 Should I Hire A Consultant?............................................................................... 26 You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure – The Power Of Remote Energy Monitoring............................................................... 31 When Can I Retire? Five Tips For Finding Your Magic Number................................ 44

News Wire Technology Is Everywhere – Even The Bathroom...................................................... 16 Putting Water To Work: DSG Opens New Waterworks Branch In Bismarck, ND.......... 39 Delivering On The Promise.................................................................................. 39 The DSG Portal Gets An Upgrade......................................................................... 50 DSG Takes Home Two TED Awards!..................................................................... 50

The Power Of We At DSG Making Connections........................................................................................... 38

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EDITORIALS |

Welcome Additions

Tom Rosendahl DSG PRESIDENT

4

CONNECTIONS MAGAZINE You may not have ever thought of it, but this publication is your magazine. It exists solely to bring you important information, and to share a little bit about the culture here at DSG. As with everything we do, Connections was developed to give you an advantage in your business.

People talk to me now and then about Connections, and sometimes they even mention something they like or wish was included. But we’d like more feedback. In fact, we’d like everything from story ideas to input on columns like Tom’s Current. The more we hear from our readers/ customers, the better Connections will become. Please take a few moments to share your thoughts with us, whether they are new ideas or constructive criticisms. Either way, it helps us to improve this magazine.

➜

This issue of Connections is all about excitement. It’s exciting to catch a trophy fish on Lake of the Woods (believe it or not, I’ve actually done it once or twice!). It’s exciting to come face-to-face with a mountain lion in the wild. That kind of adrenaline-pumping adventure is why so many of us love the great outdoors.

I’m lucky because my job is exciting, too (at least on most days).

Every morning I get up knowing that I have the privilege of helping someone to build something. Sometimes it’s literally building a home or office (by supplying the right materials for the job), but many times it’s building a business instead. By putting The Power Of We to work for our customers, I get to see firsthand how a partnership that is focused on success can help everybody grow.

That’s exciting in its own right, but this issue of Connections brings news that makes our work here even more compelling: by adding W.A. Roosevelt in Wisconsin and MDM Supply in Montana, DSG has added even more knowledge (especially in plumbing and HVAC/R), more service area, more buying power and even more Power Of We! Our singular goal has always been to help our customers succeed, and now we’ve stacked the deck to do just that.

While it’s certainly true that the DSG family is getting bigger (nearly 600 employee owners now), it’s more important that our family is getting better. Every expert we add, every new delivery route we create, every bit of influence we can use to make your order something special – everything comes together to give our partners an advantage in today’s competitive economy.

Please join us in giving a big DSG “welcome” to everyone at W.A. Roosevelt and MDM Supply, from customers to employee owners. The excitement is building, and I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together!

Tell Us What You Want In Your

You can give us your feedback at www.dakotasupplygroup.com/ connections. I look forward to hearing from you!

A

R

DSG Adds W.A. Roosevelt And MDM Supply DSG has expanded its service area by partnering with W.A. Roosevelt in Wisconsin and MDM Supply in Montana. Both moves add a strong background in plumbing and HVAC/R to the DSG family.

W.A. Roosevelt is a pioneering distributor of plumbing, electrical, HVAC and refrigeration products with locations in La Crosse, Madison, New Berlin, Plover and Rice Lake, WI. The company officially became part of the DSG family in the spring of 2012 and has already proven to be a significant resource for customers. The experts at W.A. Roosevelt have energized DSG with their knowledge of the HVAC/R industry – in particular, the

Minot Williston Grand Forks

Kalispell Missoula

ins and outs of refrigeration, a unique discipline that the Wisconsin company has come to specialize in over the years.

MDM Supply brings its own distinct set of benefits to the DSG team. A full-line wholesale plumbing supply company with locations in Helena, Kalispell, Bozeman and Missoula, MT, MDM Supply built its business on plumbing, HVAC/R and industrial PVF. Not only does the company supply pipes, valves and fittings to the

Helena

Bismarck

Aberdeen

Bozeman

ID

FARGO

Rapid City

Pierre Mitchell Sioux Falls

Bemidji Alexandria

waterworks industry, but also to the oil industry. As the demand for these products continues to grow in DSG’s western North Dakota markets (thanks to the Bakken Formation), this expertise will become invaluable when combined with DSG’s deep knowledge of the electrical and automation solutions that the petroleum industry has come to rely on.

In both new undertakings, current staff will not be changed.

Instead, they will become employee owners in DSG’s employee stock ownership program (ESOP). Customers will experience “business as usual,” but should expect “business as better than usual” as the synergy of these three distribution powerhouses comes together.

If you have questions about the collaboration of DSG and W.A. Roosevelt or MDM Supply, please feel free to speak to your local representative. You can also drop us an email via the DSG web site at www.dakotasupplygroup.com/ contact-us.

MI

Rice Lake St. Paul Burnsville

Plover La Crosse New Berlin Madison

IL

DSG W.A. Roosevelt MDM Supply Corporate Office

MEET THE DSG TEAM |

An Interview With Mike Tupa,

DSG’S NEW CSO

35+ years with DSG // Served as: Electrical Segment Manager, Branch Manager – DSG Fargo, Outside Sales Associate

Q – What was going through your mind when

DSG named you Chief Segment Officer?

A – Do I want to do this at this stage of my career?

Joking aside, this is pretty exciting. I’ve been

fortunate enough to do a number of different

things at DSG. I learned a lot from working with

the National Association of Electrical Distributors

(NAED) as the Electrical Segment Manager, and

I’m looking forward to sharing these “best

practices” with our other segments. Not every

industry has an organization like NAED. Q – What does a typical day as a CSO look like?

A – I think it will change every day, but a big part of my

job will be helping employee owners to become

more hands-on with taking the company to the

next level.

Q – Being the CSO is an important job, but

you prefer to share the credit for your

accomplishments. Tell us about that.

A – I’ve been fortunate to be a part of this company

for 35 years, and I’ve seen it grow and evolve.

My biggest accomplishment has been working with a great team. It’s not about one person.

I’m proud of what we’ve achieved together.

Q – As the new CSO, you probably have a lot

of goals in mind. Which do you want to

tackle first?

A – I’d like Segment Managers to look at things

strategically, much like I do. First, we’ll determine

what we are trying to accomplish in each market,

then we’ll break everything down to make sure

we have the right tools in place. We’re going to

identify each segment’s unique strengths – then

we’re going to share those strengths to make

all of our segments stronger.

Q – Who will you count on most to help you

achieve your goals?

A – I’ll count on the Segment Managers to make a

lot of decisions. They’re going to be a valuable

resource for our sales team.

GROW YOUR BUSINESS |

DON’T BE AFRAID TO RAISE YOUR

Hourly Service Rate BASED ON AN ARTICLE PROVIDED BY GRANDY & ASSOCIATES If you’ve ever walked through the process of determining your hourly rate – evaluating the hard costs of doing business, the salary and benefits you want to pay your team, your own salary and the overall net profit of your company – you are likely to find that you need to increase your hourly service rate. Naturally, this can manifest a number of concerns – specifically the worry that you may lose customers if you do.

Don’t fret. It won’t happen.

Most customers are not buying from you based on price, but instead based on your relationship. That is, if you do quality work, meet and exceed expectations and provide a high level of customer service (which includes being punctual), price will be an afterthought in their minds.

If you’re still uneasy about it, here’s an exercise

that may help give you the confidence you need to increase your rates.

A good first step is to take a look at what your competitors are charging. Put each rate in order from highest to lowest, including your own rate.

The objective is for your

Nearly every contractor has raised their rates.

Sometimes it’s by a couple of dollars, and sometimes it’s $10 or more. But I’ve never had a person come back and say that they’ve had problems with their customers because of it.”

– TOM GRANDY company’s hourly rate to eventually be within 90 percent of the highest rate in town. Now, if the highest rate in town is quite a bit above yours (more than $20), you may be thinking that this is impossible. The trick is to make gradual increases in your hourly rate. Increasing $5 every three months can mean a big difference for your company with only a small impact on your customers.

Still concerned? Tom Grandy, founder and president of Grandy & Associates, a leading business consultant for contractors and the trade industries, has been conducting seminars and workshops on labor pricing and cash flow budgeting for more than 25 years, including DSG’s P4 Learning Lab. He’s talked

with thousands of contractors, business owners and managers about increasing their hourly rates. “I usually see attendees from my labor pricing seminar later on at my cash flow budgeting workshop, and I always ask them if they’ve made any changes since our session,” says Grandy. “Nearly every contractor has raised their rates.

Sometimes it’s by a couple of dollars, and sometimes it’s $10 or more. But I’ve never had a person come back and say that they’ve had problems with their customers because of it.”

Still a little nervous? Keep in mind that the fear associated with raising your rates does not come from your customers; it comes from within your own company. Assuming the customer will not pay a certain

rate is one of the biggest mistakes a business owner can make. On the contrary, customers will oftentimes pay what you want them to if you simply bill them properly.

Still scared? Don’t be.

Simply find out what you need to charge per hour to stay in business, and charge it. To undercharge is a formula for disaster. Don’t let the fear factor of raising your rates keep you from becoming a profitable business.

If you would like to learn more about labor pricing, consider attending DSG’s P4 Learning Labs held in February through March of 2013.

Visit www.dakotasupplygroup.com/university-of-dsg to learn more.

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FALL 2012 | CONNECTIONS

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MEET THE DSG TEAM |

Restructured For Success DSG’s Plumbing Quotations Department has revamped how it’s taking care of business, and that means great things for DSG’s plumbing customers.

With the acquisition of W.A. Roosevelt, DSG took the opportunity to rethink how it developed quotations for plumbing projects. The result was a strategy that emphasizes professional-looking, detailed, on-time quotes. In addition, DSG customers can now count on the combined knowledge of three of DSG’s most experienced plumbing specialists.

“Our team knows the plumbing industry better than anyone,” says Ryan Tracy, plumbing segment

manager at DSG. “They’ve pooled together their best strategies and techniques for quoting, and they do an outstanding job of taking off projects with extreme accuracy, while streamlining communications to contractors across our trade area.”

In addition, this new quotation system allows DSG locations to get involved with plumbing products, solutions and projects that they may not have been able to offer before. That means customers will have opportunities to take advantage of more products and projects, no matter where they are located.

The DSG Plumbing Quotations Team STEVE SHAWDA

e | sshawda@dsginc.biz p | (605) 348-7100

Steve Shawda has been a part of the DSG team since 1973. He has spent more than 24 years estimating and bidding projects for plumbing professionals.

TIM SOYER

e | tsoyer@dsginc.biz p | (605) 782-4910

Tim Soyer has worked in the plumbing industry for more than 25 years, and he has more than 20 years of experience in quotations and estimating.

BOB KLAR

e | bklar@dsginc.biz p | (608) 781-8369

Bob Klar joined DSG/W.A. Roosevelt in 1976. He spent much of his time quoting projects as an outside salesman and officially moved to the quotations department in 2011.

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COOL Chuck Kammel and the Zero Zone rack system at Russ Davis Wholesale in La Crosse, WI.

CUSTOMERS When you buy fruits and vegetables from the grocery store, do you ever wonder where they came from or how they got there? Most people don’t think about all the steps and people involved in getting their produce from the farm to the fridge. For those who shop in the Upper Midwest, your produce may have come from Russ Davis Wholesale – and it’s possible that if you shop in

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CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

Wisconsin, Coulee Refrigeration and DSG/W.A. Roosevelt may have had a hand in keeping it fresh for you.

Russ Davis Wholesale is an employee-owned fresh-produce wholesale distributor. When it was looking to build its fifth full-service warehouse, located in La Crosse, WI, its building contractor approached DSG/ W.A. Roosevelt to help with the cooler rooms and refrigeration

components. “Getting the products was not a problem,” says Robert McKinnon, HVAC/R inside sales specialist at DSG/ W.A. Roosevelt, “and we had just the contractor to install it.

I called Chuck Kammel, and he was immediately on board.”

Chuck Kammel owns Coulee Refrigeration. Established in 1998, Coulee Refrigeration is an HVAC/R contractor based out of Sparta, WI. With nearly

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Left to right: Chuck Kammel, owner of Coulee Refrigeration; Tom Urbanek, Plumbing and HVAC/R territory sales manager; and Robert McKinnon, HVAC/R inside sales specialist.

90 percent of its business being commercial work, Coulee Refrigeration has worked on everything from hospitals to hockey rinks in a 75-mile radius of Sparta.

The Russ Davis Wholesale project would be one for the record books, as it was the largest refrigeration project in history for both Coulee Refrigeration and DSG/W.A. Roosevelt. “We installed more than 16,000 feet of copper,” says Kammel. “That’s about three miles,” adds McKinnon.

Coulee Refrigeration started installing the copper piping in April 2012. “Our main challenge was just getting a project of this size done,” says Kammel. “We installed the overhead copper piping first and then ran the piping into the compressor room. Once the refrigeration equipment arrived, we were

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ready for it.” The cooler project finished up in June 2012 – just three months after it began.

One of the biggest decisions made with this project was to utilize a staged rack system instead of a single-unit system. The rack system used in the Russ Davis Wholesale facility utilizes two sets of five compressors, each headered into its own suction line that runs to its own condenser, housed outside of the building.

The system then cools the facility as needed in three different rooms – to 35°F, 45°F and 55°F, respectively. “The rack system has more flexibility than single compressor units, and I think this kind of system performs better,” says Kammel.

“If a compressor was to go down, another one would kick in to back it up, so you could replace it without

disrupting service.”

To build the racks, DSG/W.A. Roosevelt looked to Zero Zone, a leading manufacturer of frozen and refrigerated cases and systems located in Ramsey, MN (near the Twin Cities). The system is operated with a CPC controller and can be managed remotely.

Russ Davis Wholesale’s new facility is up and running, and the end result has been a positive one for everyone involved. “We experienced one of the hottest summers we’ve had in a long time,” says McKinnon, “and everything has performed great.”

With a refrigeration project of this size under its belt, Kammel and Coulee Refrigeration are looking forward to teaming up with DSG/W.A. Roosevelt to tackle more big jobs in the future.

FALL 2012 | CONNECTIONS

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MEET THE DSG TEAM |

SUNDAY

RI VALS While DSG prides itself on teamwork, connections and The Power Of We, a different story can be told when it comes to professional football. Since DSG’s service area mostly covers states where fans follow the Minnesota Vikings or the Green Bay Packers, friendly rivalries have shown up in many locations. The recent addition of W.A. Roosevelt locations in Wisconsin only added fuel to the fire.

In order to have a little fun with this gridiron feud, we decided to focus a little bit of this issue on the history of the Packers-Vikings rivalry, along with a few of DSG and W.A. Roosevelt’s most die-hard fans.

The relationship between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers is one of the most intense rivalries in the National Football League. Many rivalries evolve thanks to a degree of closeness – in proximity and accomplishment – and in those regards, there are few professional sports franchises that are closer. In fact, the difference in most major football statistics between these two storied organizations (yards, points, turnovers, wins, etc.) features some of the closest margins of all time. In particular, head-to-head meetings of these two teams throughout

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CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

history have almost always been competitive – even when one squad should be vastly superior.

There are a few key factors from the very beginning that served as catalysts for this heated rivalry. The obvious one being location. As neighboring states, a natural competitiveness between Minnesota and Wisconsin already existed. When the Vikings entered the NFL in 1961, many people in these two states had a tough choice to make.

Football friends became rivals, and Packers and Vikings fans have had a contentious relationship ever since.

Leadership, as it always does, also played a significant role. The first coach of the Vikings was Norm Van Brocklin. He had just retired as a player, but not before beating the Packers in the NFL Championship the year before (quarterbacking the Philadelphia Eagles).

Legendary Packers coach Vince Lombardi took offense to the Vikings’ head coaching decision and became obsessed with beating the Vikings – which they did quite often in the 1960s.

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GREGG MILLER DSG Operations Manager St. Paul, MN

Favorite player of all time: Over the next five decades – in more than 100 meetings – the rivalry has become even more powerful with these memorable moments:

1972

With the temperature near zero, the Packers clinch the division, despite being underdogs for the game.

Packers win 23-7.

1998

Randy Moss makes his Monday Night Football debut, dominating the Packers with five catches for 190 yards and two touchdowns. Vikings win 37-24.

2000

Antonio Freeman and Cris Dishman partake in what some call the “Immaculate Deflection,” where Freeman makes a catch off his body while laying on the ground and scores the game-winning touchdown in overtime. Packers win 26-20.

2009

Brett Favre plays his first game against the Packers as a Viking, wearing a throwback uniform and helping Monday Night Football earn one of the highest ratings in cable television history. Vikings win 38-26.

The all-time series standings sit with Green Bay leading 53-48-1. The Vikings lead in playoff standings, winning the only postseason game the two teams have ever played in 2005.

Carl Eller

Coolest piece of memorabilia:

Autographed pennant from the 80s

Prediction for 12/2 matchup: Vikings win 21-7

STEVE HOLSTEIN

Lighting Quotations – St. Paul, MN

Coolest piece of memorabilia: Piece of the Frozen Tundra (Lambeau Field)

Favorite Packers memory:

Shaking hands with Bart Starr in the parking lot after a game

Prediction for 12/2 matchup: Packers win 34-14

ROBERT MCKINNON HVAC/R Inside Sales La Crosse, WI

Favorite player of all time: Cris Carter

Favorite Vikings memory:

Being in the end zone when Favre throws Greg Lewis the game-winning touchdown pass versus the 49ers

Prediction for 12/2 matchup: Vikings win 27-24

BRIAN ANDERSON HVAC/R, Plumbing Inside Sales La Crosse, WI

Favorite player of all time: Ray Nitschke

Coolest piece of memorabilia:

Autographed picture of Ray Nitschke

Prediction for 12/2 matchup: Packers win 31-9

NEWS WIRE |

Technology Is Everywhere –

Even The Bathroom!

Bathrooms have always been a top remodeling project for homeowners. While we used to upgrade our washrooms with more space, fancy fixtures and new appliances, today many people are using something new: technology.

In fact, today’s smartphone and tablet users often bring them along on trips to the restroom.

USA Today describes the trend as iBathrooms – high-tech washrooms with advanced interactivity built in. Don’t be surprised if you see some of these cool advances when you visit the restroom at a dinner party in the next few years.

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•

Programmable Showers & Audio-hydrotherapy – These shower systems allow you to create a personalized program for temperature and pressure, and include built-in speakers for personalized tunes. There are even tub systems that vibrate with the music.

•

TV Mirrors & Medicine Cabinets – Now no one ever has to miss the big game for that much needed bathroom break. Mirrors and medicine cabinets with built-in TVs are a reality.

CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

•

Bidet Docking Stations – Just in case you thought bidets couldn’t get any fancier, some of these elaborate stools now feature heated seats and warm-water cleansing, plus speakers and a smartphone docking station.

Sooner or later, technology was bound to make it into the bathroom. After all, running water was once “cutting edge” itself. As always, DSG is watching these trends – and looking for opportunities for our partners to put these ideas to work.

Source: www.USAtoday.com

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MEET THE DSG TEAM |

An Interview With Dan Miller,

DSG’S NEW COO

3+ years with DSG // Served as: Branch Manager – DSG St. Paul, CEO – Shelter Supply, VP Sales & Operations – Honeywell

Q – Why did DSG add the position of

Chief Operations Officer?

A – To continue DSG’s accelerated growth path,

with four generations of workers, requires an

organization that is optimized for speed with

a high degree of knowledge sharing – best

practices – focused on creating exceptional

customer encounters. In 2011, a committee

driven by employee owners reviewed our old

organization chart and created a new circular

one, modeled from world-class companies like

Apple and Disney, to address these challenges

and with it, the new positions of COO and CSO. Q – What was going through your mind when

DSG named you COO? A – Excitement! DSG is a great company, and I was

thinking what a tremendous honor to be in a

position to serve both our employee owners and

customer partners in driving our continued

success in this newly created leadership role.

Q – As the new COO, you probably have a lot

of goals in mind. Which do you want to

tackle first?

A – Several come to mind immediately ...

One – successful implementation of barcode

scanning in all locations. Two – ensuring our

franchise processes – Delivery on Promise –

are implemented and provide DSG competitive

advantages. And three – better utilization

of technology and processes to connect

knowledge workers, regardless of location,

to local customers’ needs.

Q – Who will you count on most to help you

achieve your goals?

A – Everyone. We have so many great employee

owners here at DSG, and they are all crucial

to our success.

Q – What changes can customers expect with

the addition of your new position?

A – For customers, they will see more value in

working with DSG as their preferred partner –

both in consistency of great services and better

solutions leveraged from the knowledge of

our expanding organization. I love working

with customers and will continue to be an

advocate for our successful partnerships.

Outdoor

Adventures

True stories

LION

TAMING

It was late November, and Dic Chiolis, electrical account manager at DSG in Rapid City, SD, learned that a friend was studying mountain lions for the Game, Fish and Parks Department as part of his doctorate studies. Chiolis was thrilled when his friend gave him the opportunity to tag along on one of his trips

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CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

from DSG employee owners into Custer State Park.

On their first night out, things began slowly. The two men drank coffee in the pickup and waited. After a few hours, the snare alarm went off, and they piled out of the truck with their adrenaline pumping.

Male mountain lions can weigh up to 180 pounds and can be 8 feet long from nose to tail. Chiolis and his friend found a female in the snare, but it was still massive.

In fact, females can weigh 140 pounds, and this one was not happy. She snarled at the two men as they called a local biologist who would administer a tranquilizer.

Chiolis remembers how closely he watched the animal as they waited. “She was huge, and I wanted to make sure that she stayed put.”

Once the animal was sedated, the men lifted her onto a soft pillow, performed some tests and fitted her with a radio

collar. Chiolis noticed four cubs watching closely from the hillside as their mother slept.

My friend just told me to go back to the truck, which I gladly did. But I kept an eye on that cat. In my mind, she was going to pounce any second.”

Soon, the biologist administered a shot to reverse the effects of the tranquilizer.

The professionals asked Chiolis if he wanted a few photos with the cat as it regained consciousness. After a few snapshots with the reclining mountain lion, Chiolis stood up to call it a night. As a final picture was taken, the cat stood up as well, right beside Dic Chiolis.

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“My eyes were huge in that picture,” he laughs. “My friend just told me to go back to the truck, which I gladly did. But I kept an eye on that cat. In my mind, she was going to pounce any second.”

Chiolis made it to the truck safely (as his companions laughed hysterically), and the mountain lion slowly returned to her cubs. Chiolis would eventually help with several other mountain lion captures, but he always considered that first night to be the most exciting.

GOAT

DANCING

Belinda Neely is in the clerical department at DSG in Williston, ND. An avid motorcyclist, she

and her boyfriend were riding through the Rocky Mountains outside Gunnison, CO, a few years ago when they got the surprise of their lives.

Knowing that mountain goats frequented that area, Neely’s eyes were fixed on the sheer rock walls that framed the road.

As she rode on the back of the bike, she hoped to catch sight of the spry creatures as they hopped along the steep cliffs.

Suddenly, the motorcycle shook and her boyfriend jerked it under control with a startled sound. “I asked him what happened,” says Neely, “and he asked, ‘Didn’t you see that mountain goat?’” As it turns out, a mountain goat had actually jumped over the riders as they passed. In fact, Neely’s boyfriend raised his arm to deflect the animal, but only managed to graze its belly as it passed overhead.

“I thought he was joking,” Neely admits. “That is, until we pulled over and the cars behind us pulled over, too.” As it turns out, the drivers behind the motorcyclists had witnessed the gymnastic goat as well. One of them asked Neely, “Have you ever danced with a mountain goat before?”

In fact, mountain goats can jump nearly 12 feet in a single bound. Why one chose to perform a daredevil leap over a motorcycle that day – no one

will ever know. “We were very lucky that day,” Neely says. “But it is a story that we love to tell.”

MONSTER

FISHING

DSG President Tom Rosendahl saw an opportunity and took it.

An avid fisherman and hunter, he was headed for a family wedding in Florida and while he was there, he had a lead on the outdoor adventure of a lifetime – an alligator hunt. The father of five sons and one daughter, Rosendahl was always on the lookout for a new experience to share, and this one was just too good to pass up.

In Florida, Rosendahl and two of his sons (including Jase Rosendahl, who currently works at DSG in Bismarck, ND) met the guide at 5 a.m. at a local lake. The guide scoured the water’s surface with a pair of binoculars, watching closely for signs of a gator. It didn’t take long for him to spot a large

19

As he

rocked the

boat, it was

terrifying and

exciting at the same time.”

one, and in moments, the men were speeding across the lake to the spot where the gator had submerged.

Snatch hooks were quickly deployed to catch hold of the monster. Soon the alligator was fighting several of the hooks,

designed not to kill the animal, but merely to wear it down.

Indeed, the gator proceeded to pull the boat with the men inside.

Once the alligator was close enough to the boat, the hunters used a bangstick to shoot it under the water. Enraged, the animal swam away with primal energy, held back only by the men and their hooks. The next time the gator approached the boat, it lunged at the hunters with its huge jaws.

“It was incredible,” Tom Rosendahl remembers. “As he rocked the boat, it was terrifying and exciting at the same time.”

Undeterred, the men used the bangstick again and again. In total, the monster took five

high-caliber shots before it was weak enough to be restrained. The guide expertly used duct tape to secure the beast’s mouth, and before long, the 10.5-foot alligator (who was missing a few feet of his tail – likely from a dispute with another gator) was on the shore. The guide estimated the giant’s weight to be more than 650 pounds, a trophy by any estimation.

The men brought home meat and the gator’s jaws, a reminder of a unique adventure shared by a father and his sons in the dangerous waters of Florida’s wilderness. “I’m glad we went,” says Tom Rosendahl. “We’re going to remember that for the rest of our lives.”

Share your own outdoor adventure at

www.dakotasupplygroup.com/what-we-do/dsg-outdoors/.

MEET THE DSG TEAM |

An Interview With John Gearman, DSG’s New

ELECTRICAL SEGMENT MANAGER 27+ years with DSG // Served as: Branch Manager – DSG Sioux Falls // Also serving as: Automation Segment Manager

Q – How will you juggle roles as Automation

Segment Manager and Electrical

Segment Manager?

A – Staying organized and prioritizing will be key.

Electrical and automation go hand in hand, so

I’ll be able to address both segments together

in a lot of cases.

Q – What was going through your mind

when DSG named you the Electrical

Segment Manager?

A – There was definitely some excitement. I’m

ready to start a new adventure. There’s also

some sadness, too, as I won’t be around the

Sioux Falls branch as much anymore.

Q – Who was the first person you told about

your new position?

A – My wife. It takes a commitment on her part

as well, since I’ll be traveling more.

Q – Becoming the Electrical Segment Manager

is a big accomplishment. What is another

significant achievement that you are

proud of?

A – Becoming the Branch Manager of Sioux

Falls has been one highlight for me. Seeing

the branch grow into what it is today, with

the people we have – there’s a level of

satisfaction there.

Q – As the new Electrical Segment Manager, you

probably have a lot of goals in mind. Which

do you want to tackle first?

A – I think blending W.A. Roosevelt into the DSG

system will be important, and focusing on

growing their electrical segment.

Q – What are you most looking forward

to in your new role as Electrical

Segment Manager?

A – Probably getting to know more of the

electrical customers and vendors.

Q – You’ll be busy with your new role. What’s

one thing you’re sure to do when you

get some time off?

A – I’m looking forward to some pheasant and

big-game hunting this fall.

Meter Reading

On The Move The world is constantly getting smarter. From people to technology, we are improving the ways we do things. This is most certainly true for the task of reading meters.

Automated Meter Reading (AMR) has resulted in a paradigm shift, allowing utilities and municipalities to read more meters in less time, improve their billing and enhance the overall efficiency of their operation. Itron has been a leader in the advancement of AMR, and its meter reading technology has played a pivotal role. Here are three communities that have put the power of Itron technology (and the helping hand of DSG) to work for them.

Duluth, MN Duluth, MN, has been benefitting from AMR since 2008, when it upgraded more than 27,000 gas meters and more than 28,000 water meters with Itron’s mobile collection technology. Before 2008, the city was reading meters manually and weather – particularly winter weather – was a common obstacle and safety hazard, often resulting in thousands of estimated readings.

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CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

When the time came to upgrade its metering infrastructure, Duluth needed a system that would not only allow meters to be read in

all types of weather but accommodate its unique billing cycle as well.

Most utilities put out a monthly bill to the entire

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city all at once. In Duluth’s case, it bills different parts of the city each day. “We needed a system that would be more convenient for our billing and make it easier for us to read meters every day of the week,” says Holly Feehan, administrative information specialist for Duluth Water & Gas. “The Itron system did everything that DSG said it would.”

The advantages of Itron’s mobile collection system were made clear this past summer when Duluth was devastated by flash flooding. Despite roads being washed out, the meter reading team was able to conduct business as usual.

“We could still get readings from about 98 percent of our meters,” says Adam Hendrickson, measurement services supervisor for Duluth Water & Gas. “We would have had to estimate many more readings if we didn’t have the Itron system.”

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Fridley, MN The city of Fridley, MN, started upgrading its system with Itron mobile collection technology in the fall of 2011. Prior to the system upgrade, meter reading was done manually, and the city relied heavily on residents to report their own meter readings on postcards. “We wanted to move forward with technology and take the responsibility off of our customers,” says Kory Jorgensen, water supervisor for Fridley. “The Itron system has had a huge impact on how we read meters. We’re able to read meters from even further away than we had anticipated, and we’re able to read the entire town a lot faster than we thought.”

Fridley is performing a gradual upgrade of its metering system, integrating approximately 500 meters every six months. Hard-to-reach areas and those parts of town with low postcard return rates are being

Kory Jorgensen

upgraded first. With the city installing the Itron technology itself, Jorgensen is glad to have longtime business partner DSG by his side. “The folks at DSG are really responsive,”comments Jorgensen. “They always answer the phone and get me the information I’m looking for.”

So far, response to the project has been overwhelmingly positive, and Jorgensen credits the ease of installation as one of the factors that has made the transition so smooth. “We had planned for this to be a 10- to 12-year project,” says Jorgensen, “but things are going so well that I could see us wrapping this up in as few as seven years.”

The city has 8,800 meters, and more than 1,900 have already been upgraded.

FALL 2012 | CONNECTIONS

23

BEHIND THE SCENES OF

Left to right: Mark Peterson, Tim Boekhout, Rich Roskam, Bruce Vande Stouwe, Tom Tille, Jeff Hoogendoorn and Tanner Vogl.

ITRON ACCOUNT MANAGER

Rock Rapids, Iowa Rock Rapids Municipal Utilities had been considering upgrading its metering system for more than five years, and in late 2010, Rock Rapids went for it. It needed a system that could read up to four meters per household.

“The city meters lawn water separately, which allows our residents to avoid paying a sewage charge on the water they use outside of their home,” says Bruce Vande Stouwe, utility coordinator at Rock Rapids Municipal Utilities. “DSG showed us Itron’s technology, and we were impressed. It did everything that we needed it to do.”

Rock Rapids also wanted a catch-all system that could read water, electric and gas meters.

“We were able to adapt the Itron system to all of our existing ECR water meters and all of the various types of gas meters that we already had in use,” says Vande Stouwe. “That saved us a considerable amount of money.”

Rock Rapids started off by installing 300 each of water, 24

Deanna Henderson,

gas and electric meters. It went so well, that the city had all 4,000 meters throughout the entire community installed in six months. “Thanks to the effort and teamwork of our crew, the installation went extremely fast,” says Vande Stouwe. “DSG was able to get us the meters we needed quickly, which allowed us to maintain our pace. While we were doing the switch, we had to operate two systems at once. It was a big advantage for us to get the installation done in as little time as possible.”

Now that the system has been in place for nearly three years, Rock Rapids Municipal Utilities has no regrets. “If I had to do it all over, I wouldn’t change a thing,” says Vande Stouwe. “I haven’t seen anything that has come close to the Itron system.”

Deanna Henderson knows the power of Itron. In fact, she has been selling the system since 1987, and has spent two decades helping DSG and its customers realize Itron’s benefits for themselves.

It would be an understatement to say that Itron has evolved over the years that Henderson has worked there. “I remember when our handheld computers had cassette tapes for memory,” she says. Today, Itron is a prominent leader in metering technology, and according to Henderson, it’s because of its “open” system. “Our greatest challenge is also our greatest accomplishment, which is our ability to meet the needs of the three utilities all together,” she says.

“Our goal is to provide communities with the information that they need to understand their consumption patterns – something that is important for conservation efforts and improving customer service.”

Looking ahead, Henderson says that exciting things are in store. “We are continuously looking toward ways to improve upon and add additional features to our AMI solution,” she says.

Itron technology is a proven winner, and with an expert like Henderson on board, the future looks bright as well.

MEET THE DSG TEAM |

Streamlining HVAC Design

The acquisition of W.A. Roosevelt brought nearly 100 new faces to the DSG team, including four HVAC specialists on the quotations team. These four gentlemen are smart, professional and always excited to work on the next project that comes their way. Here’s a chance to learn a little more about each of them.

Dan Kerr

designer / engineer

Brandon Holland draftsperson / designer

Brian Kerr

design support

In Wisconsin, the state requires a professional submittal for all commercial projects before starting construction. Kerr helps design and ready the HVAC plans for state approval, identifying the types of systems used and where they are located within the building. Using his mechanical engineering degree from North Dakota State University, he supervises the preparation of construction documents and HVAC math so his customers don’t have to. Kerr has worked at DSG/W.A. Roosevelt for nearly a decade.

Fun Fact: Kerr enjoys being outdoors and can play the guitar.

Holland also plays an important part in helping to prepare the plans for state approval in Wisconsin. He generates most of the quotes and orders for the team, managing many of the details so there are no surprises when it comes time to install.

He also helps design projects, including drafting. Holland has been at DSG/W.A. Roosevelt since 2005.

Fun Fact: Holland rides and works on Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Kerr is responsible for much of the organization that goes into the plan submittals, and handles the gathering of all operations and maintenance manuals and materials. He also helps with HVAC load calculations, equipment selection and drafting the system plans, making sure that quotes are delivered to customers in a timely manner. A current student at Wisconsin Technical College, Kerr has worked for DSG/W.A. Roosevelt since 2006.

Fun Fact: Kerr is the drummer in a rock band.

Candahl oversees the HVAC quotations department. He works to improve the quotation process and coach the team on how they interact with customers, helping to ensure that customers get exactly what they expect – or better. Candahl has been at DSG/W.A. Roosevelt since 1992.

Mike Candahl

Fun Fact: Candahl is an avid runner.

supervisor

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FALL 2012 | CONNECTIONS

25

GROW YOUR BUSINESS |

SHOULD I HIRE A CONSULTANT? A Little Direction Might Be Just What Your Business Needs.

If you run a small business – a local contracting company, for example – you may not be very familiar with the concept of a “business consultant.”

Sure, you’ve heard stories and maybe even read an article, but the truth is that you consider yourself too busy to learn more. Besides, aren’t consultants for companies much larger than your own?

26

CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

If you feel this way, you may have already made your own case for hiring a consultant.

After all, two of the best reasons for finding a consultant are: (1) You are so busy that you need help implementing systems, and (2) You would like to grow, taking the next step toward becoming a larger company.

Small-business people – especially owners – tend to

have a “can-do” outlook that often leads them to “can-doing” everything. They aren’t just the chief cook and bottle washer; they’re also human resources, customer service and accounts receivable. The problem is that they are so busy working in their business that they seldom get time to work on their business.

Successful companies periodically evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses,

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addressing shortcomings and establishing plans for improvement. They create systems that can be followed as employees come and go, ensuring that service is consistent. They anticipate (and sometimes initiate) change so that the company can stay on track.

Soliciting an experienced,

objective opinion can help a small-business owner to see things in a new light.

Al Schwartz is a plumber who once owned his own contracting company. Now he writes a column for Contractor magazine.

According to Schwartz, “In almost every size company, there are blind spots. If you are an owner and are focused on your business, it is easy to get tunnel vision at one time or another.” A consultant can focus on improving a business, even while the decision maker continues to focus on doing business.

Similarly, anyone who runs a company knows that growth comes in discernible “steps.” These phases may come slowly or in quick succession, and making the necessary adjustments is critical to maintaining a healthy organization. Business consultants enjoy the advantage of having witnessed these phases before, and their guidance can be invaluable in avoiding the pitfalls discovered by companies that have gone before. In fact, an experienced consultant can often point out those roadblocks

that are in the way of your “next step,” guiding your decisions and showing you the best path toward healthy growth.

Business consultants don’t work for free, of course. But you might be interested to learn that consultants often have scaleable rates, depending on the task at hand. If you only need a little help, you might be surprised at how affordable it can be.

Lest this article seem like an extended sales pitch for consultants, it is important to note that not every consultant is helpful, and not every situation calls for this level of expertise. In fact, consultants can become inefficient – and counterproductive – if they are overutilized. But the truth is that almost every growing company has asked for outside guidance at one point or another. An objective voice can be important when making big decisions.

If you are considering a consultant, do your homework.

Check on references. Ask your DSG representative for a referral. A little good advice might make a big difference in your company.

Source: www.contractormag.com/schwartz/business-consultants-are-they-right-everyone

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SPRING FALL 2012 | CONNECTIONS

27

Education and the future, but Franklin D. Roosevelt

Dylan

cannot always build the future for our youth,

2012 RECIPIENT

There has been much said about youth

might have put it best when he said, “We

but we can build our youth for the future.”

In the last decade, this statement has rung true in the trade industries, and DSG has recognized the importance of supporting today’s youth in order to energize the trade industries for the future.

DSG established the DSG Education

Connection Fund to provide scholarships

to students who are training for a career as

an electrician, plumber, HVAC/R technician or applicable trade professional.

When DSG awarded its first scholarship

in 2009, it marked the start of a long-lasting effort to empower the trade industries

that it serves. Since its inception, the DSG Education Connection Fund has awarded

$1,000 scholarships to nearly 20 individuals.

Here are three of their stories.

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CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

Summerville Dylan Summerville has been exposed to the electrical industry since he was a young child. His father, Tyler, owns Summerville Electric in Breckenridge, MN. Despite Dylan’s imminent future with his father’s business, his drive to learn pushed him to further his education. “Being invested in a business drives you to be better,” says Dylan. “I knew school would help me understand the business side of things more.”

After he graduated from high school in 2010, Dylan completed two years of construction management classes at North Dakota State College in Wahpeton. In 2012/2013, Dylan is taking online classes for business management, while he works full time for Summerville Electric.

As many students do these days, Dylan is financing his schooling himself. So, when he learned of the opportunity to gain scholarship money from DSG, he jumped at the chance.

“School is expensive, but it’s also important,” says Dylan. “The scholarship money from DSG has been a huge help.”

After graduation, Dylan plans on taking over his father’s business with his two older brothers.

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CONNECTIONS Adam

Wade

2012 RECIPIENT

2010 / 2011 RECIPIENT

Hoheisel Adam Hoheisel is from Hillman, MN, a community approximately 60 miles northeast of St. Cloud. Hoheisel graduated from Pierz High School in the spring of 2012 and is now off to study HVAC at St. Cloud Technical & Community College.

“I got interested in the trades a couple of years into high school,” says Hoheisel, “I thought that a career in the HVAC industry would be a good fit for me, and I thought it would be interesting to learn how heating and cooling systems worked.”

Hoheisel learned about the DSG Education Connection Fund from DSG’s Geoff Bosse, who is a friend of Hoheisel’s father. “The scholarship is going to be a big help with college,” says Hoheisel, “and the application was easy to fill out.”

As Hoheisel begins his first year of college, he has high hopes for the future and is looking forward to a career in the HVAC industry.

To make a donation or to find out more about the DSG Education Connection Fund, visit www.dsgfund.com.

WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

Wright

Wade Wright always knew he wanted to work outdoors; he just never knew what field of study to pursue until the end of high school.

After he graduated in 2009 from Armour High School in Armour, SD, he went on to Mitchell Technical Institute and earned two degrees – one for electrical construction and maintenance, and the other for power line construction and maintenance. “I wanted the option to pursue a career as a lineman or an electrician,” says Wright.

“Both give me the chance to work outside and with other people as a team.”

Wright also serves in the National Guard as a Specialist in the 155th Engineer Battalion in Platte, SD. While the National Guard helped cover his tuition costs, Wright looked to scholarships for help with the other expenses, such as books, tools and housing. He received a DSG Education Connection Fund scholarship in 2010 and 2011.

“Books and tools can get pretty spendy, and the scholarships I got from DSG helped out a lot,” says Wright.

Today, Wright is a 1,000-hour employee at Central Electric in Mitchell, SD, and hopes to become a full-time lineman in the future.

SPRING FALL 2012 | CONNECTIONS

29

MEET THE DSG TEAM |

A Friend On The Road Tom Urbanek | HVAC/R, Plumbing Account Manager

W.A. Roosevelt, La Crosse, WI

For more than two decades, Tom Urbanek has spent four days a week traveling for work.

That means he has spent nearly 35,000 hours – or almost four years – of his life driving, and he is proud to say that it has all been for W.A. Roosevelt customers.

Urbanek started with W.A. Roosevelt in 1979 at the refrigeration counter. For nearly 13 years, he learned about the products and systems of the HVAC/R industry by shipping out daily orders, putting away products and talking to customers over the phone. “Things were quite a bit different back in the 80s,” says Urbanek. “We had to look up everything from part numbers to list prices in books stacked 10 high.”

In 1992, an account manager position opened up and Urbanek took to the road, and he has been there ever since. He covers one of the wider territories at W.A. Roosevelt, traveling all over southern Wisconsin and into Iowa and parts of Minnesota. Urbanek enjoys the opportunity to stay on the move. “I love working hands-on with contractors at their job site,” says Urbanek.

“It’s why I’ve worked on the road for so long.”

In fact, Urbanek’s strong rapport with his customers is an obvious indicator of how much he enjoys his job. Whether it’s going on hunting and fishing trips together or playing cards over the lunch hour, Urbanek values each relationship.

“When you work at a company for as long as I have, you’re sure to make a few friends along the way,” smiles Urbanek.

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CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

With more than 33 years in the HVAC/R industry, Urbanek has seen the pace of the HVAC/R industry pick up quite a bit. “Business is more competitive than ever for our customers,” he says. “We know how important it is to them to have the pricing and product information they need right away.”

Urbanek has also seen products evolve just as technology and the HVAC/R industry itself have. “Take furnaces for example – they are more reliable, quieter and run more efficiently nowadays,” he says. “The government has been able to offer incentives on quite a few HVAC/R products in the last five to 10 years, too, and that helps everyone out.”

When he’s not working, Urbanek likes to fish in the summer and bow hunt in the fall – two activities that he’s looking forward to doing more of now that his twin sons are off to college.

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GROW YOUR BUSINESS |

You Can’t Manage

What You Don’t Measure –

The Power Of Remote Energy Monitoring A PROVEN SOLUTION FROM SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC In an age of the triple bottom line: people, planet and profit, business leaders are challenged with meeting the organizational goals and delivering strategic business results in a tough economic climate. With rising utility costs and shrinking operational budgets, it has become a vital necessity for organizations to reduce their energy bills. Yet, while most companies have large amounts of energy data, executives find they do not have the actionable information they need to make early and informed decisions that would reduce costs and avoid waste.

Buildings are dynamic entities, with constantly changing needs and occupancy. One-time energy audits show only a snapshot of energy use, and monthly utility bills only act as a “rearview mirror.” Instead of one-time energy improvements, companies need to focus on sustaining and improving energy use over time, and this requires continuous monitoring, analysis and reporting of building performance. Because of the complexities of energy use and its large economic impact, a growing number of firms are turning to remote energy monitoring to provide the technology and know-how to guide, measure and help manage energy costs. Using a web-based system, remote energy monitoring automatically collects energy consumption data via smart meters, data loggers,

the building management system (BMS) and network controllers, or directly from an organization’s utility provider. Information is then compiled, organized and provided in a concise format to show the building’s energy reporting and monitoring, as well as utility analysis for electricity, gas, heat, steam and oil.

The U.S.

Green Building Council

commercial office buildings use

estimates that

20% MORE

energy

on average

than necessary.

Remote energy monitoring is a proven solution that delivers a visible impact to the bottom line.

It provides information, analysis and guidance that allows business leaders to understand their organization’s energy use, take appropriate action, and continually improve energy efficiency and building performance.

To learn more, ask your DSG representative.

31 31

Improving On

Perfection The folks at Ballard’s Resort take the world’s best hobby and make it even better.

They say that people get “hooked for life” once they visit Lake of the Woods in northern Minnesota. That was certainly true for Keith and Rosie Ballard. Their adventure began with fishing (as so many good adventures do), then grew into an entrepreneurial

success story. It’s the tale of one of Minnesota’s most beloved resorts, where more than 50 years later, a good number of business meetings still take place with a line in the water.

The Ballards lived near West Bend, Iowa, where they owned a feed store and a

chicken hatchery. They visited Lake of the Woods County for a couple of years and fell in love with the fishing and other natural resources that Lake of the Woods County offered. In 1961, they purchased Smith Resort, located on the southeast side of the lake.

The resort included a large house, with a small storefront and seven cabins. They renamed it Ballard’s Resort, and today, the resort is operated by their granddaughter Jessie Anthony, her husband Nick and their partner Gary Moeller.

Lake of the Woods produces some of the best fishing in the world. It is an outstanding fishery with a wide array of indigenous species, and a significant variety of habitats and structures in which they dwell. In fact, the “supply chain” on Lake of the Woods isn’t entirely unlike that of DSG and W.A. Roosevelt. After all, the lake produces great fish – just as a manufacturer provides great products. If Lake of the Woods is the first stage in this “fishing distribution channel,” then Ballard’s is the logical next step – a distributor that does far more than provide

access to fish. Just as DSG/ W.A. Roosevelt has elevated the distributor role into something much more valuable to its customers, so has Ballard’s taken the classic “fishing trip” and turned it into something exceptional.

Steve Ballard, the oldest of Keith and Rosie’s seven children, took over general management of the resort in 1978 when his father succumbed to cancer. Having grown up on the lake and spent time doing virtually every job at the resort, Steve understood what Ballard’s customers wanted. He understood how to add value to the Lake of the Woods experience.

Every day, guests could recognize Steve Ballard by the blue jeans and Redwing boots he wore to work. He prepared boats by 6:00 a.m. and then guided fishing excursions all day long. When he got off the

boat, he helped with dinner and then finished the night tending bar. While Steve was on the lake, Joanne – his partner in business and in life – cooked, cleaned and managed the resort. Their hard work paid off, and Ballard’s reputation for delivering memorable outdoor adventures spread across the United States, one unforgettable fishing story at a time.

Steve and Joanne raised two children at the resort, Jessie and Keith, both of whom inherited the family work ethic. Keith fell in love with hockey and devoted his energy to improving his skills on the ice. A testament to the fruits of hard work, he skated for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and was drafted into the NHL (at the time of this writing, Keith is in his eighth year in the league, playing for the Vancouver Canucks).

Jessie Anthony, like her dad, grew up working in all areas of the resort. She knew as a little girl that she wanted to run Ballard’s some day. “When I was young, I would follow the women who cleaned cabins around and help them,” she recalls. “I washed dishes, bussed tables and waitressed. In the winter, we would get up to go to school, and mom would already be cooking breakfast for the guests.”

Gary Moeller came to Lake of the Woods in 1991. “I was fresh out of Central College in Pella, Iowa,” Moeller says, “and my dream was to make a career out of fishing.” Moeller landed at Ballard’s Resort, starting out as a bartender and quickly graduating to the role of office manager. For more than 10 years, Moeller managed the marketing, reservations and daily operations of the resort

and officially became a partner in 2001. He lives at the resort with his wife, Jennifer, and their three children, Ally, Tate and Greta.

“Gary really understands our customers, what they are looking for and how to add value to their Lake of the Woods experience,” Jessie says. “His insights and marketing skills have made a huge difference in the substantial growth Ballard’s has seen.”

Today, Moeller continues to oversee the marketing, and along with Jessie and her husband, Nick Anthony, manages the full-service resort with lodging for 132 people. Jessie manages the 50+ employees (35 full time).

Nick (also a former University of Minnesota hockey player), coordinates the guides and captains one of the resort’s 13 27-foot Sportcraft

launches for summer fishing.

“I really enjoy guiding and interacting with the guests,” explains Nick. “I graduated with a degree in forestry, and the outdoors have always been part of my life.”

“My parents worked from sunrise to sunset, and they still never missed one of our school events,” Jessie smiles. “They are incredible role models, and Nick and I have learned a lot from them. Every day, we share that knowledge, those life lessons and those traditions with our own three children.”

As anyone who has visited Lake of the Woods knows, fishing doesn’t stop when oldman winter shows up. Instead, the fishing experience takes on a whole new dimension for those hardy souls looking for adventure – and there are a lot of them. “Our dining room and bar are busy in the

A LOT IN COMMON

Ballard’s Resort and DSG/ W.A. Roosevelt

①

Find the best fish.

➜

②

Give customers everything they need to land the big one.

➜

③

Success!

summer,” says Nick. “But once ice fishing gets going, things really start hopping. Sometimes the bar can be two or three people deep!”

Ice fishing on Lake of the Woods is a special experience. With so many species to target, an angler’s hardest task is often deciding which area of the lake to fish first.

That’s where Ballard’s Resort adds more value to a Lake of the Woods experience. The resort provides guests with everything from licenses to equipment and bait, as well as travel accommodations to the best locations the lake has to offer. “We have 10 guides working in the winter,” Nick reports. “We are out on the lake every day moving houses to fish, and then people to those houses.”

Nick Anthony cooks up a shore lunch.

Guest Steve Eickman on a guided fishing trip.

Anglers travel in comfort during ice fishing season.

Fish on!

ROTCARTNOC EHT FO

RAEY

are more alike than you may think.

CONTRACTOR OF THE

CONTRACTOR OF THE

YEAR

①

Find the best products.

➜

②

Give customers everything they need to land the big one.

➜

③

Success!

YEAR

In May of 2012, the partners recognized an opportunity to offer their customers a new adventure and purchased Black Island, a private 40-acre resort island in the Canadian wilderness. Guests get to Black Island by boat from Morson, Ontario (approximately an hour north of Baudette). It’s a 10-minute boat ride to a 4-acre camp, located in waters protected by islands. Visitors to Black Island enjoy a unique multispecies fishing experience.

Groups set out in 18-foot Lund boats rigged with 50 HP motors in search of trophy walleye, smallmouth bass, northern pike and muskie. Like Ballard’s in the U.S., Black Island offers all-inclusive packages.

Waterfowl and bear hunts are also available.

In the end, both Ballard’s Resort and DSG/W.A. Roosevelt share a very similar goal – to supply something more than simply the product they provide.

For Ballard’s, that means guests enjoy an experience that is far greater than simply “catching fish.” The Ballard’s team takes care of every detail, ensuring that everything – from rooms to meals, from boats to bait – adds up to a successful day on the water. In fact, the staff itself becomes an important part of the experience, energizing

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CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

every trip with a positive attitude and a knack for creating lifelong memories. Ask any Ballard’s guest and they will tell you that they can’t imagine fishing on Lake of the Woods any other way.

DSG/W.A. Roosevelt supplies the trade industries in much the same way. Just as the guides at Ballard’s Resort know which fish are biting where, our employee owners navigate thousands of products and hundreds of manufacturers to identify products that will contribute to each customer’s unique formula for success.

Everyone we do business with becomes our partner, with shared goals and a focus on teamwork. Whether our products make your job easier or help you to land a “trophy”

Guest Saw yer Rosenda hl on a Black Isla nd bear hu nt.

project, it is our emphasis on customer success that drives every encounter. Our training opportunities go even further – giving you the tools to take you and your people to the next level. In other words, just as Ballard’s Resort substantially improves the experience of catching a fish on Lake of the Woods, DSG/W.A. Roosevelt seeks to improve your business in each and every thing we do.

WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

THE POWER OF WE AT DSG |

Making CONNECTIONS

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CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

listen, then we identify needs, then we work together with the customer to find the right solution, whether it’s a product, a person or a training program. At DSG, we work hard to create successful partner encounters in everything we do.”

As you can see, this elevator speech simply restates our Power Of We philosophy into an easy way to kick-start a conversation. In fact, it’s our hope that by sharing it with you and all of our business partners, everyone can start on the same page for every DSG encounter, from meetings to deliveries, from boardrooms to sports bars.

With The Power Of We, we can all succeed together. Interested in developing your own elevator speech for your company? Talk to your DSG representative. We may be able to get you started.

0%

Anyone who has been around DSG the last couple of years has read about The Power Of We. It’s a philosophy that we’ve adopted in order to clarify our core values. Our goal is for everyone – from employee owners to business partners – to share a common road map to success, and to believe wholeheartedly that we can only attain that success by working together.

One of the newest tools that we’ve introduced to make this vision a reality is an “elevator speech.” If you’ve never run into the term before, an elevator speech is meant to be a concise way of distilling your point of view into a very brief set of ideas (as if you had to explain them to someone in the time it takes to ride the elevator – hence the name).

It’s a great way to get to tell someone about your company and, ideally, start a conversation about the potential for collaboration.

Here’s how we put our ideas for The Power Of We into a few concise sentences for our employee owners to use in their jobs every day: “At DSG, we treat everyone as a partner, and our goal is to supply them with all the right connections – the best way to meet their needs.

It all starts with The Power Of We : First, we

WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

1

NEWS WIRE | 4500 Carbine Drive Bismarck, ND 5850 1

Putting Water To Work:

To learn more, contact the DSG Waterworks team in Bismarck at (855) 337-9258.

100% 100% Order Accuracy

1

100%

C O N TA

FO CT DSG

R

M

100%

%

PARTS & LABOR GUARANTEE!

DE

10-YEAR

TA I LS.

ALL AVK PRODUCTS INCLUDE A

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In order to better serve municipalities and rural water systems in North Dakota, DSG now has a Waterworks branch in Bismarck. This facility stocks a full-line inventory housed in its 15,000-square-foot warehouse and large yard area.

Included in this inventory are some of the best products in the industry, including American AVK hydrants and valves exclusive to DSG. Customers will also enjoy fast shipping and delivery.

WATERWORKS

O

DSG Opens New Waterworks Branch In Bismarck, ND

100% Order Fill Rate

100%

100

48hour

100% Turnaround

WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

Delivering On

The Promise In a unique new initiative, DSG has created a special task force with a single mandate: ensure outstanding customer service by developing long-term goals and strategies. Initially, this team will focus on three key objectives: 100 percent order accuracy, 100 percent order fill rate of DSG’s top 200 items and 48-hour turnaround of credits for returns of stock material.

Look for more information about this exciting idea in the next issue of Connections magazine!

FALL 2012 | CONNECTIONS

39

MEET THE DSG TEAM |

The Monson Family Lives Life In The Fast Lane Stan Monson | Programmer/Analyst – DSG Aberdeen, SD At DSG, Stan Monson spends his time as a programmer in DSG’s IT department, maintaining and updating DSG’s Mincron enterprise software system. While he may have a slow day at work now and then, Monson never has a slow weekend.

That’s when he indulges his passion for drag racing, a 25-year hobby that takes him around the Midwest – and over 130 miles per hour.

Not to be confused with street racing (an illegal variant of the sport), Monson races a sanctioned car in official races governed by the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). A resident of Groton, SD, Monson races in the Pro ET Class, mostly on regional tracks near Pierre, SD, and Fargo, ND. However, he has raced as far away as Colorado, Illinois, Kansas and Wisconsin. He’s seen his fair share of success, too, winning track championship titles at the Oahe Speedway near Pierre in 2008 and 2009, and earning three top-10 finishes at the Summit Racing Series ET Finals in the past decade.

For Monson, drag racing is a family affair.

His wife, Wendy, drag races and so do Monson’s two sons, Hunter (13) and Dragr (9, named for the family sport).

Hunter earned the title of 2012 South Dakota State Champion in the junior dragster division.

Stan Monson races a 1969 Ford Mustang with a 410-cubic-inch small block engine.

When it comes to drag racing, a family of competitors can be a sizable financial commitment.

“I tell people that if you want to make a small fortune at drag racing, you better start with a big one,” Monson jokes. “Thankfully, I’ve found ways to save where I can, like using E85 fuel, and I’m lucky enough to have support from friends like Todd Langbehn at DSG.” For the Monson family, a love of racing has helped them to overcome all of the challenges that come with the sport.

“Start slow,” Stan Monson advises, fully understanding the irony of his words.

“There’s a class for all levels of drag racing, so anyone can give it a try no matter what you drive or how old you are.”

When Fiber

CAME HOME History is full of famous innovators who have taken existing concepts to new heights – Thomas Edison and the light bulb, Steve Jobs and the personal computer, even Jimi Hendrix and the electric guitar. DSG has been fortunate to work with an innovator such as these for more than 25 years. Jeff Carlson has never been a stranger to the communications industry, and in the mid-1990s he would found the company Optical Solutions and make one of the most significant contributions in the history of communication technology.

In 1995, Carlson, along with business partner Craig Mead,

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CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

devised and patented the fiberoptic universal demarcation point, commonly known to industry professionals as the Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) network interface device – or NID. This small box, often seen along the side of a house, allowed all of the optical signals coming from a telephone company’s main fiber cable to be converted into electrical signals that could deliver information to phones, TVs and computers throughout the home. It was when Carlson introduced the fiber NID to the communications industry, that FTTH was born.

According to Carlson, their goal was simple. “Instead of

looking at what fiber could do for the future, Craig and I looked for a way that fiber could be used in which consumers would pay for it right now.”

As it turns out, the fiber NID was the perfect answer. “It allowed independent telephone companies to provide phone, Internet and cable TV through a single piece of glass,” says Chad Devier, communications specialist at DSG. “It was the beginning of integrating fiber into the communications industry,” adds Leigh Trosen, former DSG communications segment manager. “It opened the door for endless possibilities with fiber.”

Carlson eventually sold

WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

Optical Solutions to move on to new endeavors. In 1999, he established J. Carlson Services, specializing in the home integration of FTTH. “Our niche is house wiring,” says Carlson. “I knew that if FTTH took off, all the homes would need to be rewired inside. At the time, we could find people to trench the fiber, we could find people to make the NID and we could find people to install the NID, but we couldn’t find anyone to wire the house.

We knew that we could fill that need.”

Headquartered in Shevlin, MN, J. Carlson Services started off with two employees and has been growing ever since, with more than 40 employees today. The company has expanded its services as well.

“The biggest thing we do now is splice fiber,” says Carlson. “You could think of us as outside splice contractors.”

In addition to J. Carlson Services’ splicing and home integration divisions, the company began offering Rent-A-Tech in 2008 – a service that allows phone companies and CLECs the ability to “rent”

a technician from J. Carlson Services on a temporary basis. “This allows the phone companies to get some extra help when things are busy without having to hire anyone full time,” says Carlson. “We’ve helped numerous clients to get their projects done faster and more profitably.”

It stands to reason, then, that Carlson understands the value of a helping hand. Indeed, he often looks to DSG for support.

“DSG knows our business, and their people are smart,” says Carlson. “They make sure to carry the products I use most so that I know if I run short, I can count on them to have it. Having a business partner like that is invaluable.”

Recently, governmentsupported stimulus programs

have become an important part of the business portfolio at J. Carlson Services. These projects have been developed to bring broadband Internet access to rural areas, and as it turns out, they are a perfect fit for Jeff Carlson and his crew. As high-speed Internet continues to cover America, Carlson isn’t sure what doors it will open next – but he knows for sure that fiber holds the key.

A current version of the FTTH NID. Jeff Carlson

43

GROW YOUR BUSINESS |

When can I retire?

FIVE TIPS For Finding Your Magic Number

As baby boomers move into their 60s, this question is on the lips of a growing number of American workers. An unpredictable economy hasn’t helped things, and even those who thought they had all of their retirement questions answered are second-guessing their decisions.

How, then, can you answer this question successfully? Here are five tips to help you better prepare for circling that big day on your calendar.

①

START REAL PLANNING (REALLY SOON).

One study in 2010 found that 75 percent of Americans nearing retirement age had less than

$30,000 in their retirement accounts. That number is startling, and it would seem to indicate a

lack of preparation. Retirement planning isn’t fun or exciting. In fact, it can be a lot of work.

But it is absolutely critical, and the sooner you start, the easier it becomes.

You can start with an online retirement calculator (there are a lot of them, just Google

“retirement calculator”) or by contacting a financial advisor. Either way, the best means to

set and achieve your goals is by having a good plan in place.

②

44

THINK ABOUT WHERE YOU WILL RETIRE. This is a big question, but one that is easily overlooked. Are you going to buy a second home in Arizona? Will you live at the lake? Are you going to keep your house or move into a condo?

How much room do you need? These are important questions to answer because they can impact everything from our debt (especially if we still have a mortgage) to our tax situation.

CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

③ DON’T FORGET ABOUT MEDICAL EXPENSES.

When you are adding up your monthly expenses, don’t forget about trips to the doctor. It may seem

like common sense that we need more care as we age, but the costs can often put a surprising dent

in your retirement planning. A recent study found that the average couple will spend almost

$200,000 in medical expenses after they retire. That number goes up significantly if there is a

need for long-term care.

Budgeting for these expenses is important. It’s advisable that you do some homework on Medicare

(and Medigap insurance), then figure in your potential medical costs as you do your planning.

④ MAKE SURE THAT YOU’RE EMOTIONALLY PREPARED TO RETIRE.

If your work still offers you significant fulfillment (emotionally, not financially), you may want to

think hard about how happy you will be without it. How much of your identity comes from your job?

How will you feel without that influence? Do you get bored easily?

These are all questions that are worth exploring as you near retirement. If retiring makes you

unhappy, then you may want to explore a second career – or your options for putting off retirement

for a while. No matter what your options are, don’t forget to include your emotional investment as

you consider your life after your job.

⑤

PUT TOGETHER “PLAN B.”

Not only do you need to put in the work for a retirement plan, it’s important for you to have a

backup plan in case things don’t go as you had hoped. For most people, Plan B is simply “go back to

work.” This is easier said than done, unfortunately. Those over the age of 55 are more likely to suffer

long-term unemployment, and like it or not, job options for these workers can be limited by factors

like health, skills and even ignorance or discrimination.

There is no perfect Plan B, but you need to look into one anyway. What skills could you put to

work? Will you need to take a pay cut? Will you need to relocate? Can someone help you out?

Planning means looking toward the future – even those versions of the future where things don’t

go our way.

There they are – five tidbits for you to chew on as you consider retirement. Don’t let them scare

you. Instead, feel empowered that you are in charge of your own destiny, set some goals and put

together a plan to make those years something special.

Sources: www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/lifexpec.htm; www.nytimes.com/2012/07/22/opinion/sunday/our-ridiculous-approach-to-retirement.html?_r=2&ref=todayspaper www.mint.com/blog/planning/10-steps-for-boomers-approaching-retirement-082011/ www.economicpolicyresearch.org/guaranteeing-retirement-income/528-retirement-accountbalances-by-income-even the-highest-earners-dont-have-enough.html money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2010/03/12/estimating-retirement-medical-expenses

WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

SPRING FALL 2012 | CONNECTIONS

45

Building

FAITH Faith Christian Church in Mauston, WI, has been an important part of Richard Bouchette’s life – to say the least. Since its establishment in 1985, Bouchette and his family of five have been active in the church’s events and services.

As a longtime contractor, Bouchette has put his skills to work to help the church any way he can – most recently with building a new sanctuary.

Bouchette has lived a life in the trades. He has worked for an electrician, a plumber, a general contractor and even a mason.

Today, he’s an entrepreneur and owns Hometown Builders, the company that is handling

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CONNECTIONS | FALL 2012

the general contracting for Faith Christian Church’s new addition. “We do mostly residential projects,” says Bouchette, “so this is a huge project for us. I knew that we could get it done, but we would need some help with the HVAC system.”

Bouchette found the support he needed in DSG/W.A. Roosevelt and its sales manager Karl Wrobel.

DSG/W.A. Roosevelt became involved just as the project was getting its second wind after a three-year hiatus due to funding challenges. “We reviewed the original plans, and I knew that we could

Karl Wrobel an

d Richard Bo

uchette

provide superior materials at a better cost,” says Wrobel. “We knew Richard wasn’t as familiar with commercial HVAC systems, so we offered to walk him through the process, providing him insight along the way. Of course, the ultimate decisions were always his to make.”

To Bouchette, it was just the added value he was looking for, and the decision to team up with DSG/W.A. Roosevelt has continued to pay off throughout the project. “The folks at DSG/W.A. Roosevelt showed me that they do a lot more than just supply products,” says Bouchette. “Karl took the time to go over the blueprints

WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

and offered me explanations on every piece of the plan. Having him explain everything gave me a boost of confidence.”

In fact, DSG/W.A. Roosevelt reengineered the original plan (completed before the three-year hiatus) to bring it up to speed with current codes.

It also redesigned it with a variable-based ventilation system, while increasing efficiency from 92 percent AFUE to 95 percent AFUE. Once plans were stateapproved (a requirement in Wisconsin), DSG/W.A. Roosevelt helped Bouchette with the bidding process. “We took care of putting out an invitation to bid that included all the details from the project scope to budget to project notes, etcetera,” says Wrobel.

“Then we had a mandatory, on-site prebid site survey that allowed contractors to come check out the site and ask any questions.”

After reviewing the bids together with Wrobel, Bouchette awarded BTU Management the job. A well-regarded HVAC/R company, BTU Management has been serving the Mauston area since 1974. Having worked with both Bouchette and DSG/W.A. Roosevelt on a number of previous jobs, BTU Management was a natural fit.

WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

“Trust is a critical part of any project,” says Corey Smith, vice president of BTU Management. “We’ve worked with DSG/W.A. Roosevelt for a long time, and it was exciting to get the chance to partner with them on the Faith Christian Church project.”

“A critical part to any successful HVAC project is having a qualified, professional contractor on the job site,” says Wrobel. “BTU Management understands what the state requirements are, how to install per our plans and specifications, and how important job start-up and closeout are to the process.”

With the project fully under way, things are going according to plan. The project is expected to be completed this winter, and Bouchette and his friends at Faith Christian Church are looking forward to putting the additional space to good use.

Faith Christian Church’s new addition begins to take shape.

Corey Smith

SPRING FALL 2012 | CONNECTIONS

47

MEET THE DSG TEAM |

Taking A Turn For The Better

Brian Adam | Automation Control Specialist – DSG Sioux Falls, SD In the last two years, Brian Adam’s life has changed dramatically. He’s gotten married, become a stepfather of three and made a career change of epic proportions.

Adam joined DSG in 2012 after spending more than 25 years in retail management for one of the nation’s largest retailers. It was five years prior to that, in 2007, that his journey to DSG began, and it all started with an introduction to SCADA (which stands for supervisory control and data acquisition) technology. An electrical contractor expressed to him the need for SCADA experts for wind power developments, and Adam was immediately intrigued.

Then, in 2010, company changes with his former employer gave him the motivation to make a big career change, and Adam decided to go back to school. An Aberdeen, SD, resident, he commuted five days a week to Mitchell Technical Institute in Mitchell, SD, to pursue a degree in automated controls/SCADA. When he graduated in 2012, it was perfect timing to join the DSG team.

Adam joined the panel shop in Sioux Falls and was excited to put his new talents to work for DSG customers. “I love working together with the engineers to design and implement the panels,” says Adam. “I get a high level of satisfaction knowing that what we’re doing is helping our customers’ operations to become more successful.”

WWW.DAKOTASUPPLYGROUP.COM

When he’s not building control panels, Adam spends every free minute with his wife, Terri, and three kids. “When we first got married, I was away so much for school,” says Adam. “It’s nice to be all together in the same place, and we love Sioux Falls.” They may love Sioux Falls, but don’t be surprised to see Adam and his wife in Las Vegas, NV. “My wife and I love Vegas,” says Adam. “We’re not big gamblers, but we love going to the shows and eating at the different restaurants.”

Drastic career changes can be risky, but for Adam, it couldn’t have turned out any better.

“The teamwork and camaraderie at DSG is amazing,” says Adam. “I’m so thankful to be at a place where everybody is happy to be there.”

Brian and Terri Adam

FALL 2012 | CONNECTIONS

49

NEWS WIRE |

The DSG Portal Gets An

UPGRADE In January of 2012, DSG launched its Customer Portal, a web site that offers a powerful suite of business tools to DSG customers for free. Since then, many customers have put this portal to work, using it to track time cards, coordinate events on the calendar and post job photos in the gallery.

Thanks to the positive feedback that the portal is experiencing, DSG has now released the Customer Portal Version 2.0. It’s still free, but now it contains more tools, including the ability to

create and assign work orders, produce invoices and replenish inventory. Available anywhere there’s Internet access, Customer Portal 2.0 can help DSG customers operate more efficiently by improving billing accuracy and reducing errors.

For more information on DSG’s Customer Portal, contact your local DSG/W.A. Roosevelt representative, or visit the Marketing Toolkit under the Resources tab on www.dakotasupplygroup.com.

DSG Takes Home Two

TED Awards!

At the 2012 NAED AdVenture Marketing Conference in Chicago, IL, DSG was presented with two 2012 Best of the Best Awards from TED Magazine, which is published monthly by NAED. DSG received awards in both the Direct Promotion category for its “Power Tools” direct mail pieces and the Public Relations/Corporate category for its “Touchpoints” video.

TED Awards are presented to the top distributors and suppliers nationwide who represent the best

50

overall marketing practices in their respective categories. More than 350 entries from across the United States were received and reviewed by independent judges who work in the fields of advertising and consulting.

The “Touchpoints” video can be seen at www.dakotasupplygroup.com/resources/ marketing-toolkit/.

DSG’s Marketing Manager Arne Breikjern accepts the TED awards.

300 From Austria To America:

YE ARS OF POWERFUL PRODUCTS

Sometimes even the most unrelated things can be connected. Take the company Mosdorfer, for example. What is now the world’s largest manufacturer of hardware for utility companies started out as something much different.

The name Mosdorfer comes from blacksmith Josef Mosdorfer. He came to Weiz, Austria, in 1712. Here, he took over a blade forge that was established in the 14th century. Josef Mosdorfer led the smithy to become a virtual monopoly by mass producing sabres for the Imperial Army.

In 1784, the company diversified its product offering with the production of sickles, which are used for cutting grain by hand. In the 19th century, Mosdorfer’s sickle production reached more than 500,000 pieces per year.

More than a century later, in 1915, the last known male Mosdorfer, Moritz, took over the company. His daughter, Herta, married Friedrich Knill and the “KNILL era” began.

After sickle demand declined, Knill restructured Mosdorfer into a factory specializing in electrical

engineering. Shortly after that, Mosdorfer received its first order for 220 kV transmission line fittings. In 1974, Gunther Knill took over management and transformed the company into an internationally renowned group of companies, known today as the KNILL Gruppe.

Today, more than 300 years after its swordmaking origins, Mosdorfer manufacturers transmission line, distribution and substation hardware. The company has factories worldwide, and most projects are designed and supplied from its largest production facility located in Austria.

Mosdorfer North America was established in 2009, and its interest in the Midwest market was no surprise. “There are huge transmission line building programs throughout the region,” says Chris Heaven, sales manager for Mosdorfer North America. “We foresee this trend to continue and expect great potential both in the short- and long-term future.”

To help bring Mosdorfer’s top-of-the-line utility products to the Upper Midwest, the company teamed up with DSG in 2012.

“We wanted our products to be available via a strong and proactive distributor who we could trust to be knowledgeable about our products and represent them professionally,” says Heaven. “DSG is a perfect fit.”

mily.

dorfer and fa

Moritz Mos

Who Says You Can’t Please Everyone?

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Let’s face it; one temperature does not please all, which is why Fujitsu’s new line of Halcyon Hybrid Flex Inverter (HFI) models allows up to 8 indoor units to be connected to one outdoor unit, providing 8 individual zones of heating or cooling.

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With Fujitsu’s line of Halcyon Hybrid Flex Inverter systems, you really CAN please everyone.

To find out how you can please everyone and how to become a Halcyon Dealer visit

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EDITORIALS |

The Speed Of Sound This title is sort of tongue in cheek, since the headline on Tom Rosendahl’s column in the last issues of Connections was “Approaching Light Speed.” This also gives you a clue to our relationship ... we like to volley things back and forth at each other. It makes for fun meetings.

But there’s also a relevance to it. Unlike the speed of light, where you really can’t grasp or see it (just flip a switch and things happen instantly), the speed of sound is more “tangible.” Everyone’s heard an echo, which is a great way to teach kids about the speed of sound. And those of us who have been to an air show have experienced – with feeling – a sonic boom.

So how is this relevant? Because the process of bringing two great organizations together like DSG and W.A. Roosevelt much more closely resembles the speed of sound than the speed of light. It definitely cannot be accomplished with a flip of a switch like some companies profess it can. That would imply that all the wiring and connection points are already firmly in place and all tied to the same power grid. Just turn the switch on and – yep, you got it – blown circuits and the unmistakable smell of electrical smoke.

Todd Eber

W.A. ROOSEVELT PRESIDENT

With the speed of sound, there’s lots of movement and activity, but you actually don’t hear the echo (or sonic boom) until afterward.

And that’s the approach that culture- , customerand employee-minded companies (such as DSG and W.A. Roosevelt) take to coming together. We know that there are a lot of wires and connection points already in place, and that it takes time to design a perfect circuit to bring them together. So, while you may not have “seen” anything obvious yet, there’s a lot of great foundational work going on as we learn how to bring each other’s strengths to our newly shared customers. So the “sound” is trailing … but not too far behind. We’re evolving toward great, and look forward to bringing our echoes your way soon!

North Dakota:

Bismarck (800) 363-7112 Bismarck Waterworks (855) 337-9258 Fargo (800) 437-4702 Grand Forks (800) 633-2211 Minot (800) 472-2145 Williston (800) 637-0170

South Dakota:

Aberdeen (800) 660-5532 Mitchell (800) 660-5534 Pierre (800) 660-5537 Rapid City (800) 660-5538 Sioux Falls (800) 540-8215 Sioux Falls Waterworks (800) 660-5531

Minnesota:

Alexandria (800) 345-0094 Bemidji (866) 506-0280 Burnsville (800) 325-0514 St. Paul (800) 652-9784

Wisconsin

La Crosse (800) 279-2726 Madison (877) 252-8739 New Berlin (800) 783-5835 Plover (800) 472-1661 Rice Lake (800) 962-2759

Montana

Bozeman (800) 416-0005 Helena (800) 697-0005 Kalispell (800) 949-0005 Missoula (888) 865-0005

Minot Williston Grand Forks

Kalispell Missoula

Helena

Bismarck

Aberdeen

Bozeman

ID

FARGO

Rapid City

Pierre Mitchell Sioux Falls

Bemidji Alexandria St. Paul Burnsville

Rice Lake Plover La Crosse New Berlin Madison

www.dakotasupplygroup.com UT CO

DSG W.A. Roosevelt MDM Supply Corporate Office

www.waroosevelt.com | www.mdmsupply.com