the lonG vIew pArtner spotlIGhts

Legacy Sponsor

Rodman Realty

Owner Sabrina Ellis carries on a Longview tradition

The Long View Project would be impossible without the financial and creative support of our sponsor partners. During the coming year the Reader will feature brief profiles of these partners — highlighting their relationship to Longview and interest in its history.

People+Place Sponsor Weatherguard

Weatherguard celebrates its quarter-century along with Longview’s Centennial

You mean my properties are being managed by a 19-year-old?” a long-time client thundered at Don Rodman. At least that’s the way the 19 year-old — Rodman Realty’s current owner and lifelong team member-cheerleader-employee Sabrina “Sam” Ellis — tells it.

“Pat (Rodman) was my mom’s best friend, like a second mother to me,” said Ellis, recalling her childhood in Longview, “and I’d been filling in when the agency needed help since I was 16.” Pat’s father-in-law, Bruce Rodman, one of the giants of the Longview real estate market, had joined Longview Agency immediately after World War II and became manager of the real estate division. Later he separated his share of the entity and operated as Longview Agency for many years, specializing in commercial real estate and property management. Later, son Don (Pat’s husband) joined the firm and eventually took over full ownership.

“I’d always liked the property management side of the business,” said Ellis, “I was good with people and I enjoyed that part of it. So when the the property manager left they offered me the job.”

Rodman Realty has specialized in commercial real estate and property management, dipping in and out of the residential market occasionally. Today it’s best known as a property management firm, with more than 900 units under its oversight.

“I think it’s so incredible that this town is 100 years old,” said Ellis, explaining

After Bruce retired from Longview Agency, his wife Delores Rodman opened Rodman Realty and operated it until the late 1980s. In 1992, Don Rodman changed Longview Agency’s name to Rodman Realty. Prior to his death in 2021, Don and Pat Rodman sold the business to Sabrina “Sam” Ellis and her husband, Zachary her sponsorship commitment. “I’m so grateful I found my calling at such a young age and have been lucky enough to be a part of it.” Like her predecessors, she relishes the people side of the business. “It’s about relationships with people and with the community,” she said.

“The excitement of putting good people together in a relationship that benefits them and the rest of us, too.”

When Lisa and Bill Brill founded Weatherguard, Inc. in March 1998, they decided to keep the company small and manageable. Sometimes the best laid plans of mice and roofers go astray, however. The seven-employee crew they started with has grown to 140. The company counts 65 bright red trucks in their fleet and does work as far north as the Puget Sound region and down into the Portland-Vancouver area. The business’s growth has been gradual, but steady. There were some lean years that caused the couple some concern, but they weathered those rough days by watching their pennies. “Lisa was good at keeping the spending under control,” Bill recalled.

Thinking back to the Covid years, Bill said, “Actually Weatherguard showed amazing growth during those years. Companies like Amazon realized, with all the online ordering, that their warehouses were way too small. Larger warehouses require massive roofs. Yeah, we did very well in the Covid years.”

When John Coleman, the company’s general manager, was hired in 2004, Bill found that he could hand over the day-today management to John. This freed Bill to tackle the more complicated aspects of running a larger business. “We’re a good team, John and I,” Bill said. ”We’ve operated the business with the concept of ‘Say what you’re going to do, then do it, and do it well.’”

Why do they keep their headquarters in Longview when the majority of their business is in larger metropolitan cities?

“Because Longview is our home,” Bill said. “Longview is where our families live. I grew up in Longview, and I see no reason to leave.”

Lisa and Bill take pride in the fact that during the prosperous years, they have been able, through the company’s good fortune, to support a number of charities in the area.

“It feels good to be able to give back to our community,” Bill said, “especially to benefit the kids who are growing up here.”

A large part of Weatherguard’s success can be summed up in Bill’s belief that their business is all about relationships. “Just selling” won’t get one as far as “just helping,” he says.

As with any business, Weatherguard’s true success comes from its crews, management, and support staff. Their commitment, loyalty, and dedication to hard work is the foundation of Weatherguard.

“I’m a firm believer that surrounding yourself with people you can trust and who have the same drive and goals that you do is the only way to make it happen,” Bill said. “Lisa and I are very fortunate to have these folks!”