ProSales Selects Erie Materials as 2008 Dealer of the Year
Washington, DC – ProSales magazine has selected Erie Materials as its 2008 ProSales Dealer of the Year.
The ProSales Dealer of the Year Award honors outstanding achievements in construction supply operations, management and innovations, as well as meritorious service to the dealer’s community and to the lumber and building material industry. Only one construction supply dealer is chosen per year. As winner, Erie is featured in the cover story in ProSales’ January issue, and the company will be honored Jan. 22 at a ProSales breakfast in Las Vegas during the International Builders’ Show.
“We’re an independent, family-owned, regional distributor. We’ve never sought attention, so we’re especially surprised and honored by this distinction,” said Erie Materials President Bob Neumann who owns the company with his son, Executive Vice President Chris Neumann. “In tough times like these, you find out if you made the right decisions. Our continued growth and stability says we did, and we’re proud to be recognized for that.”
“ProSales picked Erie because of its record of solid growth, continual expansion, and giving back to both its employees and the community,” said Craig Webb, editor, ProSales magazine. As senior editor Andy Carlo wrote in this month’s issue: “From its founding 35 years ago in what essentially was a garage, it has grown into a 10-unit dealer on track to generate sales of $175 million in 2008. In an era in which the vast majority of construction supply dealers have seen sales drop—and often plummet—Erie continues to grow. And it does that while serving central and upstate New York and eastern Pennsylvania, not exactly the most bustling of housing markets.”
Erie ranks 27th on the ProSales 100 list of America’s biggest pro-oriented construction supplier companies. It’s notable among its peers in the lumber and building materials business in that it doesn’t sell lumber; rather, it focuses on commercial and residential roofing as well as siding, windows and doors, and such ancillary products as decking, stone veneer, trusses, gutters, and steel roofing. Erie also merits attention for the redistribution center it created that enables the company to get needed products from one store to another and on to the right job site in just one day.
“Our salespeople can sell with confidence, knowing the product is on the floor. Our product offering rarely distinguishes us from our competition anymore, but having it in stock every time does,” Chris Neumann says in the article. “When customers place an order with us, they know it is going to be in stock, it is going to be delivered on time and the people involved in the process from start to finish are professional.”
In addition to its headquarters and distribution center in Syracuse, NY, Erie has branches in Albany, Auburn, Binghamton, Elmira, Utica and Watertown, NY as well as Scranton and Williamsport, PA.
“Our extensive profile of Erie in our January issue makes clear just how special this company is,” said Webb. To read that story, click here for ProSales web site or here for an online "reading copy" of the magazine.
About Hanley Wood
Hanley Wood, LLC, is the premier media and information company serving housing and construction. Through four operating divisions, the company produces award-winning magazines and Web sites, marquee trade shows and events, rich data and custom marketing solutions. The company also is North America’s leading publisher of home plans. Hanley Wood Business Media (Washington, D.C.), publishes 30 award-winning residential and commercial construction titles, including Builder, Remodeling, Architect, Custom Home, Concrete Construction and residential architect. Hanley Wood Business Media also offers the construction industry’s foremost collection of Web sites, including Builder Online, Remodeling Online, and ebuild, the comprehensive online guide to building products, as well as the largest collection of house plans online through eplans.com and Dream Home Source.
Founded in 1976, Hanley Wood is a $250 million company owned by affiliates of JPMorgan Partners, LLC. CCMP Capital Advisors manages the Hanley Wood investment for JPMorgan Partners.
