Spahn & Rose Blog

Even though Jim Patrum is an Inside Sales Representative at the Dubuque, Iowa, Spahn & Rose location, this past year he spent plenty of time outside serving Spahn & Rose customers. Willing to pitch in whenever needed—no small thing during an extraordinarily difficult year—Patrum made more than 100 deliveries over the last 12 months. In recognition of his great attitude, team spirit and outstanding customer service, Patrum has been named Spahn & Rose’s Employee of the Year for 2020.

“This is a real humbling experience,” he says. “It means the world to me to be appreciated for the extra effort.”

The Spahn & Rose Employee of the Year Award recognizes its honorees’ exemplary performance based on their job performance and contributions to thecore values of the company.  Patrum was the April Above & Beyond recipient, and any permanent full-time or part-time employee who receives that monthly award is eligible for the Employee of the Year honor, which is accompanied by a cash prize of $1,000.

“Jim was very deserving of the award, as he was asked to perform several different tasks above his normal duties in inside sales, and he exhibited a positive attitude at all times,” says John Cook, General Manager of the Spahn & Rose Dubuque location.

Having been with the company since 2016, Patrum often relies on his 40 years of experience in the building-materials and construction industry to assist customers.

“I want to make sure customers leave with what they came for,” he says. “I also want to get the whole picture of what they’re working on so I can provide options and recommendations. I like to see people happy and satisfied with their experience.”

Customers, supervisors and coworkers may nominate Spahn & Rose employees for the Above & Beyond Award. To nominate someone, email a Regional Director or the Marketing and Human Resources department. Customers can also nominate employees for Above & Beyond through Spahn & Rose’s social-media channels, including Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

This is the second time Spahn & Rose has named an Employee of the Year. In 2019, Greg Wink, a delivery salesman at the company’s Monticello, Iowa, location, became the first recipient.

“Jim’s welcoming smile and friendly attitude is the first thing our customers see as they enter our Dubuque store,” says Brent Schneider, Spahn & Rose’s Vice President of Operations, lauding Patrum for this year’s recognition. “In addition, he is the ultimate team player.”

It was midmorning on January 8 at the Jesup, Iowa, Spahn & Rose location, and part-time driver Randy Merkel was finishing his typical Wednesday shift. Instead of clocking out, though, he strolled through the lumberyard to see if any coworkers needed a hand.

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Kaitlyn Ransford, Purchasing Assistant in the General Office, thrives on challenging projects. A recent massive data-integration job with a tight deadline certainly qualified—and her stellar work on the project earned her the February/March Above & Beyond Award.

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Details of a project, down to the last nut and bolt, matter to Brent Roelofs, an Inside Sales Rep at the Cresco, Iowa, Spahn & Rose location. (more…)

A company-wide conversion to a new computer system can be stressful, confusing and puzzling. But Software Developer Tina Long eased the recent transition by providing quick and thorough responses to other Spahn & Rose employees, which earned her the Above & Beyond Award, presented to Spahn & Rose employees who exemplify the company’s commitment to customer service excellence. (more…)

For more than 100 years, contractors in Iowa, Illinois and Wisconsin have relied on Spahn & Rose for high-quality building materials and expert service. The company has now received national recognition for its longstanding dedication to its contractor customers: ProSales 100 has named Spahn & Rose one of the best lumberyards in America based on professional-contractor business.

It was one of those early August days when the temperatures neared 90 degrees but the humidity made you sweat before you’d done even a lick of work. That day, Doug White, a Spahn & Rose driver based in the Dubuque location, rolled up to a job site with a drywall delivery. For the next few hours, White unloaded drywall into the un-air-conditioned construction site, putting the sheetrock exactly where the contractor needed it. (more…)

As the Epicor Trainer and Accounts Receivable Clerk in the General Office in Dubuque, Tonya Sullivan believes that providing high-quality service creates trust and friendship, and keeps customers coming back.Sullivan began working at Spahn & Rose in 1997 as a high-school junior. Across the ensuing two decades, she has continuously strived for excellence.

Much like today’s super-utility baseball players who can play pretty much anywhere on the diamond, Greg Wink does just about everything at the Monticello, Iowa, Spahn & Rose location. (more…)