Dickman Supply has grown from a small start-up industrial mill supply house in 1953 into a leader today in the distribution of industrial and electrical supplies from three Ohio locations in Sidney, Greenville, and Celina.
Looking back over the past 60 years from the company’s founding by Ruben Dickman through the 1986 purchase by Tim Geise, the combined entities of Dickman Industrial and Lynch Supply realized modest growth. The 1975 addition of a custom electrical assembly department truly set the company apart from the competition of the day.
A few short years after the Geise purchase, all divisions incorporated under the name Dickman Supply, Inc. For the next 10 years, the company’s growth was on the fast track with the construction of a new 40,000 sq. ft. headquarters in Sidney, Ohio in 1991 and the 1996 move from Union City to Greenville, Ohio.
By 2001, Dickman Supply was quickly outgrowing its physical space and had expanded into the northern market. A new satellite branch was constructed in Celina, Ohio, and the Custom Motor Control Assembly and Wire Harness Divisions separated from Dickman, becoming a separately incorporated business called Electro Controls, Inc. Dickman Supply also won the Dayton Business Journal’s Fast 50 Award for being one of the fastest growing companies in the Miami Valley.
A new Greenville facility was constructed the next year that included a Lighting Showroom, allowing contractors to bring customers into an environment where they could experience how lighting would fit in their new homes. The Dickman Center for Customer Education opened in Sidney in the area vacated by Electro Controls, providing contractors a local venue for their meetings, safety training, continued education, and electrical licensing/renewal needs. In a 2003 interview, owner Tim Geise was asked about the company’s continued streak of success. He said, “Our success formula has been directly attributable to the quality and experience of our employee associates, over 40 of whom can claim over 10 years in the industry… It goes beyond customer relations and people skills… I tell our people regularly, ‘The customers pay your paycheck, I only sign them.’ Success is getting the right customers and keeping them, that extends to the getting right employees on board.”
Over the next 10 years, Dickman Supply earned numerous industry awards, including a National Sales and Marketing Award and a National Member of the Year award from the distribution industry’s largest association – IMARK Group. The company saw expansions at all locations, and celebrated many employees claiming 20 year (and higher) service awards. Growth continued throughout the decade with the addition of another customer experience Design Center in Sidney for contractors to show home and business owners how to incorporate automated systems into their designs. This was followed by the 2008 launch of its Green Energy Solutions Division, who works closely with contractors selling “green” energy saving projects to building owners by showing them a fast return on investment, combining tax deductions and utility rebates with significant energy savings. It is obvious that Dickman Supply’s culture and the philosophy of how to attain and sustain success initiated by its owner, Tim Geise, holds true today!
As Dickman Supply celebrates its Diamond Anniversary, President Tim Geise would like to thank all employees, customers, and the communities in which it operates for their strong support over the years. We pledge to continue to provide world class service to all our customers in 2013 and beyond, and plan to be here 10 years from now celebrating another milestone with even more successes!
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