53 Locations And Counting At Relationship-Based Mead Lumber Company
“From a competitive advantage, everything that happens is based on a relationship and since the beginning we’ve been working and living and giving back in our local communities. Those are the biggest advantages we have.” – Dave Anderson, president and CEO, Mead Lumber Company MeadLumber.com
Mead Lumber is based in Omaha, NE, and has locations throughout Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming.
“From small rural towns to regional urban population centers, we are positioned to help our customers and communities with their building material needs,” said Dave Anderson, president and CEO of Mead Lumber, pictured here.
Building materials giant, Mead Lumber Company, located in Omaha, NE, currently operates 53 locations in nine states. The company, which became 100 percent employee owned with an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in 2014, also markets under other names such as TrussCraft, Knecht Home Center, Great Plains Distribution, Great Plains Countertops and other acquired brands.
Mead Lumber Co. purchases more than 150 million board feet annually of Spruce-Pine-Fir, Hemlock Fir, Southern Yellow Pine and Cedar (MSR, Nos. 1, 2 and 3 Common, Clear, S4S, Premium grades, Green in ½-inch, 1-inch, 2-inch, 4-inch and 6-inch thicknesses).
The company has over 1,400 employees, many of which have long tenure with the company. When asked about the keys to Mead’s longevity, Dave Anderson, president and CEO, offered, “First and foremost it’s our people. This is a relationship business and we have formed long-term external customer relationships and forged strong friendships and partnerships internally amongst ourselves.”
“I believe the ESOP structure helps to maintain the history, and the culture legacy that the Mead family started with. The Mead family started this business in 1910,” Anderson explained. “In 2000 Bob Mead created the ESOP from a succession planning stage and sold 25 percent of the company to the employees. By 2014 he sold the remaining 75 percent to the employees. So even though we have over 53 locations across nine states, the culture that the Mead family started with is still critical to our success.”
Mead Lumber purchases more than 150 million board feet annually of Spruce-Pine-Fir, Hemlock Fir, Southern Yellow Pine and Cedar.
As the company continues to grow, Anderson said their HR team recently performed the opposite of exit interviews and interviewed team members for the reasons they stay. “We asked people on the front lines of our company questions like why do you continue to work here at Mead. The most consistent answer was the relationships with who they work with every day.”
At the local level Anderson said Mead provides flexibility and entrepreneurship. “While we do have corporate support, decisions are being made at the local level and our local management has flexibility in their individual markets.”
A worker in the Grand Island, NE, location loads a truck for delivery to a customer.
He continued, “At the end of the day, business comes down to relationships. While our core values have adapted over the years, they basically are the same as they’ve been since the company began. From a competitive advantage, everything that happens is based on a relationship and since the beginning we’ve been working and living and giving back in our local communities. Those are the biggest advantages we have.”
With a growing footprint serving hundreds of communities spanning across the Great Plains, including Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming, Mead Lumber offers a culture of diversity and opportunity. Anderson said, “From small rural towns to regional urban population centers, we are positioned to help our customers and communities with their building material needs. While this growth has brought heightened capabilities, one thing that has not changed is our commitment to the Golden Rule – treating folks as we would like to be treated. We are headquartered in Nebraska but we are decentralized at the local level.
That means at every Mead Lumber store, our managers and their associates are all equipped and empowered to best serve our communities and customers. We invest in our stores and associates to help build stronger, safer and healthier communities.”
Mead Lumber Company has 53 locations across nine different states. Pictured is their Cheyenne, WY, lumberyard.
Anderson said Mead’s fast-paced yet secure work environment is designed to inspire creativity, encourage growth, and foster innovation, making them a powerhouse of talent and industriousness. “What sets us apart is our belief in rewarding our employees well for their efforts, offering attractive compensation and benefits to keep our workforce engaged, motivated and satisfied. We are more than just a company, we are a family. Every single one of us holds a piece of Mead Lumber in our hands–because we are 100 percent employee-owned.”
The core values of Mead Lumber include giving back to the communities in which they serve. Several programs are in place in each community to give back. “At Mead Lumber, our associates are committed to community outreach that improves the areas in which we live and work,” he explained. “We care about what’s going on in our communities. We are committed to help with materials, money and manpower to support programs that give back to the communities we serve.
Shown here is truss building at Mead Lumber’s Truss Craft Wyoming.
Equally committed to reinvestment, Mead Lumber allocates a percentage of earnings to capital investment annually. Anderson explained, “The capital equipment that it takes to operate in this business is cost intensive. We’re always looking at the retail and lumber distribution side and the manufacturing side. We follow a consistent allocation yearly where we’re looking at what options are available to us from an effectiveness or efficiency standpoint. From a merger and acquisition standpoint, we are always looking for opportunities and there is always something on the board. That doesn’t mean that there is always something that we’re ready to close on because that takes time. There are funnels of opportunities and you close a lot less than you look at, but there is always something that we are looking at for future acquisitions.”
For more information visit MeadLumber.com.
