In 1981, Art Sinkey and Bill Kominga opened a small, three-employee copy machine company in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, naming it after their initials. The company soon became known for its product quality, superior service and reasonable pricing. In 1993, the current owner, Dennis Aanenson, bought the company. It has since grown under his leadership and today boasts more than 100 employees and annual sales of $37 million. Attesting to its success, A&B has been a Pro Elite 100 dealer—a top 100 office products dealer in the United States—since 2008 and is recognized as a leading Toshiba and Ricoh vendor.
According to marketing specialist Galina Zaranchuk, much of this impressive growth can be attributed to community: “Our vision remains focused on developing a strong community and culture inside and outside by volunteering. We give paid time off for volunteering; our goal this year is 1,250 hours. We allow the employees to choose where they volunteer in the community based on their personal values and where they feel they should be most involved. We want to improve the communities where we live. From a business standpoint, being involved in the community means people know us. Companies trust us and are loyal. They want to do business with vendors who care about their community.”
And giving back isn’t the only key to the company’s success. “We really focus on development and training,” continues Zaranchuk. “It’s one of our core values. All our service technicians are certified. Every week, we hold training sessions across various areas—such as professional leadership and motivation—for the entire team. Some are virtual, but many are in person. Since we do so much personal and professional development, our goals and standards are high. We have what we call the Blue Standard—our dark blue logo color. As a result, our sales reps overachieve their year-over-year goals. That is why sales reps in our established territories never want to leave!”
This employee loyalty is another factor she attributes to the company’s culture: “The longevity of our employees has been important. We have many long-term employees and at least half of them have been here for over a decade. They stick around because of the way we treat them.”
Meeting the challenges
As is inevitably the case, success does not come without its challenges. Zaranchuk cites two main hurdles as “Competition in our area and pushing to get our name out in new territories. We are trying to grow by moving into other states, including Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota; and this year we bought half of J.D Young, a dealer in Oklahoma.” She also reports that finding sales reps and other hires in these areas, where A&B doesn’t have a history, can be difficult; as can acquiring a new business and onboarding the employees to meet A&B Blue Standard and assimilate into its culture.
Culture club
For other independent dealers keen to emulate A&B’s success, Zaranchuk recommends creating a culture that makes employees want to stay and that reflects the company’s values. She also advises getting involved in the community to build customer trust, loyalty and developing long-lasting relationships—the mainstays of business longevity.
Headquarters: Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Top management: Dennis Aanenson, owner; Kyle Lambert, chief financial officer; Tim Paris, vice president—sales; Dennis Dunn, vice president—service; Rob Grunendike, vice president—operations; Denton Aanenson, IT director
Number of employees: 100+
Annual sales: $37 million
Percentage of sales by category: 80% office products; 20% other