DAKOTA SUPPLY GROUP Brings Knowledge Home

Just as no man is an island, no industry today stands alone. The integration of such specialties as plumbing, electrical, metering, waterworks and HVACR is much more common than in years past, as so-called “smart” technologies require that all these seemingly separate parts fit together. Dakota Supply Group, or DSG, is a wholesale distributor that recognized early on that they could use their years of experience in the distribution business to better service the customers in those industries.

Todd Kumm

After all, this is a company that traces its roots to 1898 when it began in the “icebox business,” says DSG CEO Todd Kumm from the company's headquarters in Fargo, ND. From those roots, the company has since built its reputation as a full-line distributor of products for the plumbing, electrical, mechanical, communications, utility, automation, waterworks, filtration, metering and, most recently, the HVACR industries. “We're not necessarily a specific type of distributor,” Kumm says. “We try to use our distribution techniques across multiple lines of products and provide a total solution to customers.” And that, says Kumm and his management team, is what DSG is all about: putting the customer first.

St. Paul, MN, location.

DSG's current management purchased the company in 1991 when it had two locations in Fargo and Grand Forks, ND. Since then, it has expanded to 17 locations in three states — North Dakota, Minnesota and South Dakota — and approximately 380 employees. It is also an ESOP, or Employee Stock-Ownership Plan, company that has been beneficial for all involved, according to Kumm.

Tom Rosendahl

Virtually all of the growth has come through acquisitions of existing businesses, Kumm says. Such acquisitions allowed DSG to gain a wealth of knowledge in industries that complemented its existing businesses while continuing the relationships between the local branches and their customers. “Our sales philosophy doesn't change — it's helping our customers be successful in their business,” says Tom Rosendahl, president of DSG.

One piece of the business that DSG did not have in its stable of wholesaler distributors was HVACR. They wanted a distributor that could complement the products and services that DSG already provided in other industries, and they found it in Shelter Supply. The Burnsville, MN, business had a 30-year history of providing customers with products and services for ventilation, filtration and dehumidification systems that created energy-efficient and healthy homes and buildings. Like DSG, Shelter Supply created a reputation for working with customers to develop solutions.

“Shelter had a good history and a fantastic reputation in their industry,” says Kumm on DSG's decision to acquire Shelter Supply and move the business to its St. Paul, MN, location. “They bring more expertise in the products that we needed and they are the leader in the upper Midwest.”