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Sprenger Midwest Wholesale Lumber supports regional building needs, earns industry recognition
- June 28, 2024
Record building activity like Sioux Falls has enjoyed in recent years is supported by homegrown materials businesses such as Sprenger Midwest Wholesale Lumber.
Led by a team with decades of experience, the business has been supporting the wholesale distribution of lumber, plywood and other forest products to regional retail lumber dealers and industrial accounts for 45 years.
“Sprenger Midwest Wholesale Lumber is a Sioux Falls success story that has grown along with the development of our community and beyond,” said Bob Mundt, president and CEO of the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.
“Access to quality building materials is key for supporting our area construction industry, and Sprenger Midwest does a wonderful job servicing not just the needs of Sioux Falls and South Dakota but many of our neighboring states. We’re grateful our community serves as their home base.”
Business name: Sprenger Midwest Inc., Wholesale Lumber Sales.
Year founded/operations began in Sioux Falls: 1979.
Total employees in the Sioux Falls area: Approximately 40.
Here’s a closer look at the business, courtesy of president Steve Sprenger.
How would you describe your organization to someone not familiar with it?
We source lumber, plywood and other building materials from quality mills in the U.S. and Canada. We sell to retail lumber dealers and industrial accounts in the seven-state region: South Dakota, Minnesota, North Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri.
Sprenger’s location in Lincoln, Nebraska
We have warehouse facilities in Sioux Falls; Lincoln, Nebraska; and Moorhead, Minnesota. Our organizational chart starts with a management team consisting of our sales manager, purchasing manager, controller, credit manager and branch managers from each of our locations.
What are the top three reasons you continue to locate in the Sioux Falls area?
- We started here, and our home office is here.
- Sioux Falls and the surrounding market for lumber continues to grow.
- We have invested in real estate with two large lumber warehouses: South Yard at 523 E. 14th St. and North Yard at 4501 N. Fourth Ave. in an industrial park.
What are you most proud of within your business in the past year?
From our Lincoln, Nebraska, yard we were given the 2023 Supplier of the Year Award from the Nebraska Lumber Dealers Association. I accepted the award at their annual convention held in Omaha.
What do you see as the biggest challenge facing your business?
The changing climate of new lumber dealer and industrial account customers. For instance, in the past two years, there are five or six new truss plants and wall panel fabrication plants in the Sioux Falls area. Several longtime lumber retailers have changed ownership with national chains.
How would you describe the culture of your business in three words?
Honest, dependable, hardworking.
Why does your business choose to invest in Forward Sioux Falls?
The goals and values of Forward Sioux Falls are to promote economic growth. These values help our business to grow and provide jobs for our employees and those we do business with.
What specific advantages or values have you found to partnering with Forward Sioux Falls and its programs?
Our partnership has been mainly financial support. We are aware of programs for increasing housing, which directly affects our business, and workforce recruitment and training.
What are your expectations for your business in the year ahead?
We are experiencing a more difficult business climate with higher interest rates and economic uncertainty. Lumber demand nationally is down, resulting in lower prices. From the high demand during the pandemic, we are now at pre-pandemic prices. This means we need to sell two or three times as much board footage for the same amount of sales. Our expectation is that the second half of the year will be better than the first half. Overall sales will be up marginally in 2024 — maybe 10 or 15 percent over 2023.
To learn more about Sprenger Midwest Wholesale Lumber, click here.
Forward Sioux Falls is a joint venture between the Greater Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce and the Sioux Falls Development Foundation and is widely respected as the premier economic driver for the Sioux Falls region. To learn more and connect, click here.