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No. 7 Small/Medium Company: New South Construction Supply |
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Photo / Brett Flashnick
For Jim Sobeck, creating a great place to work is simple: Just design the kind of environment where you would want to work.
That approach flows throughout New South Construction Supply Co. LLC in West Columbia, which supplies contractors and subcontractors with concrete, masonry and waterproofing supplies.
With nine locations, New South Construction Supply distributes its products throughout the South, from Virginia to Mississippi. One of the company’s hallmarks is offering flexibility to its associates, a term Sobeck prefers over “employees.” A handful of the company’s 50 associates work from home, equipped with laptops and an Internet telephone connection.
Flexible scheduling has allowed the company to attract and keep people who wouldn’t have stayed if they had been working for a more rigid employer, said Sobeck, company president and CEO.
“Where people are is really irrelevant,” he said.
Flexibility allows associates to focus on their families—something Sobeck practices and preaches. Married for 30 years and the father of three grown children, Sobeck understands the importance of putting family ahead of business.
“I try to make sure everyone here understands family has to come ahead of business,” he said. “People aren’t very productive when they are going through a divorce or in a terrible family situation.”
The company provides paid time off, rather than specific sick days, vacation days or bereavement days.
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