“The employees and our culture have always been the key to our success.” said Chris Neumann, current President and CEO of Erie Materials, according to a news release. “I’m honored that so many people have made their careers here and recruited family members and friends to be part of the Erie Materials family.”

Erie Materials has grown to be a premier family-owned, independent building materials supplier to professional contractors in Upstate New York and Northeastern Pennsylvania since its beginning in 1973..

When Bob Neumann opened the doors in Syracuse, the business included a single building, an old truck, a broken forklift, and three employees. Today, Erie Materials has nine sales locations, more than 350 team members, a fleet of vehicles and an advanced distribution system.

The company sells a wide array of exterior building materials including residential and commercial roofing, siding, windows, doors, decking, railing, seamless gutter, skylights and tools.

Erie Materials’ Distribution Center in Syracuse allows all nine branches to promise next-day access to an enormous inventory of specialty siding, masonry stone veneer, composite decking, railing, roofing shingles and other products.

Beyond building materials, Erie Materials supports contractors with material selection consultation and installation advice, quotes and estimates, millwork service and training, the news release said. Its outside salespeople work with contractors to help their businesses be as successful as possible.

In addition to hands-on volunteer efforts in branch communities, each year Erie Materials and its manufacturer partners make a donation based on March’s roofing and siding sales to organizations working to end domestic and sexual violence.

Bob Neumann was a founding member of American Wholesale Association, a group of independent distributors similar to Erie Materials throughout the US and Canada, the news release said.

Today, Erie Materials is a member of American Wholesale’s successor, the Independent Distributors Alliance Corporation (IDAC), with 30 distributors representing $9 billion in sales revenue.

“The industry is a lot different than when we started 50 years ago,” said Bob Neumann, according to the news release. “We’ve adapted to the increased competition by upping our service levels, growing in scale and continue to recruit talented people. Without these high-quality and knowledgeable people, Erie Materials wouldn’t be as successful as it is today.”