By Hillary Gavan
For StatelineBusiness

BELOIT -- For the second consecutive year, ABC Supply Company, based in Beloit, has been honored with a Gallup Great Workplace Award. The company is one of only 20 worldwide to receive the 2008 award.

"All of our executives have an open office door policy," said Darrell Cleaver, an ABC Supply Co. enterprise network manager. "When you are happy where you are at and in an environment where you do what you do best, you tend to perform and bring more value to the company."

The Gallup Great Workplace Awards recognize the best-performing workforces in the world and are based on the most rigorous workplace research ever conducted. Companies considered for the award were evaluated by a panel of workplace experts, who compared each company's results to those of thousands of work teams all over the world, using Gallup's massive database. The 2008 awards will be presented at the Gallup Summit on May 14 in Omaha, Neb.

ABC Supply is among the award winners because its results demonstrate that it has one of the most productive and engaged workforces in the world. Other 2008 winners include such familiar names as The Campbell Soup Company and Marriott Vacation Clubs, CarMax Inc. and Country Inns & Suites by Carlson.

Cleaver a can understand why his company won the award. Cleaver moved to work at ABC's National Support Center 10 years ago from Oklahoma after Ken Hendricks had acquired his company.

After working at ABC in Beloit, Cleaver didn't miss his previous employer. ABC Supply Co. has regular volleyball and basketball leagues. Not only do the sports activities provide ways for employees to get to know each other, but also the education department brings in potential and current managers from all over the country.

"We mingle and put names with faces. It's important because we are the National Support Center. Our role is to work with the branches out in the field. We see what value we can bring to their branches or how to improve their efficiencies," Cleaver said.

Another reason the company won the award, Cleaver said, is because of the open door policy.

Michelle Kuchan, a marketing specialist for ABC Supply Co., came to ABC a year out of college. She has been there for about four years and enjoys the seminars she goes to and how the company rewards employees for a job well done.

"I really have had a tremendous opportunity to learn and grow as a young person in the workforce," Kuchan said. "It's a corporate setting that doesn't feel like it. It's that big company with small family feel. As large as we are, our managers really do care about us."

New ABC Supply Co. President and CEO David Luck has been a great help to getting Kuchan engaged in her work during her time working with the IndyCar Series sponsorships.

"He won't just give you answers, he encourages you to think and learn and come up with answers. So that encouragement of growth stems from the top down. They lead by example," Kuchan said.

"We are humbled to again stand alongside such an outstanding group of companies," said Luck. "This award belongs to our 5,800 associates across the United States. They make ABC Supply a great place to work. They come in every day committed to helping our customers succeed by treating them with respect and making it easy for them to do their jobs."

"It was always Ken Hendricks' dream that ABC Supply would become the best company in America to work for," Luck continued, referring to ABC Supply's founder, who died in December 2007.  "He was so proud to receive this award last year and would have been thrilled to be recognized again. We will accept this award in his honor and celebrate collectively this milestone on the road to achieving his goal."

Founded in 1982 and headquartered in Beloit, ABC Supply is the largest wholesale distributor of roofing in the U.S. and one of the nation's largest distributors of siding, windows and other select exterior building products.