ST. GEORGE – PrimeSource Sanitary, a locally owned family business, is demonstrating what is possible to accomplish in a small market, and as a result of their efforts, the company was featured recently on the cover of a national trade magazine.
PrimeSource Sanitary started with cleaning and janitorial supplies, owner Larry Howard said, but has since moved into workplace safety gear and hotel and restaurant supplies.
The company now supplies clients from Milford to Mesquite, Nevada, and their contracts include the cities of St. George and Washington, among others. They also service Zion National Park.
PrimeSource has only been in business five years, but is expanding rapidly and now has eight employees.
“We’re very proud to have our business here in St. George,” Howard said.
Originally from California, Howard and his family moved to St. George in 2008 for a job opportunity. However, his employer decided to move the business to Salt Lake City. Howard said he told his wife they would either have to move or start something else.
His wife wanted to stay, so Howard started PrimeSource in 2011 out of his garage. Later that year, he got a storage shed, then a warehouse with offices as he acquired larger accounts.
Today, Howard’s wife and son count themselves among the company’s eight employees, including three outside sales representatives.
PrimeSource tried the trend of email marketing, Howard said, but found that face-to-face contact worked best.
“I learned that it’s better to be in front of a buyer than it was to email and text and things like that,” he said.
PrimeSource staff meets with some of the larger clients once a week. They also spend time training customers’ employees how to use the products they sell. This is a popular service, Howard said.
“It’s more that one-on-one that our customers really enjoy,” Howard said. It might cost more in the immediate, he said, but it has paid off in the long run.
One way this focus on customer service has paid off is in national recognition. PrimeSource was featured on the cover of the July/August 2016 edition of Maintenance Sales News, a trade magazine for professional wholesale distributors. The publication focuses on small businesses like Howard’s in addition to larger companies.
Maintenance Sales News approached Howard after hearing how his company, located in a small town, had grown so much in such a short period of time.
“It’s the No. 1 trade magazine in our industry,” Howard said.
PrimeSource Sanitary is located at 446 North Park St., Ste. C, in the St. George Industrial Park near Red Hills Parkway. For more information, see the company’s webpage or Facebook page.
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