OLS INSIDER - Q4 2024 Newsletter

A MESSAGE FROM BRIAN PRICE

FORTITUDE HALL OF FAME

ACQUISITIONS & GREEN/BROWNFIELDS

MARKETING

OPERATIONS

HUMAN RESOURCES

PRODUCT & SALES

TECHNOLOGY & INNOVATION

EVENTS

ANNIVERSARIES, BIRTHDAYS & PROMOTIONS

Hello Team OLS,

 

This past year has been a real fight – thank you for the FORTITUDE you have shown. As we reflect on 2024, I challenge each of us to think about the goals we set and those we did, or did not, achieve. Did we have a plan for success (tied to actions)? Did we give it our all (no regrets)?

 

 

 

 

Goal setting is an important exercise – research has shown that people who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them than people who don’t. Writing down our goals helps us:

• Clarify intentions
• Create a sense of accountability
• Improve memory retention

All of which leads to success.

As many of you know, every year I write out personal, family and business goals. I post them on my fridge at home and in my office. We get out of life what we put into it, so think about where you want to go and what you want to achieve. There are opportunities for you to grow with OLS – be Empowered and Driven (two of our core values) to make it happen. 
 
As we look to the new year, I am optimistic about a resurgence in the repair and remodel sectors. I also am confident in this talented team’s ability to execute our goals. Our 2025 goals, objectives, and budget will be rolled out in January. In the meanwhile, I am including a goal card for you to use to start creating the 2025 YOU want to happen.

Finally, I want to wish all of you Happy Holidays. I encourage you to take this time to relax, recharge and enjoy the company of your loved ones.

Do you have a question you would like to ask Brian Price? Click below, fill out the form and it could be highlighted in the next newsletter.

Congratulations on your induction into the Fortitude Hall of Fame for the months of October, November and December! If you haven't received your Fortitude pin, look for it in the mail soon.

• Preston Shaw | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Charlotte, NC
• Mitize Cuevas | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Charlotte, NC
• Becky Heins | Corporate - Finance
• Will Burdette | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Duluth, GA
• Mario Vega | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Duluth, GA
• Marty Lipira | LandCare Stone, Madbury, NH
• Bob Grant | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Mebane, NC
• Devon Ingraham | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Durham, NC
• Matthew Yancey | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Durham, NC
• Christian Gonzales | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Durham, NC
• Hannah Palmer | Patriot Carriers
• Jason Brodie | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Kennesaw, GA
• Steven Nava | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Roswell, GA
• Corbin Salazar | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Roswell, GA
• Jason Deveau | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Kennesaw, GA
• Julian Valverde-Diaz | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Kennesaw, GA
• Eduardo Gomez Guzman | Stone Center - Landscape & Masonry, Roswell, GA
• Charlie Milhollen | Corporate - Finance
• Jason McGrath | Corporate - IT

Nominate a coworker you believe embodies and / or lives out our core values of FORTITUDE (Fun, Optimism, Respect, Teamwork, Integrity, Trust, Unity, Drive, and Empowerment). Nominated team members will be recognized in our OLS Insider newsletter and be entered into a raffle for a chance to win super cool swag.*

*Drawing to take place 12/2025.

We welcomed THREE NEW ACQUISITIONS and have exciting GREENFIELD updates to our OLS Family of Companies!

On October 3, 2024, we announced Outdoor Living Supply acquired Garden Supply Hardscapes, a full-service distributor of hardscape, natural stone, brick, lighting, bulk materials and other complementary landscape products in Northern California (stores in San Jose and San Carlos).

On October 8, 2024, we announced Outdoor Living Supply acquired Mid-Atlantic Concrete Products and South-Atlantic Concrete Products, full-service distributors of hardscapes, natural stone and porcelain products in North Carolina and Georgia, respectively. These new partnerships give us a significant foothold in the commercial hardscapes market.

The Rock Place expanded its Middle Tennessee presence with two exciting new greenfield locations. The Columbia store opened on October 14, while Hendersonville is opening February 3, 2025, furthering our ability to serve high-end buyers and contractors across the region.

Corporate Sponsorship: Gary Sinise Foundation

If you haven't had a chance yet, check out our second Outdoor Living Supply quarterly blog! Our latest post explores how to prepare outdoor hardscaping for winter.

Stay Connected on LinkedIn

We encourage all employees to connect with Outdoor Living Supply on LinkedIn to stay informed about company news, industry updates, and team highlights. By engaging with our page, you can help showcase the great work we’re doing and increase our visibility in the industry.

Here’s how to get involved:

• Follow Us: Visit our LinkedIn page or click here and click "Follow."
• Update Your Profile: We should ALL list Outdoor Living Supply as our employer. For example:
  • Job Title: “Outside Sales Manager, Stone Center of Roswell, GA”
  • Company: Outdoor Living Supply
• Engage with Posts: Like, share, or comment on posts that resonate with you to spread the word about OLS.

Let’s work together to grow our LinkedIn community and share our story with the world!

Have marketing questions or ideas you want to discuss? Please visit the Marketing Intranet page or click here.

NetSuite Update: Progress and Next Steps

We’re excited to share that Majestic Stone Landscape & Stucco Supply has successfully transitioned to and is now utilizing NetSuite! Meanwhile, Mid-Atlantic/South Atlantic Concrete Products and Garden Supply Hardscapes remain on track for their scheduled go-live dates in January and February.

Patrick Spain and Candice Sanchez have been hard at work updating training materials to ensure a smooth experience for go-live trainers. These new resources will be rolled out as part of the Mid-Atlantic/South Atlantic Concrete Products NetSuite launch.

Additionally, Cort’s team, with valuable support from Joel Vacek in Marketing, has developed new training videos designed to support both acquisitions and new hires. 

2024 5-Star Update

The 2024 5-Star program has officially concluded. Evaluators, please keep an eye out for the Q1 schedule, which was released earlier this week.

Need key documents for operations? Please visit the Operations Intranet page or click here.

Upcoming Holidays

Remember to mark your calendars for the upcoming paid holidays:

• Christmas Day: Wednesday, December 25, 2024
• New Year's Eve: Tuesday, December 31, 2024
• New Year's Day: Wednesday, January 1, 2025

We hope everyone enjoys their well-deserved time off and comes back refreshed in the new year!

PTO: As a reminder, any PTO balance remaining at the end of the calendar year will roll over in the new year. You will not lose these hours.

401k Contribution Limit Increases

401k contribution limit increases for 2025 go into effect soon! There are also some changes to the catch-up contributions for employees who are 50 years of age or older. Please see the table below for more details. 

1. Click on More  
2. Select Retirement 
3. Click on Change your contribution 
4. Select Edit to make your contribution percent.  
5. Remember to Save your changes! 

Payroll - End of Year

• Address  
• Name  
• Phone number  
• Email  
• SSN  

ADP - Payroll Changes and Blackout

As OLS continues to grow, we are adding more codes for payroll processing. About a third of our employees will be moved to a new pay code for the first payroll in 2025.  It should be seamless for the employee, requiring no action on the employee’s part. All of the data, pay history, and benefits information will be automatically transferred. However, this requires that the entire ADP app and website need to be frozen during the transition.   

ADP will have a blackout from December 24-27, 2024, when all employees will not be able to access anything in ADP except the timeclock.  Please have all 2024 PTO requests and changes entered into ADP no later than 10:00 am EST on December 23, 2024. See HR and Payroll with any questions. 

Have employment, benefits or payroll questions? Please visit the Human Resources Intranet page or click here. 

Data Sheets Now Available

We’re excited to share that data sheets for our Natural Stone Solutions imported products are now available on the company intranet!

Our imported stone collection encompasses a range of premium products, including:

• Analla™ Sandstone
• Lunara™ Limestone
• Noble Bluestone™
• Dalani™ Decorative Pebbles
• Meradee™ Marble
• Serenade™ Travertine
• Monadnock™ Granite

These data sheets provide key details such as specifications and applications to better support your customer conversations and project needs.

Visit the intranet today to explore these valuable resources. Scroll down to the Documents section and click Imported Products to locate on the Product & Sales intranet page.

Have product questions? Please visit the Product & Sales Intranet page or click here.

NetSuite Updates & Reminders

2. New NetSuite Functionality

Start using the following features immediately:

• Texting Customers - Streamline communication using our new customer texting functionality.

• New Delivery and Pick-Up Board - Track deliveries and pick-ups with enhanced visibility
  

• Customer Portal - Sign up and educate customers on our new portal. 

3. Employee Off-Boarding Reminder

If an employee leaves OLS - whether due to resignation, termination, or "no shows" - please contact HR immediately and submit the Employee Off-Boarding Form. This process ensures system access is promptly severed, and ADP is updated.

IT Service Provider Transition Update

To improve customer service for both our store and corporate employee teams, we are transitioning our IT Managed Service Provider (MSP) from Resultant to Kavaliro. This change will take place throughout December and January, with the tentative cutover date set for January 27, 2025.

Our goal is to enhance the IT support you receive while partnering with a company that can scale alongside Outdoor Living Supply. Over the coming weeks, we will share details on updated contact numbers, email addresses, and introduce new tools and submission forms to streamline equipment and software requests for your daily needs.

As we gear up for the Spring Selling Season, we remain committed to providing you with the best support possible.

Thank you to Joel and the IT team for their hard work in creating these tools. Please leverage the videos, guides, and tools as we work together to enhance our processes.

Have IT questions? Contact the Outdoor Living Supply IT Helpdesk, Resultant, for troubleshooting. Please visit the IT Intranet page or click here.

Happy work anniversary! We are so lucky to have you!

• January: 39 Years | Juan Barrera, 32 Years | Mary Popin, 9 Years | Alfredo Martinez Escamilla, 8 Years | John Bown, Michael Lettang, 4 Years | Natasha Dobbs, 3 Years | Russell Fillerup, Stephany Bringgold, Pedro Losa, Ashley Alvarez, Kate Craig, Scott Allen, Nathan Augestad, Sam Buckingham, William Lydick, 2 Years | Shawn Lemke, Deven Stincelli, Sarah Hagen, Jason McGrath, Isaac Barreto, Kolby Davis, Sarah Tolzmann, Pablo Salvatierra, Devin Vaughn, 1 Year | Damian Swain, Rylee Diamond, Kristyn Chafe, Luis Zavala, Sean Fagin, Dean Watson & Thomas Throop
• February: 25 Years | James Sparano, 24 Years | Victor Quiros, 22 Years | Emily Damasco, 20 Years | Shawn Simoneau, Luis Santos, 19 Years | Scott Walker, 18 Years | Daniel Speight, 15 Years | Noma Bareng, Amy Corsi, 14 Years | James Ingraham, 11 Years | Carlos Aeschlimann, 9 Years | Lenny Mastrogiacomo, 8 Years | Jun Nunez, Mario Vega, 7 Years | Jack Bell, William Hollis, Alberto Martinez Escamilla, Rose Wolfe, 5 Years | Martin Lipira, Manuel Mancilla, 4 Years | Daniela Olvera Martinez, Alexi Garcia Zelaya, 3 Years | Beth Leith, Ryan Jones, 2 Years | Michael Flanagan, Howard Lasker, Nikhita Killari, Felipe Moncada Flores, Preston Shaw, Sharron Honeycutt, Tomas Aquino Vasquez, Christoper Aboliso Rivera, 1 Year | Jessica Pittman, Jason Brodie, Asah Cummings, Matthew Damstetter, Mathiang Mathiang, Elizabeth Bell, Austin Ondracek, Christopher Teachout, Tara Smith, Joseph Nugent, Morgan Buice, Niko French, Humberto Piza & Ablavi Ekoue
• March: 33 Years | Daniel Gordon, 27 Years | William Demko, 23 Years | Jeny Izaguirre De Palacios, 22 Years | Manuel Calderon, Charles Ballard, 18 Years | Justin Santonastaso, Glenda Izaguirre Cabrera, 17 Years | Jason Nichols, Estevan Nava, Dale Mintz Jr., Daniel Authier, Jose Arias, 16 Years | Jonathan Morris, 12 Years | Danielle Lenhart, Deborah Fout, Juan Alvarado, 11 Years | Anival Menjivar, 10 Years | Patricia Sylvester, Barry Riddle, 9 Years | Arthur Randlett, 8 Years | James Vaughan, Matthew Kardos, Brandon Jackson, Joshua Gilman, William Croft, 7 Years | Jared Waite, 5 Years | Don Spendlove, Christopher Hamm, Aline Alzime, 4 Years | Mary Neville, Steven Nava, Roberto Jimenez Estepan, Rebecca Heins, Benjamin Brady, 3 Years | Ronald White, Nathaniel White, Luis Velasquez Barerra, Timothy Miller, Robert Marshall, Paul Kasmenn, Cameron Hall, George Ellison, Adria Cheney, Benjamin Carper, Omar Ayala, 2 Years | Christopher Shelton, Jonathon Langel, Drew Botts, Jeffrey Beggs, 1 Year | Brooks Yadon, Lee Wilson, William Timms, Derek Pukash, Kathleen Peterson, Joseph Peals, Marie Partee, Luis Nevarez, Adriana Menchu Gomez, Jackson Meador, Benjamin Johnson, Francis Hernandez, Kylie Grogan, Madeleine Daugherty & Victor Andrade

Wishing you a great birthday!

• January: Paul O'Donnell, Michael Flanagan, Paul Kasmenn, Ivan Bisbee, Roberto Jimenez Estepan, Ryan Shaw, Niko French, Tyler Strickland, Kevin Hakun, Jessica Pittman, Jackson Meador, Christopher Hamm, Beth Leith, Robert Dunn, Luis Santos, Victor Andrade, Jonathan Morris, Joseph LaBuda, Jeffrey Beggs, Isaac Barreto & Kailex Welch

• February: Lenny Mastrogiacomo, Jason McGrath, John Seegmiller, Sean Fagin, Layla Dedrick, Carlos Aeschlimann, Jessica Short, Matthew Damstetter, Kristyn Chafe, Gary Horne, John Oliver II, Justin Santonastaso, Nathaniel Moore, John Bown, Sharon Honeycutt, Adriana Menchu Gomez, Russ Head, Cameron Hall & Hannah Palmer

• March: Marie Partee, Austin Ondracek, Gilberto Johnson, James Sparano, William Hollis, Sarah Hagen, Devin Vaughn, Sarah Tolzmann, Benjamin Brady, Dina Brickey, Madeleine Daugherty, Benjamin Johnson, Michael Lettang, Brandon Loomis, Jared Waite & Esteban Plascencia Sanchez

Congratulations on your new role!

• Joseph Benson | Yard Supervisor | Apache Stone, Las Vegas, NV
• Blake Dalton | Store Manager | The Rock Place, Columbia TN
• Patrick Spain | Integration Specialist | Corporate - Operations
• Drew Botts | Delivery Driver | Willow Creek Landscape Supply, Rome GA
• Tara Smith | Sales Specialist II | Stoneworld Supply, Rexburg, ID
• Ryan Jones | Sales Specialist II | Bedrock Landscape Supply, Las Vegas, NV
• Joseph Peals | Sales Specialist | Willow Creek Landscape Supply, Rome, GA
• Natasha Dobbs | Assistant Store Manager | Apache Stone, Apache Junction, AZ
• Paul Kasmenn | Assistant Store Manager | The Rock Place, Hendersonville, TN
• Shawn Lemke | Senior Territory Sales Manager | Corporate - Sales
• Alexi Garcia Zelaya | Assistant Store Manager | Nova Stone - Landscape & Masonry, Ashburn, VA
• Walter Martinez | Sales Specialist I | Nova Stone - Landscape & Masonry, Ashburn, VA