Featured Employee Owners

Brandon Kitkowski has seen his business card change in 2025, going from Field Sales Representative to now Outside Sales Representative. However, his commitment to service and our customers is his defining characteristic.

Brandon joined Lumbermen’s in the fall of 2015 as an OSR, and then became one of the first Employee Owners to embrace and champion the newly created role of Field Sales Representative for our customers. While we are excited to see him return to the role of OSR for our Southern MI and Indiana dealers, he was able to reflect on his time as an FSR and why he believes it is important: “The field sale role was designed to get further down stream and closer to the end user of the products that we represent. We want to make sure our customers and their customers are successful with the products they purchase from us. If the customer has a good experience, the hope is that they will continue to partner with Lumbermen’s for future projects. The FSR role represents fewer products than our dealer sales reps and therefore should be the subject matter “experts” on the products they cover. We are able to talk features and benefits but also provide install and technical knowledge when needed. Field sales representatives act as an extension of our vendor partners and our dealer network to ensure success through the build cycle, concept to completion.”

In his time outside of work, Brandon enjoys spending time with his family, especially attending theatre and musical productions. He also serves as a volunteer with an organization the builds handicap ramps and will participate in about 10 builds over the summer.

As he approaches the busy building season, Brandon had this to say about his new role, “First and foremost being of service is important no matter what type of customer it is. ‘It’s about you not me‘ is the mindset I try to maintain when working with customers and understanding their needs. I don’t want to sell you something once and never hear from you again. I want to offer value, develop a relationship, and earn the privilege of repeat business.”

Cristina Wasel leads our Door Division’s commitment to quality and getting things right. Her engineering expertise helps build tools and systems that work to prevent and solve issues on the production floor.

Cristina joined Lumbermen’s in May of 2022, and now holds the role of Quality Management Supervisor. “Quality is part of our commitment to our customers and to our Employee Owners, one thing I am very proud of is that Quality is a department of support,” says Cristina. “We build the process and tools for our teams to succeed, and investigate where do we need to improve. Quality is not about criticizing and pointing fingers, it is about learning from our mistakes and working ahead to prevent them.”

In her time outside of work, Cristina enjoys gardening, and spending time with her husband, their two children, and two cats. Cristina and her husband met when he was traveling for work in Mexico, and they have been together for 10 years, and this year celebrated another milestone. “This year I am very grateful and blessed to say I have become a US citizen, I am very happy to join this country.”

When asked about her experience at Lumbermen’s, Cristina had this to say, “I love working here, this has been a great opportunity for me to enter a different industry, the thing I love the most is the family oriented values of Lumbermen’s, and how that extends to the community around us not just the inside of the company.”

Thai Xiong is part of a new group of Employee Owners in Minnesota, joining the company in April of 2024.

As Lumbermen’s expanded Building Materials operations into Minnesota, we needed top-notch drivers to deliver materials to our new customers, and were fortunate to have Thai become one of our first hires for the new location! “I enjoy driving and it brings me joy to work with a great team,” said Thai. “My job is to ensure the truck is in safe operation, I conduct inspections before my route and at the end of each day.”

In addition to delivering products to our customers, Thai enjoys playing golf, exercise, and spending time with his family and friends. He is also very proud of his heritage. “I am Hmong American, I came to the USA as a refugee from Thailand. Because of the opportunities available to me, I became the first in my family to graduate with a four year degree. My father’s decision to come to America was one of the best decisions he made for me and my family. I am blessed and am proud to be an American citizen.”

“It is a blessing to start my driving career with Lumbermen’s and help launch the Minnesota division. I’m excited to be a part of something new.”

Terry Lynn joined Lumbermen’s in September of 2007, as a member of the Grand Rapids Building Materials division.

As Lumbermen’s continues to grow our service across Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Northern Kentucky, and Minnesota, we add staff, and space! Terry has overseen the opening of new service locations, and ensures that the Lumbermen’s buildings and grounds remain maintained and any maintenance repairs are done in a timely and cost effective manner.

“I really enjoy getting out to the outlying divisions and being able to meet their specific needs for the facilities, and also having the opportunity to meet new Employee Owners,” said Terry.

“I believe the facilities team all have one goal, and that is to make sure our facilities are in great shape, so when our customers visit, their overall experience here at Lumbermen’s is a positive one.”

Steve Hanker has been with Lumbermen’s since 1996, when he joined the company as a Customer Service Representative.

Steve spoke about his duties at Lumbermen’s: “Customer service reps play a key role with order accuracy and support with the sale. We can save the customer time, with quick answers and product knowledge. It’s enjoyable to come in the office and work with a great sales team. I know that the team will not hesitate to assist me. We do this all for the customer experience here at Lumbermen’s, and that is a great feeling at the end of the day.”

In 2023, Lumbermen’s began a volunteer initiative called Building Community with Heart, in which the company provides a paid day for employee owners to donate their time to a community initiative that they wish to support. Steve has taken a leadership role within the program and had this to say, “Lumbermen’s has always prioritized helping individuals and giving back to people in need. The Building Community with Heart program is expanding this commitment even further. Corporate community involvement has been around for a while, but Lumbermen’s has created a high impact employee volunteer program. This initiative is important, as it will bring positive results. Building Community with Heart has become part of our company mission, and says something about the company for future employees. It also brings current employees together, and strengthens relationships. It’s easy to get involved, and it is paid volunteer time.”