In 2025, LMC is celebrates 90 years strong. Founded on the principle that we’re all better when we work together, our team members have demonstrated how true that value proposition is every day since we made our first group purchase in 1935.
Bob Bryan is one of those team members who embodies the spirit of LMC, and he’s been here for over half of LMC’s history.
Over his 50 year career, Bob Bryan has witnessed the growth of LMC and all the changes along the way. He knows everyone and his role, as reigning king of the mail room, is the definition of LMC culture: his motto is “I’ve never done this before. But I’m going to do it now.” And he does it effortlessly and remains one of the most beloved LMC team members.
Bob Bryan is one of our longest serving members of staff. He joined LMC on October 11, 1974 at the age of 23 years old after responding to an advertisement in the paper looking for new maintenance staff. From 1974 to 1980, Bob kept the LMC building at 107 North Aberdeen Avenue up and running.
“When I started, there were a lot of young people and they were full of energy,” Bob says. Working at LMC was like working with family. “We used to have a lot of informal gatherings like picnics at state parks, cookouts at people’s houses. We’d play softball at local parks.”
In 1980, Bob was promoted to the mailroom, where he continues to hold court today. When Bob joined the mail room, he was one of three or four people working constantly to keep LMC up and running. His team worked tirelessly facilitating tasks that kept the lights on at LMC: sending out invoices, shipping out new product descriptions and catalogs, and making sure all the relevant incoming mail reached the right people in the building.
The scope of their task cannot be understated. “When we brought on a new dealer, we’d fill out a conference table size group of product descriptions and get it out to them,” Bob says. “And that’s just one example. Every week we’d do a weekly marketing bulletin with a build materials and lumber section. We’d mail out 1,000 copies from a bunch of mail bags.”
Times have changed at LMC, and Bob’s day-to-day life is a testament to the transformation LMC has undergone. When Bob joined the team, there were 60 people in the entire office. Since then, the team has more than tripled. LMC hasn’t just grown our headcount; we’ve changed our processes, too. “There’s always going to be a new project,” Bob says. “You can’t rest on your laurels; there’s always something new. I try not to let anything surprise me, and that helps me embrace change.”
Before the technology existed, Bob had to work with stacks of paper invoices. Now one person can make it all happen with a few clicks of a button. Bob now works with electronic documents that he then prints when required.
Bob remains a living, breathing foundation of the soul of LMC. Even as times change for LMC and our dealers and we all pivot to a less personal way of doing business through efforts like digitalization, Bob is the throughline from the old ways of working to the new. And he represents how important it is to retain the personal way of doing business, even as we are able to automate more and take the analog approach less.
"Even though the company has changed, I have to know who everyone is,” Bob says. “I need to know what they do and where they are. I still need to know what mail can and can’t be opened.”
What keeps Bob going besides his commitment to embracing change? Bob says it’s his faith. “I believe in doing what you’re doing as if you’re doing it for the Lord. Then, when things come at me, I’m blessing the Lord, so I’ll do it.”
And is there anything else that keeps Bob here after 50 years? “Well,” he says, “it doesn’t hurt that I live four blocks away.”
LMC is incredibly thankful for Bob's years of dedication and service. His hard work and commitment have greatly impacted LMC. We are grateful to not only call Bob a remarkable colleague, but a friend. LMC extends our gratitude to you, Bob!