July 2018

34 35 manufacturers that they were purchasing pan- els from. So they went out and bought their first roll former in the mid- 80s and started rolling panels for themselves.With the revelation that fabrication was a better business, they spun off and started Dimensional Metals. Phil and Steve both still work here as owners of the company.” Wissman’s family came into the company in 1996 as one of several investors. He explains the company’s growth and his father’s introduc- tion to the firm in late 1998. “Steve Wissman, my dad, was elected CEO and moved to Colum- bus area to actively manage the business.With additional funding and operational structure, the business was truly ready to flourish. From 1998 until today, we are nearly five times the size we were back then.” Commercial sales make up the majority of Dimensional Metals’ revenues - approximately 98 percent of its inventory goes to commercial suppliers. According to Wissman, “Our typical customer is a roofing contractor or subcontrac- tor, but more and more, as we expand our prod- uct offerings from roofs to wall panels, we’re opening up and are selling more to general contractors and other contractors that put up wall panels.” The company’s geographic reach extends across the Midwest, Southeast, and the Mid-Atlantic States. Because of prohibitive ship- ping costs, sales efforts end west of Missouri. In explaining what sets the company apart from its competitors,Wissman compares com- pany size to capabilities. “When you look at our competitors, there are many who are larger than us.” But he describes his company’s size as a “sweet spot” within the industry. “We do a lot