Supplier Spotlight: Compass Building Systems

New Direction

In 1990, Trepke’s subcontracting company became officially known as Compass Construction and business was spreading. The home-office administrative duties were handled by Trepke’s wife of 42 years, Jerri, who served as secretary and treasurer. The family operation redefined its name to Compass Building Systems in 1993, but its direction remained focused on self-storage construction.

“We do structural and steel metal buildings, working with various general contractors and owners. We also get a lot of repeat work,” Trepke says. “One client has recently hired us for his 10th project. I think we have so much repeat business because contractors know the quality of our work and that we’ll stand by it.”

Although Compass strives for perfection, offering a five-year warranty to prove it, one can never fully guarantee a job won’t encounter problems. For example, says Trepke, one client called recently because screws were rusting on a 7-year-old roof. “We’d gotten them from a well-known manufacturer, but they were definitely bad screws. Our warranty had long expired, but we still replaced 45,000 to 50,000 screws.”

It’s all in a day’s work and what it takes to run a solid, caring business, according to Trepke. “I think the fact that we’re so successful is because I treat employees well and want them to do the same for customers. We sell good products with good service.”

Fast Facts: Compass Building Systems

• Founded in 1993
• Self-storage building supplier
• Engineering, design and erection capabilities
• Serving clients east of the Mississippi
• Full employee crews
• Top-quality materials
• Roofs roll-formed on site
• Heavy-gauge clips and plates used to attach buildings to the slab
• Short lead times
• Very few change-orders