There’s a good chance, fellow Datamaxer, that you don’t know Adam Smith.

Which is a shame, really. Not only does he hold a critical role in our organization (staff accountant), but he has a warm, genuine demeanor and is just as happy to chat about numbers as he is hunting, fishing, and his girls’ emerging softball season. Adam represents in many ways the St. Louis team at large, who help facilitate the internal AND external customer experience every day, but do so without the same visibility of some key players in Texas and Arkansas.

A Stage Crew is a theatrical team charged with supporting all other groups involved with the day-to-day production of a play or musical. They must communicate with the company at large, from the first rehearsal to the final bow. Likewise, our St. Louis office team collectively helps through leasing, procurement, accounts payable/receivable, and human resources.

And, of course, accounting. That’s where Adam comes in. We’ve got a lot to talk about here.

Talk About a Turning Point.

Adam’s daily role is not unlike other Accounting positions: Processing credit cards and sales tax reports; getting them set into Excel and remitting them online every month. Working with Property Tax and more than his fair share of account analysis – and doing so largely behind the scenes. There are days when he might not speak to anyone else, save Corporate Controller Sheryl Scott.

“When I’m in my zone, I can go a week without anyone calling me but Sheryl,” he says. “I do like to get out and meet people and do that sort of thing; but if I had the choice, I do enjoy working myself, setting my own schedule. It’s great for me.”

A native of Union, MO, Adam always excelled at math at a young age. When he wasn’t killing Algebra, he was off riding bikes around the lake, exploring creeks, and embracing the outdoors. When he enrolled in the University of Missouri-St. Louis, his plan was to study marketing. That was, until his first accounting class.

“When I got into that class it was the idea of working with numbers and making everything balance – it was like, I think I can do this. I really like it,” Adam recalls.

He graduated in 2008, a miserable time to be out looking for a job due to economic conditions. So, Adam went from interview to interview, feeling worse and worse about the prospects of each potential job. He even visited a temp agency, but that interview was also less than ideal.

Then came a big turning point in Adam’s career – a Yahoo.com job posting. It was for a position at Datamax.

“I came in for my first interview and it went great. In my second interview, with Sheryl, who is my boss now, it was great. I remember thinking, ‘I really hope I get a call back from this organization.’”

This October, Adam will celebrate his 15^th year at Datamax. Impressive, yet it pales in comparison to Sheryl’s 30 year-tenure. Tenure, as it turns out, is a big deal in St. Louis.

Talk About Tenure. 

For those counting at home, the average tenure among St. Louis employees is 17.1 years. Compare that with this number from Career research website Zippia: The median employee tenure in the US is 4.3 years for men and 3.8 years for women.

Just a snapshot: There’s Pam Barton who’s been here for nearly 43 years, receptionist Judy Wood who’s been here for 27 and Terri Cook who’s been at Datamax for 33 years. Internal IT specialist Aaron Sauer has also been here since 1996.

Accounts Payable Clerk Arden Toney has only been at the gig for two years, but the tenure means a lot to her personally.

“Honestly, for me it says there must be something they like about the job or the environment. It puts me in a really good mindset (knowing the tenure is there),” Arden said. “They’ve been doing this a lot longer than I have. There’s not anything they haven’t seen before; if I have an issue I can go to them and receive the support I need.”

Talk About Teamwork. 

Talk to enough Datamaxers who work in St. Louis, and the word family comes up fast.

“It’s a great place to work, we’re a big family. If someone is behind on something, someone else will step up right away,” Adam said.

"Number one is definitely the people. From day one (30 years ago), there has always been a family atmosphere where people genuinely care about each other, and about the success of our company,” says Sheryl.

“I’ve been here 33 years, and I’d like to be able to retire from a company I have grown to consider family. I believe they are one of the last family-run businesses that truly cares about employees,” says Human Resources Director Terri Hackmeyer.

IT Administrator Aaron Sauer, who maintains every computer, printer, piece of software and other technology issues in the St. Louis office, as well as the eAuto database, says that teamwork is vital.

“Teamwork is everything in my position, if I didn’t have the support and sometimes patience of the people I work with I’m not sure I could do this job!” Aaron said.

Meet Your St. Louis Team:

Administration

• Steven J. Sumner - VP, Secretary
• Sheryl Scott - Controller

Leasing

• Penny Spalding - Manager
• Candi Gesch - Leasing Admin Support
• Ron Johnson - Leasing Administrator
• Thomas Hederman - Leasing Administrator

Human Resources 

• Terri Hackmeyer Cook
• Kychandra Carr

IT/Applications/Training/Support

• Aaron Sauer - IT Operations/Help Desk Coordinator

Accounting

• Laura Allen - Accounts Payable
• Pam Barton - Accounting Specialist
• Diane Hendrix - Cash Receipts
• Adam Smith - Staff Accountant
• Arden Toney - Accounts Payable
• Judy Wood - Receptionist

Purchasing

• Brad Grohmann - Senior Buyer