Celebrating 29 Years with Dave Schill

How long have you worked at Tanis Brush?

For more than 28 years! One year after finishing college I started at Tanis Brush. We were a small company with only 14 total employees and today we have nearly 100 employees in our manufacturing facility and office.

What makes Tanis a great place to work?

Tanis is a great place to work because of the people we work with. Everyone has a genuine care and compassion for each other. We have new ownership and there have been many changes over the past year that are setting us up for long-term success.

Another great part of Tanis is the wide variety of products we have at our fingertips that provide solutions to an array of customers and industries. Our manufacturing capabilities have also grown immensely over the years.?

As Director of Sales at Tanis, what do you enjoy most about your role?

Leading the way and helping our sales team succeed. We are in a growth phase with our sales team, so a big part of this year will be mentoring and training. I am excited to share the knowledge, experience, and passion I have for this company and the brush industry with my teammates.?

My favorite activities are working together to provide the right brushes so our customers are productive and effective within their teams and providing guidance on how to turn a customer challenge into a solution. The best way I believe I’ll add value this year is by showing our entire team how important they are, and how much of an impact we can all make.

What is the greatest opportunity you see for 2022?

The greatest opportunity we have with our partners and customers is working more closely with them to better understand their challenges and how Tanis can add value to their companies. We want to build stronger, more in-depth relationships. Doing business a little differently by looking for customers and companies that want a true partnership approach. We started this toward the end of last year. It’s helping us prioritize needs and expectations with our customers. The more visibility we have with our partners will only make us a better, easier company to do business with. ?

Internally, the opportunity is in training and mentoring newer people on the sales team to thrive and be successful in their roles. We have realigned a bit to benefit our customers and distributor partners so this is an exciting time as we develop very talented people.

What are the top challenges you’re facing in 2022? How are you working through?

Like many manufacturing companies, we are working through labor shortages, supply chain issues, and inflation. We continue to work with our customers to understand when they need to have their products to best serve them while adapting to a challenging set of circumstances. They know we are working hard for them, and the current issues will not last forever. We are grateful to have an open dialogue with our customers.

What are the top industries you work with to provide brush solutions?

Tanis provides brush solutions to a wide range of industries and applications. This year, we are excited to grow with key distribution partners and customers who serve the automotive, aerospace, heavy machinery and construction equipment, agriculture, weather seal, turf care, food equipment and processing markets.

What trends are you seeing in the industrial brush industry?

One of the biggest trends right now is changes in ownership within the brush industry. This could be a new generation of family taking over a business, acquisition by another brush company or new owners.?

We are a great example of this. At the end of 2020, Nick Mallinger purchased Tanis Brush. And it’s creating a refreshing vibrancy within our company. While change can take time, we are primed for great things to come.

Our focus is on being an even better partner in 2022 and beyond and creating greater awareness around Tanis Brush capabilities. We have such a broad portfolio of products that sometimes we hear “I didn’t know you make that too!”

What is a professional goal you hope to achieve in 2022?

Lead by example and develop a strong sales team so they become independent and fearless working with our partners. If the current environment has taught us anything it’s that being resilient and flexible are key. We want our team prepared for anything that may come their way. Personally, I have a drive, passion and competitive spirit that doesn’t quit, so I hope others will be inspired and follow my lead.?Quit has always been a word I do not believe in.

How are things different at Tanis under new leadership?

Nick Mallinger has brought a new level of planning, consistency, and leadership to Tanis Brush. What a difference a year can make within an organization. Nick is a natural change agent. He wants people working together to create a company we are all proud of and believes in empowering people to hold themselves responsible and accountable.

We have a new and expanded leadership team and have initiated a new Culture Committee to give employees a voice in how we continue making Tanis a great place to work.

We have invested in adding new in-house departments including IT, Marketing, Human Resources and Continuous Improvement. Additionally, we are growing our Finance and Operations teams. It’s invigorating to see new ideas come to life.

What interests do you have outside of work?

My interests outside of work revolve around the activities of our three children. Our oldest daughter finished her collegiate soccer career at UW-Milwaukee and now completing her MBA in five years while helping lead her team to the NCAA Tournament for four straight seasons. Our next daughter is a sophomore attending Marquette University while also playing soccer and studying exercise physiology.?Our son is a high school junior and a three-sport athlete in football, basketball, and baseball. He has been part of two state championship teams in football and basketball while qualifying for state in baseball as well.?My wonderful wife of 27-years is my favorite travel companion to many sporting events for our children.?

For more than two decades, I’ve spent many hours running a youth basketball organization for our community with over 500 kids participating. I dedicated 14 years to being an assistant basketball coach at Pewaukee High School and have refereed high school football for over 20 years, earning the honor of officiating two state championship games at Camp Randall Stadium.