40 Years of Trust – Evolving, Achieving, and Thanking You

40 years since Century Business Products was founded in 1984, we are ecstatic to celebrate the milestone! However, Century isn’t the only one celebrating an anniversary—read on as we recognize our two longest-tenured employees and wish our subsidiary company, Catalyst IT, a happy anniversary as well! 
 
If you have not watched our motivating video recap with the speeches of our open house and ribbon cutting, make sure to watch it here! 

How We Celebrated

Century celebrated 40 years of powering business technology with an open house and ribbon cutting on September 18th. Nearly 150 people from over 50 local businesses attended the open house or ribbon cutting, showing their support for us as they have for 40 years.  
 
Attendees of the open house were taken on a guided tour of our new office space at 625 S Minnesota Ave, Sioux Falls, SD, and were served fresh, savory BBQ from Big Poppa’s Food Truck! Those who attended the ribbon cutting enjoyed refreshments and appetizers while mingling before hearing from the Chamber of Commerce Staff and our own speakers. 
 
Kevin Jergenson, Owner and CSO of Century, gave the first speech thanking all in attendance. Oscar Sanchez, President and CEO of Kyocera Document Solutions America, spoke second, highlighting the successful relationship between Century and Kyocera over the years. Kyle Ruhland, VP of Sales and Marketing at Century, gave the third and final speech, recognizing that Century could not have made it to where it is today without the unwavering trust and support from our clients. 

Evolving 

Believe it or not, there was a time when Century did not sell copiers. Instead, we sold Savin, Riso, and Panasonic word processors—electronic typewriters! 

Century Business Products was never just a copier company, we are a technology company. In the same way we evolved past electronic typewriters, the day may come when we evolve past copiers—but that day is not here.  
A copier is still a need for every business. It is the central hub of communications and development. A true investment in your copier will return in high-quality marketing materials and important documents that exude a professional, sleek presentation.  

In the year 2024, every business is unique and with that individuality comes a distinct combination of its own issues, weak points, and growing pains. For that reason, we expanded out from copiers and delved into integrated software and document management. These technological solutions allow for unique workflows to overcome challenges and pain points that any business may have.  

Kyocera Joins the Celebration

We were happy to be joined by a few Kyocera representatives for our 40th Anniversary Celebration. Oscar Sanchez, the President & CEO of Kyocera Document Solutions America, Roger Rinkenbaugh, the Central Region Director of Sales for Kyocera America, and Dan Nielsen, System Support Engineer in our region for Kyocera America, were all in attendance for our anniversary. 

“One of our top ten dealers, they have won—five times—our National Service Award,” Oscar Sanchez said about Century during our ribbon cutting. “That’s our (Kyocera’s) competition and we have 2,200 technicians competing for that award. There is only one company that has won it more than once, and they (Century) did it five.” 

Century Business Products is proud to be the only dealer in the nation to win the National Service Award more than once, and we have won the competition five times (2009, 2012, 2015, 2018, & 2022). 

When we say you’ll be backed by the best servicing team in the nation, we mean it. Furthermore, we are a one-line dealer, dealing only Kyocera. This means that our employees only have to master one line of products, rather than multiple different brands with various standards, increasing our efficiency. 

Expanding into IT 

Not only did Century expand from copiers to integrated software and document management, we immersed ourselves in the world of information technology (IT) via Catalyst IT. Century is the parent company of Catalyst, but that doesn’t mean Catalyst is a brand-new company. Catalyst IT was founded in 1994, marking this year as Catalyst’s 30 Year Anniversary!  

Catalyst IT has been around since before Apple released the first iPod and even before the launch of the first Blackberry phone. If that’s not shocking enough—the year Catalyst IT was launched, there were only about 3,000 websites on the internet… compared to the nearly 2 billion today!  

It’s safe to say that the internet has evolved significantly since the days of dial-up and playing Pac-Man on your Blackberry. For every step of the way in the Internet’s evolution, Catalyst evolved right there with it. Our array of IT experts can adapt to any situation and trouble-shoot any IT problem, known or unknown. 

With our arsenal of proactive IT management, time saving document management, pain relieving integrated software, and the most reliable copiers and printers in the industry, Century is truly a business technology partner, that can increase efficiencies in any business.  

Achieving 

Not much has stayed the same in our industry since 1984—the exceptions being Randy Sprenkle and Dale Smid, Century’s longest-tenured employees. Combined, Randy and Dale have worked OVER 20,000 DAYS with Century Business Products! 

“The company is 40 years old. These two have been with the company for 40 years,” Kevin Jergenson called out during his ribbon cutting speech, congratulating them both. 

Randy Sprenkle joined the company before it was known as Century Business Products! He was hired by “Business Resources” which was eventually purchased by Dave & Mary Tidwell and renamed to Century Business Products. Randy joined the company in April of 1984, working primarily in sales out of the Pierre office. At that time, there were only three offices: Pierre, Aberdeen, and Sioux Falls. Eventually, Randy decided to follow his children and grandchildren to Sioux Falls and transitioned into a service dispatch role that he still works in today.

Dale Smid was the first employee hired by Century Business Products! Dale was hired in September of 1984 and never left. He is a service technician in Aberdeen. He has lived in Aberdeen his entire life and is proud of it. In his free time, Dale keeps busy by attending grandkids’ events and spending time on the lake in the summer. Dale has been the definition of consistency in an industry that has been everything but—and he’s been consistent for 40 years.  

Thanking You 

A business needs to do business to survive and at the center of that business is the customer. Century was founded to solve problems for the customer and to provide technology that eases the pains of the modern business infrastructure. Our vision, our company mission, is centered around the customer.  

 
“What hasn’t changed is our commitment to the customer,” Kyle Ruhland said during his ribbon cutting speech. “40 years is 40 years, but without that customer, we don’t make it. Thank you to our customers for supporting us and trusting in us.”  
 
Century would not exist without every customer that has believed in us over the years.  
  
Thank you for your trust, 
 
Kevin, Aaron & everyone at Century Business Products