Tuff Shed fast out of gate in Reno

In a market with construction workers in high demand and a jobless rate that's consistently below 4 percent, Tari Trethewy faced a daunting job.

As general manager of a new Tuff Shed Inc.

facility in Reno, Trethewy needed to get a staff of 18 many of them skilled builders together before she could start marching toward the facility's goals for sales and profitability.

Trethewy, the first woman to hold a general manager position at any of Tuff Shed's 46 manufacturing sites across the nation, found success in an old-fashioned way.

When traditional help-wanted advertising produced few applications, she decided to hang a banner across the front of the company's building at 1312 Capital Blvd. a location that's visible from nearby McCarran Boulevard.

The results?

"I've had more walk-ins than I could handle,"Trethewy says.

And even more important, the operation's sales it reached the $1 million mark in less than six months after opening exceeded the expectations of Denver-based Tuff Shed Inc.

The Reno facility is among the fastest to reach profitability in Tuff Shed's 24-year history.

"We almost feel like a new Krispy Kreme doughnut store," says Craig Scott, manager of the company's Pacific region.

Tuff Shed previously served northern Nevada markets from a facility at Sacramento.

Trethewy says turnover has been limited at the new facility, partly because its management team emphasizes the availability of benefits and the possibility of career growth with new hires.