Through the Door, Respect Follows

Doug Donaldson

By 2018, Bowman became the sole owner and CEO of the Farmington, Minn., lumber company, blazing a new leadership direction and even receiving acknowledgement as one of the most-admired CEOs by a local business publication.

At 31 years old, Sunny Bowman became one of the youngest sole owners of a lumberyard or hardware business. Here, she shares her vision on the future of women in the retail hardware and building materials industry.

Sunny Bowman watched her father, Steve Finden, build Dakota County Lumber Company from the ground up through hard work, grit, and determination. Sometimes she would lend a hand, stopping by the office to assist the office manager with paperwork.

“I honestly had a perception that the lumber industry was dirty, boring, and only for men, because I rarely saw anyone who looked like me working in the industry,” Bowman says.

In 2012 she began working in the business so her dad could begin retirement planning. By 2018, Bowman had become the sole owner and CEO of the Farmington, Minn., lumber company, blazing a new leadership direction and even receiving acknowledgement as one of the most-admired CEOs by a local business publication.

Hand in hand with running a profitable business, community involvement is a priority for Dakota County Lumber.

Sunny Bowman’s father, Steve Finden, started Dakota County Lumber with a single truck and a $7,500 loan. 

“The reason our business exists is to do good work so that all of the people we come into contact with can do good as well, for their families, their employees and their communities,” Bowman says. “We try to support our local community with our time and our resources and are always looking for new and different ways to get involved in helping where help is needed.”

Bowman is most proud of the company’s partnership with Heart Ministries in Shakopee, Minn. Through this program, Dakota County Lumber provides any materials they can’t sell to contractors (such as crooked boards, scratched decking, mis-sized or mismatched trim or windows) and donates them to Heart Ministries, which ships the materials to areas of the country that are rebuilding from natural disasters. The lumberyard’s culled materials that would have ended up at auction or in a dumpster are now used to build homes for those suffering in the wake of hurricanes, floods or fires and who don’t have the resources to rebuild traditionally.

“It is truly a win-win partnership, and our whole team is passionate about spreading the message of what we do and getting more suppliers and competitors involved in doing good together,” Bowman says.

Hardware Connection talked with Bowman about her experiences in the hardware industry and what she believes is next for women in the business.

Continue Reading in the March 2024 Issue of Hardware Connection