A Look Inside D&H’s New High-Tech Headquarters

D&H's new headquarters in Harrisburg, Pa., includes a solutions lab, training facilities and modern workspaces aimed at opening new doors for partner collaboration. Here’s a look at the ultramodern new headquarters and the grand opening celebration.

D&H’s Tribute To Dedicated Employees And Partners

The D&H sculpture that welcomes visitors entering the main building pays tribute to D&H’s “family of dedicated employees and outstanding partners who have helped shape the company’s success” for the past 100 years and those who will continue to “propel D&H into the next 100 years.” The sculpture is a focal point, reflecting on the “culture, commitment and values” inspired by the Schwab family and embraced by D&H co-owners today and tomorrow,” reads a plaque beside the sculpture.

The sculpture was done by a local artist in Williamsport where D&H was founded 101 year ago. Williamsport is also the birthplace of D&H Chairman Emeritus Izzy Schwab. The other local connection: all of the steel for the sculpture- which weighs more than ton - came from Scranton, Penn.

Leading D&H Into The Future

D&H Co-Presidents Dan and Michael Schwab, the driving forces behind the new headquarters, have more than doubled the distributor’s sales over the past 11 years from $1.7 billion to $4.4 billion.

“This is transformational,” said Michael. “The best analogy came from one of our employee co-owners who said to me, ‘I feel like I have the same responsibility, the same job, the same daily routine but I am working for a brand-new innovative company.’”

Dan, for his part, said the move to the new campus is all about driving more collaboration, partnerships and relationships. “This whole building is about driving better communication with our vendors and partners with more meeting areas and much more collaboration between employees,” he said.

Some vital stats on the two-building 50-acre headquarters, which was built out by D&H itself: It has 77 percent more capacity than D&H’s former offices on Seventh Street in Harrisburg—a building that David Schwab, father of former D&H CEO Izzy Schwab and the “D” in D&H—built as a home for the growing company 67 years ago.

Father And Sons

Before the festivities begin, the D&H co-presidents take time out to stand side by side with their father, Izzy.

It was Izzy who created the D&H Constitution and led the move to make D&H an employee co-owned Stock Ownership Plan company. Michael and Dan have since transformed D&H into a next-generation cloud and technology distribution powerhouse.

Speaking to CRN last year for the company’s centennial, Izzy said of Michael and Dan: "I don’t know of a bigger word than ‘proud.’”

D&H Next 100 Ale

For D&H Fest, the celebration with 300 vendors at the new campus on Oct. 16,-D&H brewed its own special blend of beer: D&H Next 100 Ale.

In this photo, Michael and Dan proudly display the beer, which sports a label that literally defines the D&H culture with words like partnership, relationship, culture, dedication, experience, solutions, adapt, evolve and the most important ingredient of all: people.

Gathering For The Dedication

Dozens of officials from the Harrisburg, Pa., community gather for a special unveiling of the D&H sculpture. Among the officials attending the ceremony are Dennis M. Davin, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Department of Community and Economic Development.

Here community members gather in the new D&H main building’s Main Street Bleachers for the morning festivities.

Staying In Harrisburg: Commitment To Community

Dan and Michael Schwab start the daylong celebration with an address to local officials and leaders.

The two co-presidents stand front and center with a dramatic large-scale video in the background and off to the right the “Main Street Express” slide that takes employees looking for a fast ride from the second to the first floor.

When D&H decided to move to a larger campus, the company chose to remain in the Harrisburg community.

“D&H has called Harrisburg our home for over 70 years,” says Dan. “We had a lot of different states and areas looking to attract us. But this is our home. Michael and I grew up here. Our 750 co-owners call this home. We have a long history of supporting and collaborating with the community. We felt it was critical that we are such a part of the fabric of the community that we wanted to stay local.”

Over the years, D&H has made significant commitments to the region including sponsorship of the Make-A-Wish local chapter and support of Harrisburg University’s Championship “Storm” eSports team.

World Champions Celebrate A Distribution Champion

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup champions Ali Krieger (left) and Ashlyn Harris of the United States Women's National Soccer Team speak to community members, D&H employees and vendors about what it takes to be a champion.

Krieger and Harris—who are also teammates on the National Women’s Soccer League’s “Orlando Pride” team— discuss how they overcame adversity to achieve major milestones in their careers and lives, and how that relates to D&H’s longevity in its marketplace.

“D&H has the culture, leadership and team of employees to take on anything, embrace change, persevere and create amazing experiences just like this one today,” said Krieger.

Harris congratulated D&H on its celebrating its 100th birthday last year. “It is a pleasure to be here with Dan, Michael and all their incredible co-owners celebrating the opening of your new headquarters,” she said. “This 101st year in business and now your new home is a testament to their hard work, passion, enthusiasm.”

The distributor conducted employee co-owner sessions with Krieger and Harris during the day and ended the day celebrating with 300 vendors in a gala gathering.

The D&H Data Center

The sparkling-new D&H Data center features mechanical systems that have been upgraded to achieve dramatic energy savings. Power usage in the data center has been reduced by 30 percent thanks to D&H’s focus on building out an energy-efficient and ecologically sustainable workplace.

Besides the power savings in the data center, the new campus uses LED lighting that requires 50 percent less energy than the previous building’s fluorescent fixtures. The carpeting in the buildings is made of 100 percent recyclable materials.

D&H gave a shout-out to local contractors tMurray and Associates Architects, P.C. and M & M Sheet Metal and Steel Fabricators for the campus’ outstanding build-out and design features.

The D&H Solutions Lab

The D&H Solutions Lab opens the door for D&H’s tech superstars to push the envelope in areas like 3-D virtual reality. Here, one of D&H’s top techs is working on pulling together a virtual reality solution.

D&H is always looking for the next big technology game-changer to power partner profits and deliver new customer experiences.

Michael Schwab said one of the goals of the new campus is to leverage of all the technology resources that D&H can muster to bear to inspire resellers to bring new innovative solutions to market.

The D&H Solutions Lab Server Room

The D&H Solutions Lab provides D&H solution architects the ability to build out cutting-edge partner solutions.

D&H has always prided itself on pushing the consumer and SMB solutions envelope to deliver breakthrough price/performance for customers.

One example: D&H’s ability to bring an innovative hyper-converged solution to market for one of its top solution providers thanks to the solutions prowess of D&H Business Development Manager Chris Rigas, D&H’s resident HPE technology rock star.

The D&H Multimedia Studio

The new campus includes a full multimedia studio for producing live-streaming training sessions, webcasts and solutions education content for partners.

“Partners can visit us, but for many small resellers it is cost-prohibitive to travel,” said Dan Schwab. “Now we can do two or three webinars a week on emerging technology and new solutions. Some of the webinars we can now do are how to install digital signage into a small retail; how to add video surveillance to a dentist’s office that added a second facility; how to leverage new server technology from HPE or Cisco to upgrade a small-business network; how to take advantage of government funding to drive wireless in K-12 schools; and how to set up an E Sports facility in a K-12 or college.”

A State-Of-The-Art Auditorium

The new facility, which boasts more than 240,000 square feet, has a welcome and inviting auditorium meeting area for D&H gatherings. Here some of D&H’s 750 co-owner employees that work at the new campus gather to hear a presentation from 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup champions Krieger and Harris.

“We listened to the employees,” said Michael Schwab. “We purposefully asked for their feedback. We asked them what was important to them for the new facility. It wasn’t just us articulating our vision. We asked the 750 employees that work across these two buildings what is it that they would like to see in their new D&H headquarters. That is where they came up with all the innovation and ideas.”

Building Personal Relationships: The D&H Sales Floor

The heart of the D&H culture is the sales reps, who are known for going the extra mile for solution provider customers.

Here’s a look at the modern new D&H sales floor with the sales reps that make it happen.

If those sales reps need to recharge, the sprawling grounds feature walking tracks, outdoor Wi-Fi, and even a “Recharge Room” where they can go to chill out for a few minutes.

The Recharge Room

The “Recharge Room” is where D&H co-owners can rejuvenate and contemplate the next big idea, while relaxing in luxurious chairs outfitted with outlets for laptops and USB ports. The room features nature sounds and low lighting for those looking to refresh and recharge.

“It’s basically a little pod that our employees can sit in and take a few minutes to decompress,” said Michael Schwab. “It’s a way to decompress and destress so you can come back with a new mind-set and attitude.”

Izzy’s Game Room

Izzy’s Game Room is something you would expect to see in a Silicon Valley startup, but here it is a huge open- floor swath of games that run the gamut from billiards, ping-pong and the ever-popular “Pop-A-Shot” basketball to old-school pinball machines and new-school Xbox games like “Apex Legends.”

Dan Schwab said the company wanted to make sure the new workspace was a place for D&H employees to hang together and have fun.

A Training Center Hub

This is one of many places where vendors can hold training sessions for sales reps and partners in a wide- open setting designed to facilitate learning and collaboration.

In fact, D&H has tripled the amount of training facilities for in-person training with the ability to train literally hundreds of partners or sales reps at a time, said Dan Schwab.

“This whole building is about driving better communication with our vendors and partners with more meeting areas and much more collaboration between employees,” he said.

Co-Owner Corner

One of the conference rooms in the new facility is appropriately named “Co-Owner Corner.”

Under former CEO Izzy Schwab, D&H became an employee-owned stock ownership company, one of the less than 1 percent of employee-owned businesses in the U.S.

Izzy, Michael and Dan attribute the Employee Stock Ownership Plan model with providing the ultimate competitive advantage for the distributor in the form of co-owners going above and beyond for customers.

“Everyone is an employee owner,” said Dan Schwab. “Everyone treats D&H like this is their own business. Think about a small-business owner and how dedicated they are to their business. Their work/life balance blends because it is their baby. That is really how the D&H co-owners operate. It is their company as well and they share in the success.”

Distribution Superheroes

The names of D&H’s many new conference rooms, including this “Wonder Woman” conference room, were all picked by D&H’s co-owner employees. The conference rooms include Superhero-themed rooms like “Wakanda” and “Guardians”; music-themed rooms like “Yellow Submarine” and “Rapper’s Delight;” movie conference rooms like “McFly” and 007, and a sports section that includes “Clutch,” “Championship,” “Legends” and “Game Times.”

Toasting To The Future

Team D&H toast to continuing to build strong relationships and friendships with the 300 vendors that have gathered to celebrate the grand opening of the D&H Campus. Let the dancing begin.

Cheers For Michael And Dan

More than one vendor executive called the celebration of the new campus a Bar Mitzvah coming of age event, with D&H looking to the future and the next 100 years.

In true Bar Mitzvah style, Dan and Michael are hoisted above the crowd in celebration of all they and the D&H co-owners have accomplished. Here’s to the future.