By Robert Williams

Editor

From the retail store to warehouses, the service center and a future gas station, visitors to Renewable Energy Resources (RER) open house at the end of the month will be stunned by the variety of products and services provided by the new company on Highway 10 between Frazee and Perham.

“We don’t want to let the name fool you,” said Owner Chris Dankert. 

Back in 1998, his business was focused on wind and solar farms dropshipping materials to solar sites. The renewable side of the business continues and is active in 22 states and on 50 job sites nationwide, but the local side of the business is a completely different resource for anyone with a construction project to complete.

The physical location of RER is complementary to that solar service work but it is also an all-in-one place for local contractors, builders and residential customers.

Dankert’s background is in retail construction sales and he has created a store based on the  experience and acquired knowledge of his years in the industry.

RER is a hybrid hardware store catering to everybody from professional contractors to homeowners to farmers, tradespeople and lake home owners.

“We brought big city, hard-to-find materials into a rural area,” Dankert said. “There are a lot of things on this lot that you have to travel upwards of two hours to find.”

For instance, RER is a one-stop shop for concrete contractors providing everything from finishing tools to sonotubes in a variety of sizes to equipment.

“There’s nobody out here that has a ride-on, power trowel,” said Dankert. “We’re bringing Fargo, Minneapolis, and Brainerd to the rural community.”

The concrete side of the business transforms to the shopping property owner as well with decorative colored concrete available for any home.

“We have a color machine that will do any shade of concrete color from any distributor in the United States,” Dankert said. 

Sealers, salt-protectants, cures, form oils, anchor bolts, this list is endless when it comes to professional or home concrete work and that outline is similar when it comes to the many different types of jobs RER is stocked to support.

“We’re basically a specialty, contractor supply store that’s usually located in the big city, out here under one roof,” Dankert said. “And if a homeowner wants to rent a power trowel we’re going to have that here too.”

Homeowners can also shop tools for around the house from quality brands like Diablo, Bosch, Milwaukee, 3M, Ames, True Temper shovels, rakes and mauls, and Chapin sprayers and spreaders.

Consumers can also shop Green Mountain grills and a variety of pellets and spices.

“There are some items that people are going to think are expensive but people need to know we’re not selling junk out of here,” said Dankert.

Chris cited a second grill pellet brand that RER carries that will burn at one-third the time of average pellets.

“Everything is quality,” he said. “If you want a $12 garden hose go get a $12 hose. If you want a $67 garden hose you’ll find it here.”

Top-of-the-line garden hoses generally range from $60 to over $200 for a 50 to 100-foot length, with premium polyurethane models leading in price ($220), according to a TechGearLab report.

“That’s where we’re going to be different,” Dankert said.

Chris also stresses how much he and his company values the customer’s time. Providing a one-stop shop to get the job done has its own worth.

“What’s your time worth?” he said. “If you’re going to buy a sheet of two-inch foam here and pay $4 a sheet more for it, you’re going to be in and out of here in 20 minutes. If you try to do that same thing at Menards it’s going to take you four hours of your day. We’re not gouging. We just offer a different type of point of sale out here.”

RER is located at the corner of U.S. Highway 10 and County Road 60. What started as one building has grown to four with plans already drawn up for a gas station to be built on the corner.

Dankert uses what he sells as well. He is a big proponent of Bad Boy mowers, having owned the brand for the past two decades and visitors will see the full lineup on the front of the property when approaching on highway 10.

RER will also carry the necessary attachments and the mowers range in size up to the utility tractors.

A full-line of cordless lawn equipment, blowers, whackers on up to a battery-powered, riding zero-turn mower.

The rental side of the business will have equipment like mini-excavators, skid steers and attachments, power buggies, light towers available for both residential and commercial customers.

RER also focuses on erosion control and supplies its own staking materials, creating their own lathe, concrete stakes and pencil-point stakes, along with plastic, steel and aluminum culvert materials.

“There is really nothing like it around here,” Dankert said.

RER’s evolution 

RER began out of the Dankert home and has evolved into a business that now covers acres of land. Chris was working in retail outside sales in Fargo for nearly three decades before deciding to go out on his own. The pandemic sealed his fate.

“COVID hit and everybody had to work from home; I just realized there is something going on here that is special. I focused so much on the renewable energy side, the wind and solar farms because there was so much I could offer to them and so many partners willing to work with me that I didn’t have to have a storefront. I thought, why am I doing this for somebody else? People are buying from me. So, I made the plunge.”

Business exploded by not having to carry inventory. That allowed Chris to grow a business this large this fast and have the money to build what RER is. It began with one building and there are now four.

“Once vendors heard we had a storefront that changed the dynamic of all of this,” he said. “We went from 100 to 500 vendors in a year!”

Communication has been key from staffing to creating the many different areas of the business.

“One of my main objectives is to listen to the public and listen to what their needs are,” he said. “What can I do out here to make your life easier related to concrete construction, rental, building, painting, spraying, whatever. If it makes sense to us as a business and it helps out the communities then I don’t have a problem with it.”

Dankert is also aware that the quick growth of his company may appear like a threat to smaller businesses in the area.

“I don’t want to force out any small businesses because we seem like we’re getting big out here,” he said. “We’re mom and pop. My wife (Tiffani) and I own this business. Time is valuable. We’re in God’s country. Why waste it in a big box store? Or going online and hoping you get what you get and supporting a billion-dollar company when you can support things locally? You pick up the phone and you need a specialty product and you can talk to me or my staff. It saves you all this time from driving into the bigger cities.”

COVID also played a big part in why the storefront now exists as supply chain issues became its own problem.

“I wasn’t going to do it but when I saw the land and decided I was going to do a retail store that’s what prompted us to come here,” he said. 

The future has its own plan for RER and that is continuing to evolve as the company adds a contractor-based e-commerce option for its larger customers.

“We’ll have that capability within the next 18-24 months,” said Dankert.

Early response from area contractors has been positive.

“We’ve been welcomed with open arms,” Dankert said.

A service center is also currently under construction. While much of the work will be in-house, there will be appointments as available for diesel and small engine repair and service.

“I think it’s all going to work out well,” Dankert said. “I hope the public welcomes us and I want their opinion and feedback.”

The completion of the RER compound is the coming gas station next to RER to complete the corner at County Road 60. 

“We’re trying to build our identity out here; a lot of people thought we sold solar panels or wind turbines,” Dankert said.

Chris foresees a future change in the near future to dba RER Contractor Supply.

“There’s a little bit of everything for everybody out here,” Dankert said. “Even the Fargo stores – there’s nothing like us. The contractor supplies kind of stick to their lane. The concrete places aren’t selling lawnmowers, grills, pellets, things that the public would shop there for and then you have other places kind of like Menards that aren’t going to have quality contractor supplies.”

The company’s website is currently under development at rer.llc

Chris and Tiffani are from the Lake Park and Hawley area, respectively, and are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary this year. The couple lives on Lake Lizze and have a son and daughter-in-law who live in Aurora, Colorado.

RER Open House – April 30-May 2

Thursday, April 30, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

Friday, May 1, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Saturday, May 2, 9 a.m.-1 p.m.

48078 Luce Street, Perham (Across from Papenfuss Trucking)

218-347-8280