ALAMOSA, Colo.- The copier business was in Dave Barrows' blood. He's knows that the Adams State College Grizzlies are in his son's.
Barrows, who has been the manager at the Alamosa branch of southern Colorado-based Gobin's, Inc. for the last 15 years, will accept the 2009-10 Grizzly Club Corporate Partner of the Year award on behalf of his company at Thursday's Adams State College Foundation Donor Recognition Dinner, slated to begin at 6 p.m. in the banquet rooms of the Student Union Building.
In addition to his career ambitions, Barrows currently serves as the vice president of the Adams State College Grizzly Club and is slated to take over the presidential role next year. Each of his four sons, ages 7 to 14, are members of the Grizzly Cub Club.
"I hope that at least one if not all of my boys are future ASC Grizzlies," Barrows said. "It's great to have them around campus as that creates an awareness of how important a college education is. The college is something we can all be proud of."
Barrows, born in Hayward, Calif., was raised in Flagstaff, Ariz. and grew up working for his father's copier business. After going to college at Dixie State in St. George, Utah, Barrows went on a church mission to Colorado and has resided in Alamosa ever since.
With his childhood background in the copier business, Gobin's was a natural fit. He first started with the company in a sales role in 1995 and was promoted to his currently managerial role a year later.
His branch currently has seven employees while the overall corporation, based in Pueblo, has 70 at spread at stores in Canon City, Colorado Springs, La Junta, Lamar and Salida.
"Our corporation is customer service orientated and we rest our hat on repeat business and our ties in the community. It's important to us to have customers that are also our friends," Barrows said.
That friendship has been proven repeatedly as Barrows has volunteered to serve on the Grizzly Club board of directors during both the 2009-10 and now 2010-11 academic years after signing on as Grizzly Club Corporate Partner in December, 2008. He and his employees have also gone the extra mile, as on several occasions, they have come bailing the Grizzly athletic department out of last-minute jams, including the providing of a printer to produce brackets for last year's NCAA Division II Super Regional/Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Wrestling Championships after the previous plan went awry.
"The decision to join the Grizzly Club on was a logical choice for us. People that know me know that my family and I are very athletic in our own lives. Also many of our clients are fellow Grizzly Club Corporate Partners," Barrows said.
"We like to invest in the communities we do business in and recognize that the college is a huge contributor to the San Luis Valley and Alamosa communities," Barrows commented.
And although Gobin's, Inc.'s support of the Grizzly Club is most evident to Grizzly fans, he also noted that his branch also supports other local schools and that many of the Gobin's branches, donate to golf courses in the various communities. The main branch, in business for 40 years, is also a sponsor of CSU-Pueblo Athletics, which helps create a big inter-corporation rivalry when the Grizzlies meet up with the ThunderWolves on the playing field.
"The Grizzly Club has a great purpose and there is a lot of excitement right now with the building of new facilities. "Being involved with the Grizzly Club is great exposure for our company and this is very much a personal interest," Barrows, an avid golfer and skier and work-out aficionado, said.
Much like the college, Gobin's, Inc. is also going through an exciting time. The Alamosa branch is celebrating its 20th year and is being remolded to celebrate the anniversary. "We're making a better store for our employees and a more complete product offering for our clients," he said.
Although many of those clients and San Luis Valley residents recognize Gobin's for their office supply and business equipment divisions, Barrows noted that those were just two of the four main aspects of the corporation, which also deals in the Contract Office Furnishing and Managed Print Service industries, their newest endeavor titled "Printwise".
They also will soon be furnishing Vistas, the new one-of-a-kind restaurant at ASC's Rex Stadium.
Visit ascgrizzlies.com for the latest news and info on Adams State College Athletics.
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