Andrea Thompson remembers feeling intimidated walking into The Gerken Companies on her first day. The year was 1991, and the 24-year-old felt nervous amid the crowd.

“When I started, we were in a small building across the street from the current headquarters, down by the river,” Andrea recalls. “There were only ten people in the office at most, but that seemed like a lot to me then.”

In her thirty-three years at Gerken, Andrea has witnessed countless changes, including the construction and expansion of the Napoleon office to accommodate staff growth.

“The company’s evolution has been mind-boggling,” she says.

As Contract Administrator, Andrea is responsible for receiving, reviewing, and managing all company agreements, ensuring they are correctly signed, documented, and accompanied by required insurance and workers’ compensation certificates.

She also resolves any issues that may arise during a contract’s lifecycle, prepares paving and aggregate bids, and keeps licenses and bonds up to date. While her job has always involved contract administration, Andrea has also had roles in reception and payables.

Family Life

Andrea grew up with three older brothers on her family’s grain farm in Deshler, Ohio. She attended Patrick Henry High School, where two years of secretarial classes prepared her for an administrative career. She still lives in the Deshler area with her husband, Todd.

Todd retired from Gerken after 30 years of leading and working on a paving crew. Although he and Andrea have known each other since high school, they only became romantically involved a little over a decade ago. Their blended family includes four adult daughters—two from each of their previous marriages—three sons-in-law, and three grandchildren.

In her free time, Andrea enjoys being outdoors in the sunshine, walking, mowing the grass, and gardening. She and Todd love to travel, whether taking Caribbean beach vacations or escaping for music-filled weekend getaways to Nashville. A trip to Aruba still counts as her favorite.

Andrea is exceptionally proud of her daughters, who she is close to and considers responsible and caring people.

“I think they would describe me as a pretty good mom,” she says. “They don’t mind me giving advice because they know I’m not trying to meddle or push.”

Having experienced the separate losses of her father and two of her brothers, Andrea has learned that enduring life’s trials makes you stronger. And those hardships have made her especially thankful for her husband, children, and grandchildren.

Shared Work Ethic

Andrea’s industrious parents were influential role models during her upbringing. Her father worked the farmland while her mother raised four children. Over the years, Andrea cherished her opportunities to work in reception, where she could engage with coworkers and learn about their roles and recent projects.

Hearing stories of Gerken’s hardworking men and women tackling challenging work outdoors—on road crews, in the pits, and in the yards, often in extreme temperatures—reminds Andrea of watching her father labor on the farm. She has great admiration for her coworkers.

”It takes all of us to get the work done,” she says.

A few of the coworkers Andrea encountered on her “intimidating” first day in 1991 are still working at Gerken. While the company is much bigger now, the tight-knit family atmosphere and work culture remain unchanged.

“After all this time, I still find our success astonishing,” admits Andrea. “It’s been a pretty good ride.”