We Are ALPOLIC: Get To Know Steve Tatro
The newest face of Corporate Identity at ALPOLIC is a seasoned veteran in the world of petroleum, metal fabrication, and architectural sales. Steve Tatro has been recently promoted to national CID manager, expanding his responsibilities which included mountain region architectural sales. Confident, charismatic, and curious, his perspective, rooted in extensive industry knowledge, is helping to drive forward a new era in customer experience at ALPOLIC.
Raised in Aberdeen, Washington Steve paid his way through college and began working in the petroleum industry straight out of high school. After obtaining his degree in Business Administration from Western Washington University, he spent 20 years growing in that arena. His entrepreneurial spirit even led him to own two gas station/ convenience stores. During station remodels and canopy refreshing, he was introduced to the world of fabrication and his second career.
“I came to work with BestWorth selling to general contractors our architectural panel systems with ALPOLIC as our near-exclusive panel material,” explains Steve. As a fabricator, he learned about estimating, reading plans, and the importance of material yields to help reduce waste and maximize material stretch out. Over the years, he worked with many architects, attending “hundreds” of continuing education lunch and learns, and thought “If I’m in that position, I would do it this way.” So when Steve felt ready for a new challenge, he decided to join ALPOLIC in March of 2022.
The transition was easy for Steve, having collaborated with the ALPOLIC team before and understanding MCM and its applications. When it was time to give his own AIA presentations, he drew from many of the sales team to create his own personal presentation style. Because of his people-centric and artistic nature, he enjoys getting in front of architects. “I love their creative energy.” Steve describes working with his customers as a partnership. “It’s about how we can best meet their needs with our materials.”
Working with fabricators, he has a clear leg-up, pulling from his experience to better understand what they need and deliver value. “I have been on their side of the business,” he states candidly. With that vantage, Steve is also looking at ways to improve ALPOLIC. Behind the scenes, he has provided real insight into our custom color-matching process and is helping to drive changes to make it easier for our customers to find just the right color for their specific projects.
Now succeeding former CID manager Octavio Diaz, who’d been promoted to director of sales, Steve can lead an era of continuous improvement for some of our largest clients. ALPOLIC is a leader in the corporate identity market segment, managing over 200 of the best known brands around the globe in areas such as hospitality, quick service restaurants, retail, financial, and automotive.
For Steve, hard work has been the key to his success and he reflects on his career, when he was using MCM before he was selling it, with gratitude. “It’s kind of come full circle.” When not on the road, Steve works from his home office in Buckeye, Arizona where he proudly displays his Washington Huskies football helmet and handcrafted figurines created by his autistic son. A dedicated family man, Steve has had a banner year. After celebrating his 30th anniversary, he was also proud to attend the wedding of his daughter earlier in November, back in his home state.
