Elmen is committed to his community, as well as a U.S. Navy veteran. He is involved in his church and civic and community organizations, including Augustana College, Sioux Falls. He also an Augustana College Fellow.

Paul M. Coogan

Paul Coogan was the past president and CEO of Aggregate Equipment and Supply in Peoria, Ill., from 1958-1989. He is currently retired. Coogan started his rental company from scratch and grew it into a multi-state, multi-million dollar company with more than 12 branches in just a few years. He exemplifies integrity and drive and strives to be the best of the best in all he does.

Coogan’s leadership can be described as forward-leaning, which is demonstrated in his desire to embrace change and continuous improvement of the individual and the rental industry. He sought out ways to diversify Aggregate Equipment and Supply by looking for diverse employee candidates to nurture. He developed a formal manager trainee program for his new employees referred to as “Coogan College” that was an intensive week-long program covering all aspects of the rental business. In addition, he encouraged employees to continue their educations by providing reimbursement for business-related course work. This allowed him to have and grow an educated and loyal managerial workforce.

As president of the American Rental Association in 1985, Coogan was an outspoken proponent of the rental industry and made it a point to help others expand their operations successfully as he himself had done. During his term, he and his fellow directors put into place management procedures for continued growth of the industry and ARA. He strengthened ARA’s structure and program management to help point the way for the association’s continued success.

Coogan’s ingenuity helped propel not only Aggregate Equipment but also the entire industry as a whole by thinking “outside the box.” Multiple stores and multiple state locations became a key to increasing equipment utilization. Marketing on a progressive scale was another of his beliefs.

The “one-stop shop” concept was another innovation of his that helped propel Aggregate and other rental stores to a higher level of profitability. The idea to build or erect one-source jobsite rental stores on or as near as possible to new building projects was part of his “mega project concept” that was incorporated by other rental businesses.

He also developed a plant shutdown and turnaround specialization idea that became very profitable for Aggregate and others. Coogan developed the idea of specialists versus generalists for both the rental and sales sides of the business. This concept showed that a rental store operation could compete with the very specialized stand-alone companies. In addition, safety and risk management were always at the top of mind in any business operation.

Coogan helped fund scholarships at the business school of Bradley University in Peoria and sponsored several of Bradley’s marketing students for internships.  He believed in promoting from within and the use of incentives for his employees.