Sigma Nu - University of Washington

A Solid Foundation from Sigma Nu Growth at Gamma Chi Leads to Successful Career for Tom Merry '99 W hen Tom Merry '99 founded Rainier Asphalt and Concrete during the summer between his sophomore and junior years at the University of Washington, he never intended it to become a career. After testing out a few side businesses the next few years, Tom decided to go all in with Rainier Asphalt and Concrete in the spring of 2006. The decision has paid off in a big way, as the company has grown from about $500,000 at that time to more than $13 million today with 75 employees at two locations in North Bend and Tacoma. As Tom built a foundation for Rainier Asphalt and Concrete, he focused on the values of Sigma Nu. Tom also credits Mark Machinski '01 for much of the company's success for the past two decades. Mark was the first person Tom hired and he still serves as the general manager. "I was certainly shaped by a few key friendships that were formed during those years. That was such a key time in experimenting with things and discovering who you really are while being away from your parents and family for the first time," Tom said of his Gamma Chi undergraduate experience. "There were ways that I behaved like a knucklehead during those years, too. I'm probably equally shaped by the positive and negative things that I did during those years. I suppose it's all a part of growing up." In Gamma Chi, Tom found a place where he was comfortable with being himself and a brotherhood that had a good balance of academics, social activities, and intramural sports. He also liked the allure of joining the oldest fraternity at UW and being part of its rebirth and rebuilding after a recent recolonization. "It seemed like the corner of 17th and 47th was the epicenter of all the activity, and I thought it would be an exciting place to spend my next four years. The fall of 1998 was a lot of fun," Tom said. "We had an 18-person class and it was the biggest class since the chapter had been recolonized. There was a lot of energy and momentum about what was happening at the house." One of Tom's favorite pastimes has been cheering on the Husky football team with his brothers. He'll never forget cramming 13 people into an eight-person RV to go to the 2001 Rose Bowl, where Marques Tuiasosopo led the Huskies to a 34-24 win over Drew Brees and Purdue. Along with being hopeful for the return of UW football this fall, Tom is excited about the immediate future of Workman's Dashboard, a software startup which he's co-founded with his brother recently. "Our next step in the business is to ramp up our growth and sales strategy beyond our current customers," Tom said. "While we've done a lot of work in developing a great product, I've discovered it's pretty tough to run two businesses at once." Tom knows both of his businesses wouldn't be nearly as successful without the support he's received from his wife and three children, ages 8, 6 and 4. You can connect with Tom at thomasmerry@gmail.com. GAMMA CHI 5 Recruitment Report A s many of you have probably guessed, recruiting new brothers during this time has been a difficult struggle. We recruited and signed seven men over the winter, but we did not get any new members over the spring quarter. One optimistic potential new member visited right before the house was shut down for COVID. We plan on having him, as well as a few other legacies and contacts we have accrued, visit this August. As a recruitment team, we decided not to hold in-person events in July while the Greek system recovered from the spike of cases. However, we did not stop preparing for the vital recruitment season. We added a recruitment video and virtual tour to the chapter website, maintained contact with our prospective recruits and legacies, and prepared for August events, including: • Barbecues every Friday, ending with a movie in the box (we are also planning to set up a projector outside one night). • Nerf war, as my fellow recruitment chairmen call it, which is like freeze tag with toys that shoot foam darts. • Smaller sessions where a few brothers and potential new members play a chosen sport. (We played basketball during my recruitment and it was an amazing time.) • Canoeing on Lake Union. • Hiking trips. Please contact me if you know of any potential candidates, including those who will be remote learning or have secured residence elsewhere, so I can contact them. With your help, we'll get through this together. Love, honor, truth, Dakota Sterling Summer Recruitment Coordinator dakota88@uw.edu | (509) 828-5157

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