Kylie Koontz/MDN Amanda Sebelius, left, has been working for Simonson Station Stores for 23 years and believes building relationships with customers is what makes Simonson so special. Blaine Miller is at the right.

A Simonson Station Stores employee since 2000, Minot location manager Amanda Sebelius emphasizes that the community and the relationships built with store customers are what makes the company special.

“I think Simonsons are all about their customers. How to better serve them, providing a welcoming atmosphere, and loyalty,” she said. “You know, some of the customers now feel like family. I’ve watched young kids grow into young adults and having kids themselves.”

Sebelius moved to Minot in 1996 to attend Minot State University.

“Then, in June of 2000 started at Simonson and have been here for 23 years,” she said.

Sebelius started as a part-time employee and transitioned to full-time assistant manager for five to six years before coming into her current role as manager for the last 12 years. Staying at a job for 23 years takes a lot of dedication, but for Sebelius it was the loyalty of the customers and the genuineness of her employers that made it so easy.

“I love my job and doing what I do, helping customers out,” Sebelius said.

“We have a lot of repeat customers, loyal customers. Not only that, but Simonson is a great organization to work for. It’s a fourth generation company owned by the Simonsons, and they are really active in their organization,” she said. “From the time I’ve started, I could tell the owners take an interest in you as a person, and they have a genuine interest in their employees. I’m not just a number to them. I am a person.”

Simonson Cash Supply was established in Grand Forks in 1933 by Arch Simonson. Simonson Cash Supply was primarily a lumber and hardware business that also sold petroleum products such as gasoline, fuel oil and coal. In the 1950s, the lumber and petroleum business split into different entities, and the petroleum business expanded into Simonson Station Stores.

Something that resonates with Sebelius is the community they’ve built within the Simonson stores, their employees and their customers.

Having come from a small town, Sebelius knows what a tight-knit community feels like, and although Minot is much bigger than her hometown, that sense of community has stayed the same.

“Minot is bigger than where I’m from, but there’s just a sense of community here,” she said. “Everybody knows you and everybody knows Simonson. The Minot community rallies around one another. While working here I’ve seen so many people help each other out. And that’s how we feel at Simonson. I’m not just here to provide a car wash but I’m here to help out for anything they might need.”