Wallingford Resident Named Company’s Employee Of The Year

WALLINGFORD, CT — Wallingford resident David Bradford was recently named Koopman Lumber’s 2026 Employee of the Year, the company announced.

Koopman Lumber is a fourth-generation family-owned building materials supplier that acquired Connecticut-based Lyon & Billard last October. Since the acquisition, Massachusetts-based Koopman Lumber has four locations in Connecticut, including Cheshire, Meriden, Berlin and East Hampton.

Koopman Lumber recently held its annual Service Awards Dinner, recognizing the contributions of its team members and congratulating employees who reached important career milestones with the company,” according to a news release.

One of the highest awards, Employee of the Year, was presented to Bradford, who is described as a “dedicated individual who moved to Connecticut recently to take on the critical Central Dispatch role supporting the Lyon & Billard acquisition.”

Read more from the news release below:

Prior to joining Central Dispatch, Bradford was a longtime Grafton, Mass. employee working his way from cashier to yard manager, back desk, and assistant manager in 2022.

Overall, Bradford has been a dedicated, dependable employee with Koopman for more than 20 years, and recently moved to Connecticut to continue to provide high quality customer service to Koopman customers in a new market after the purchase of Lyon & Billard last year.

Dubbed a "standout teammate," Bradford is a graduate of Grafton Memorial Senior High and Mass. Bay Community College, and was nominated by his coworkers for his dedication to the company, his customer-first work ethic, and a dependable problem solver. In his Connecticut role, his impact is far-reaching, helping to keep deliveries running smoothly across multiple locations while supporting teams as they learned new systems and processes.

“Dave is the calm, steady presence that everyone relies on, and leading by example in Central Dispatch and an inspiration," said Dirk Koopman, president and owner of Koopman Lumber. "We congratulate him for receiving our highest honor, Employee of the Year, and thank him for spending the last two decades providing exceptional and consistent service to our valued customers. At every step of his 20-year career with Koopman, he has built a reputation as a trusted resource: someone who shows up early, stays late, and gets the job done."

At the awards ceremony, it was noted that Bradford’s favorite movie is Never Ending Story, a note befitting an employee whose Koopman story continues to grow.