Our story
We have an epic story behind us. And a bright future in front of us.
The year is 1877. The first telephone line is installed between Boston and Somerville, Massachusetts. The American presidency transitions from Ulysses S. Grant to Rutherford Hayes. And Thomas Edison announces his invention of the phonograph.
This same year, two brothers hang a shingle outside a storefront in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, that is today Patterson Companies. We have a long history, but a singular focus: we put people at the center of everything we do.
Service over the centuries
We make sure our team is energized by the work they’re doing, and we do what’s right for the customer. Our legendary customer service dates back to that storefront in Milwaukee nearly 150 years ago.
Over time, common threads have stitched us together. Expertise. Trust. People. The “why” behind what we do. The solid foundations of our past inform our present.
Industries we serve
We are a top supplier of products, equipment, software and something no single vendor can supply: expertise. We help dentists, practice managers and hygienists do their jobs more efficiently. We help veterinarians, practice managers and vet techs practice their best medicine. We help producers keep the animals in their charge healthy.
The expertise is partly taught, partly innate. You won’t find more passion for the business anywhere else.
Our culture
It’s not often you hear the word “love” when talking about a company’s culture. Yet, our teams love what they do. Maybe it’s the people-first value in our purpose, vision and values. Or it’s our passion for our customers and their needs. Some of our employees have been with us their whole career. We know one another, respect one another and know that we are accountable to each other. We challenge one another to do better – always advancing.
We’re the people behind the scenes taking care of the people on the front line. You’ll often see us sharing a bit about our culture with the hashtag We Are Patterson. A lot of teams feel like they’re a family and have been together a long time. This unity is in our DNA.
Our locations
We’re a company with global footprint yet have local branches and teams to best serve our customers.
Our executive leadership team
DON ZURBAY
President and Chief Executive Officer
Don Zurbay was named president, chief executive officer and a member of the board of directors of Patterson Companies in October 2022. Don joined Patterson Companies in June 2018 as chief financial officer, bringing more than 30 years of experience in accounting and finance. Prior to joining Patterson, he served as vice president and chief financial officer at leading global medical device manufacturer St. Jude Medical, where he was responsible for all accounting, financial and business development activities.
Don also previously held positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers, The Valspar Corporation and Deloitte & Touche. His career reflects a consistent track record of developing strategy and driving execution for business growth and expansion while optimizing operational efficiency and building high-performance teams.
Don earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business accounting from the University of Minnesota and participated in the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
KEVIN POHLMAN
Chief Operating Officer
Kevin Pohlman was named chief operating officer of Patterson Companies in December 2022. As chief operating officer, Kevin is focused on creating value for customers and driving growth across Patterson’s Dental and Animal Health segments. Kevin joined Patterson Companies in 2015 as vice president of sales and marketing for Patterson Animal Health and served as president of Patterson Animal Health from 2017-2022.
Prior to joining Patterson, Kevin held a variety of leadership roles at Lextron, where he most recently served as vice president of dealer sales with oversight of the marketing department until June 2011. Kevin began his career with Pohlman Bros. Supply, a family-owned dealer and distributor of dairy equipment, animal health supplies and food plant supplies in Ohio.
Kevin currently serves on the board of directors for the American Veterinary Distributors Association, Agri Laboratories and the Patterson Foundation. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio State University.
KEVIN BARRY
Chief Financial Officer
Kevin Barry was named chief financial officer of Patterson Companies in December 2022. Kevin joined Patterson Companies in 2017 and has held several leadership roles within Patterson’s finance organization, including vice president, finance and corporate controller; vice president, finance operations and strategy; and vice president and chief financial officer of Patterson Dental.
Kevin’s career demonstrates a successful track record of overseeing financial and operating performance at industry-leading companies. Prior to joining Patterson, Kevin held several leadership positions at General Mills after beginning his career at Jones Lang LaSalle.
Kevin earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Northwestern University and a Master of Business Administration from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
LES KORSH
Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary
Les Korsh became vice president, general counsel and secretary of Patterson in July 2015 and served as Patterson’s associate general counsel since June 2014. Prior to joining Patterson, Les held positions as vice president and associate general counsel for MoneyGram International from May 2004 to May 2014 and was a principal in the law firm of Gray Plant Mooty, P.A. from June 1999 to May 2004.
Les received his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Minnesota and his Juris Doctor degree from William Mitchell College of Law.
SAMANTHA BERGESON
Chief Human Resources Officer
Samantha Bergeson was promoted to chief human resources officer of Patterson Companies in May 2023. She is responsible for the company’s human resource strategy, specifically focused on culture, compensation, talent management, organizational alignment, employee development, diversity, equity and inclusion.
She joined Patterson in August of 2013 and has held several human resources leadership roles within the company, most recently as vice president of human resources. Prior to Patterson, Bergeson held HR roles at CenterPoint Energy and Rasmussen College.
Bergeson holds a Bachelor of Science in human resource development from the University of Minnesota. She also completed an executive program from the Carlson School of Management through the University of Minnesota.
SHIVANI PRABHAKAR KAUL
Chief Compliance Officer
Shivani Prabhakar Kaul joined Patterson Companies as chief compliance officer in March 2020. She is responsible for leading the company’s compliance and regulatory programs.
Shivani has 15 years of combined law firm and industry experience. Most recently, she served as the senior vice president, chief ethics and compliance officer of Avanos Medical, a publicly traded medical device company. In this role she developed and executed a global compliance strategy and assessed and prioritized global compliance risk in order to build out a compliance program aimed at early detection and mitigation of global compliance risk.
Shivani received a Master of Public Health, Health Policy and Management degree from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, and holds a Juris Doctor from Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois.
GEORGE HENRIQUES
President, Companion Animal
George Henriques is president of the Companion Animal business, based in Loveland, Colorado. He has been with the business since 2000 and in his current role since 2020. George’s responsibilities include the U.S. companion animal business activities.
George holds a bachelor’s from the University of Hartford and an MBA from the University of New Haven.
George is a former chair and current board member of the United Veterinary Services Association and currently volunteers as a dog enrichment handler for Freedom Service Dogs.
STEVE CUNNINGHAM
President, Production Animal
Steve Cunningham is the president of the Production Animal business, based in Loveland, Colorado. He has been with the business since 1992 in various different roles of responsibility during those 30 years, including territory sales, sales manager, division manager and region president. Steve has been in his current role since 2016. His current responsibilities include the U.S. production animal business activities.
Steve holds a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Iowa State University.
KRISTIN DIETZLER
President, Dental
Kristin Dietzler was named President of Patterson Dental in October 2024. Most recently, Kristin held the role of president of Carestream Health’s Americas Region, where she was responsible for the sales, marketing, and service organization in the United States, Canada, and Latin America. Kristin has held numerous leadership positions within the healthcare industry, notably at Medtronic and Covidien.
Kristin holds a bachelor’s from Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana. She serves on the Board of Directors for Piccolo Medical, has served on the Board of Directors for the New Hope Foundation, and has held leadership positions on multiple corporate committees supporting diversity and inclusion.
MIKE GRAZER
Executive Vice President of Distribution Operations
Mike Grazer was named vice president of distribution operations for Patterson in 2018 and has served the company for 20 years, including previous roles as director of distribution, regional distribution center manager and distribution center manager. Mike is responsible for all distribution and logistics for the Dental and Animal Health business units, overseeing more than 70 sites and approximately 1,400 employees. He also designs and implements fulfillment center operations to optimize service, delivery, order quality and reduce operating expenses.
Before joining Patterson, Mike was an operations manager for FedEx Ground (formerly RPS) where he was responsible for managing all dock operations.
Mike received his bachelor’s degree in business administration, specialization in strategic management, operations and planning from the University of North Texas.
DAVE LARDY
Chief Information Officer
Dave Lardy was named chief information officer of Patterson Companies in November 2016, and oversees the entire IT organization. Dave has been with Patterson since 2002 and previously held key roles in the ongoing evolution of our technology capabilities, including leading the technical execution of the SAP enterprise resource planning (ERP) initiative.
Before joining Patterson, Dave created and managed technology solutions in the agriculture and automotive industries. Currently, Dave participates in and supports the Minneapolis-St. Paul technology community through involvement in local organizations such as Think IT, Minnesota High Tech Association and Genesys Works.
Our history
We are a deeply rooted, Fortune 500 company
We’ve been in business since 1877 – that’s more than 145 years of bringing forward bold solutions to our customers. Follow our journey through time, from Milwaukee storefront to publicly traded with an international footprint.
Today
Patterson continues to grow and evolve to meet the demands of our markets. We are recognized as a Fortune 500 company and featured on Forbes’ America’s Best Large Employers list for 2024. We continue the philosophy held by three generations of Patterson leadership and their strong belief in honest business ethics.
2000s
Growth and diversification
Patterson hit a milestone – $1B in sales in 2000! That same year the Patterson Foundation was established through generous personal funds from executives. The following year, Patterson grew its portfolio by entering the veterinary space with the purchase of Webster Veterinary.
In 2013, Patterson increased its global veterinary footprint with the purchase of National Veterinary Services (NVS) in the U.K. Patterson further expanded its reach with the purchase of Animal Health International, the largest distributor to the production animal industry.
1992
Going public
In 1992, Patterson was publicly traded on NASDAQ as stock ticker PDCO. The following year, Patterson acquired Healthco Canada, which became Patterson Dental Canada/Dentaire.
The Patterson name was retired from the employee roster after 117 years of family involvement.
1980s – 1990s
Modern-day founder
The 1980s included additional acquisitions. With 60 locations at the start of this era, Patterson added more than 36 in a few short years.
On April 30, 1985, the Patterson management team under the leadership and vision of Pete Frechette ushered in a new phase of growth for the company. Pete Frechette was elected president and was widely considered the company’s modern-day founder due to his energy, ingenuity and business savvy.
1960s – 1970s
An era of acquisitions
In 1946 J.A. Webster Veterinary Supply was incorporated in Boston. This would later become Patterson Veterinary.
The 1950s brought growth with locations in Omaha, Nebraska; Wichita, Kansas; Amarillo, Lubbock and San Antonio, Texas; Jackson, Mississippi; Springfield, Missouri; Shreveport, Louisiana; and Eugene, Oregon. Patterson expanded into California in 1959 to include Anaheim, Los Angeles, Sherman Oaks, Pasadena, San Diego, Long Beach and Wilshire.
1940s – 1950s
Stabilization and growth
The 1940s ushered in the third generation of leaders as M.F. Patterson died at the age of 91. His grandson William Oliver, or Bill, took over as president. The company consisted of 20 dental locations, 2 surgical locations and 3 dental college locations.
In 1952 Bill was elected president of the American Dental Trade Association. He was a very active president, traveling more than 123,000 miles a year and attending every meeting held during his tenure.
Early 20th century
Expansion years
1906 – Patterson expanded to Des Moines, Iowa City, Butte, Boise, Duluth, Milwaukee, Seattle and Spokane.
1928 – Further expansion included adding locations in St. Louis, Kansas City, Peoria, Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
The 1930s included the expansion into Texas as the largest dental supplier in the Southwest, and a new Patterson president in 1938 – John!
With a degree in dentistry from the University of Minnesota, John had worked in management for the company for years until his promotion.
1877 – 1900
Beginnings
In 1877, brothers John and Myron Patterson opened Patterson’s Drug Store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Their telephone number was 1.
Patterson’s Drug Store sold dental and surgical instruments and supplies. Myron was the first to realize the future of the dental business lay in the western expansion happening at the time. The brothers divided their belongings and Myron moved to St. Paul, Minnesota, where he opened M.F. Patterson Dental Supply Company.
