To that end, the company has plugged $17,500 into an in-house revamp of its tech systems, including an AMD-brand Quad server with document imaging capabilities and COLD storage. “We found it more cost effective to build a new server in-house to meet our specifications,” says Cox. “With the new server, we’re handling multiple locations with reliable, secure, fully redundant systems that have the capacity for future growth.” Prior to the tech investment, Keith Brown was running on a server that the IT team described as “archaic.” A year before that, the company was still using paper tickets.
On the rolling stock side of things, the company has made major investments to upgrade fleet capacity, adding nine new International flat-bed trucks, three box vans, six pickups, three forklifts, and three heavy-duty trailers since 2003. And the locations the trucks are pulling out of are shining just as brightly: All Keith Brown branches have completed external repainting, and seven locations have been remodeled to incorporate the leaner inventory mix and reflect a more professional focus by removing the lawn and garden and automotive items and clearing out a multiple SKU format of plumbing and electrical (the remaining yards will complete remodeling in 2006). Numerous yard-repaving projects are scheduled for completion by next year, four branch roofs have been replaced, and even the corporate offices have been remodeled.
The newest face at headquarters—and perhaps one of the greatest testaments to Keith Brown’s resurrection—is CFO Mark Bechel, the creditor committee chairman who at one point was looking across the table at a Keith Brown fighting to stay in business. Still impressed with the open-book philosophy and inspired by the comeback at Keith Brown, Bechel left BlueLinx this June to pitch in his financial talents as the company shoots to break $100 million in sales. “The more I work here, the more I am impressed with the people managing the yards, the people getting the loads out, [and I know] we have the capability to become a $130 million company,” Bechel says. “We can get there—we’re not going to get there tomorrow, but we can get there in a couple of years; there’s no doubt in my mind.”
Bolstered with refreshed fleets and facilities, the entire Keith Brown team believes the key to reaching its growth goals lies in establishing a larger, seasoned outside sales force. “We’re meeting new customers pretty much daily and it’s a pretty exciting time,” says Corvallis, Ore., branch manager Brian Calderon. “The toughest part is really [finding new] salespeople. But we’re gearing ourselves up for it and we hope the [growth] goal is attainable. We are certainly going to try to hit it.”
In Medford, Greer says the market is so strong that there is barely any need left for realtors. “Houses are going up daily, and I have a facility and a fleet now that we could easily do our part,” he says. “So it’s largely a personnel issue—finding the right people. We just have to mine harder to find them.”
And don’t think past experiences will keep Keith Brown out of the acquisition market, either. The company is currently looking at undisclosed yards and component plants in the Oregon coastal region, and Pence admits that there is plenty of room up and down the Interstate 5 corridor between the Beaver state and California’s San Joaquin Valley. “I don’t think I’ll ever try taking on 21 again,” he says, recalling the Copeland acquisition. “It was a tough time, but sometimes you have to look at the business like a puzzle and not take it so personally, just figure out the moves that you have to make.”
One move Pence never considered was folding his hand, and he would advise any pro dealers in a similar position to do likewise. “Should you hang on and go for it?” he offers. “Well, my answer would be that anyone who has four yards and then buys 21 more is probably already a go-for-broke kind of guy.”
Vital Statistics Company: Keith Brown Building Materials
Year founded: 1928
Headquarters: Salem, Ore.
