A Flexible and Capable Financial Partner Enables Growth for Seasonal Business
A conversation with Patrick Geraty, Owner, St. Louis Composting
St. Louis Composting
Business Snapshot
Founded in 1992, St. Louis Composting has blossomed into the region’s largest compost producer. The mission of this privately held business is to help make the world a little greener and reduce landfill waste by producing high-quality compost and now process more than 600,000 cubic yards of green material annually.
Business Leader
Patrick and Becky Geraty, Owners
Headquarters
St. Louis, MO
What are the biggest challenges you face as a business?
Our industry is fast-changing, and demand for our services has grown significantly, while at the same time, business expansion opportunities often present themselves. To stay on the forefront of organic recycling, we must always be ready for our business to evolve. We serve landscapers and homeowners but also work with the region’s major waste haulers, helping them process all of their green material. The various customers we serve, requires us to have a diverse set of equipment and services.
How did Enterprise help solve these challenges?
Managing our cash flow and credit needs across seven locations was difficult and time-consuming. Enterprise provided us short-term credit lines for each of our business entities, along with a variety of cash management tools that give us a quick view of our daily cash position. From the beginning, our treasury management teams worked together to develop customized solutions which worked with our accounting system. Acquisitions have been a great way for our business to expand. It has proven extremely valuable to have a financial partner who not only had the ability to fund large opportunities, but also works with us to confirm we are funding the right strategy. Our relationship manager also introduced how debit and credit cards would make it easier for us to reconcile our records and track employee spending. They also brought in their investment management team, who helped us launch a 401k program, giving us another avenue to invest in and educate our employees, and guided us on other ways to diversify our holdings.
What is the impact to your business?
Of the many benefits to working with Enterprise, one of the most important to reaching our record growth is allowing us to acquire new cutting-edge equipment in the spring while delaying payments to start after the busy fall season. Today, we process more than one-third of all yard waste in St. Louis county. The tremendous growth we have experienced is in part because of our twenty-plus year relationship with Enterprise.
