Sometimes companies envision opportunities where others see only headaches. Then again, sometimes luck literally comes knocking right in your own backyard. Both hold true for Pennsylvania’s Nazareth Pallet.
As for opportunities, this rapidly growing pallet recycler jumped at the chance to expand upon its existing footprint of slightly under 20 acres by purchasing an adjoining 8 acre parcel. “When it comes to space requirements for the pallet business you can never have enough of it,” understated George Frack Jr., president of Nazareth Pallet.
Based on a conversation with top management from Nazareth Pallet, it is easy to see that the company is entrepreneurial, opportunistic and progressive. Whether it is a case of seizing the moment to add acreage to their Lehigh Valley location or to surprisingly embrace the ever deteriorating core shortage as an opportunity to focus on remanufactured and combo pallet sales, Nazareth Pallet has done what it takes to succeed. Another good example is when the company turned an automobile collision into a gift wrapped marketing opportunity to try something new to attract local customers.
Property Addition Creates New Strategic Opportunities for Existing Parcel
More than just buying a piece of land, a lot of work has already gone into prepping the new site to be useful for the operation. The bottom of the parcel is flat with buildings on it and now rises to a higher level in the back. Given the uneven terrain, Nazareth Pallet was looking at “a ton of excavation fees” in order to build the roads, parking lots and docks; all planned in order to effectively integrate the new land into the existing site.
It might seem surprising to some that Nazareth Pallet decided to do the land prep work itself. But that’s what the company did because it had the proper expertise in-house to manage the project. George Frack Sr., the retired co-founder of the company and George Jr.’s father, is a skilled heavy equipment operator. George Sr. worked in the construction sector for about 12 years before starting the pallet business back in 1984.
Nazareth Pallet purchased several pieces of heavy duty excavating equipment and a dump truck to undertake the work on its own rather than hiring a contractor. Being in the semi-retirement mode, George Sr. works 5-6 hours a day. “He hasn’t lost a thing,” George Frack Jr. enthused, speaking about his father’s mastery at the controls of the bulldozer. Additionally, a full-time dump truck driver was hired to keep up with George Sr. in regard to moving material. “The equipment has paid for itself already,” he continued, “and we still have lots to do.” The operation is very much a family business. Brian and Jason, George’s two younger brothers, also are part of the Nazareth Pallet team.
Brian is in charge of the overall plant operation while Jason, the youngest brother, oversees the accounting and finance staff. “We get singled out as owners,” Frack remarked, “Although we have a large, dedicated staff that are ultimately responsible for getting the work done and that they do very well.”
Although developing the new addition is a lot of work, the investment will create even greater opportunities and help shape the future growth of the company. The new area will house the truck maintenance shop and provide extensive, additional trailer parking; thus freeing up valuable space on the existing parcel for inventory storage and facility expansion.
The company currently owns about 300 trailers and 24 trucks. Nazareth Pallet has 22 drivers, and the company is always looking for more, according to Frack.
The extra space provided by repositioning the truck parking on the new land is a key component of the strategic vision. As the company steadily expanded over the years the business added two wood recovery rooms and a building dedicated to custom build pallets in order to keep up with customer service requirements. As an illustration of that growth, when Nazareth Pallet was the subject of a Pallet Enterprise feature back in 2001, it boasted 35 – 40 employees and a throughput of around 20,000 pallets per week. Today the business provides employment for a staff of around 140 and a weekly throughput of over 70,000 units. Looking ahead, the goal is to consolidate its expanding pallet recycling, wood recovery and custom pallet building operations all under one roof, a move that will generate further efficiency and capacity opportunities as the business continues to grow.
In a move that perhaps speaks to the culture of the company and its sense of celebrating important moments, when it came time to knock down some of the existing trees on the new property, local Amish were called in to cut and mill them. This created the opportunity to build pallets from those trees grown on the property. “Because they came right from our property we are going to do something special with them,” Frack explained. “Definitely one will hang in our entranceway. You might even see a specially made pallet cocktail table in the front area too. “
Pallets on Wheels!
One approach to marketing that sets Nazareth Pallet apart is using their company vehicles as mobile advertisements. Nazareth Pallet has wrapped a company pickup truck and a sales car, combining images of pallets, mulch, and elements of the company logo. When someone backed into the company’s Dodge Caliber sales car last winter it needed to be repaired and painted. Rather than just painting the car Nazareth Pallet decided to go with an advertising wrap. With a huge pallet on both sides in combination with the company logo and blue trim top and bottom, the result is an attractive and highly visible automobile. “It really pops,” Frack enthused about the graphics.
When asked if the advertising wrap was directly contributing to sales interest, Frack said that it is hard to say. “Because we have been around the Lehigh Valley for so many year’s people are familiar with seeing our trucks. It’s difficult to know what kind of impact they are having,” he said. Additionally, he noted, the sales vehicle has only been on the road for a month, and the pickup for about a year. “Having said that, we already have received positive comments about both of them, however, we just can’t measure the conversion to sales value just yet.” In the near future, the company is planning to integrate the wrapped vehicles into its social media marketing plan with a contest based on having spotted the vehicles.
Getting Social: “We Have Found That People Like to Communicate with Companies”
Last year marked the 30th anniversary of Nazareth Pallet. What started innocently as a casual conversation with Northampton Mayor Thomas Reenock turned out to be a milestone celebration. Frack remarked in passing to Reenock that the company was planning to hold an anniversary event with employees. Mayor Reenock, recognizing the long contribution of the company to the
community, promptly said that he would declare May 30 as “Nazareth Pallet Day” and presented the company with a proclamation at the event. Additionally, he insisted that George invite Julie Harhart, the local state representative, who also came to the celebration and in turn presented an additional citation.
Of course with the politicians came the press. The event, with over 100 people in attendance, went on to receive regional coverage in the multiple news publications. “I’m not much into politics, but they (the politicians) embraced it and the gesture was very much appreciated,” Frack said. “The press took some nice photos with us receiving the proclamation. We have the proclamation from the mayor hanging up. He went on to reflect, “We are a good source for employment. I think we are the largest in our industrial park with over 140 people working here.”
Social engagement with the community is something that Nazareth Pallet takes seriously. Unlike excavation, where the company could rely on George Sr.’s operation skills, for social media, the company turned to outside support in its efforts to build a social marketing presence. Evidence of that expertise is clearly visible through the company’s frequent website blog updates as well as additional ongoing activity at its Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn pages.
“We have reached out more (through social media) in the last year and we are seeing definite results,” Frack commented. “We see ourselves as a progressive company, always introducing new things, always looking for new ideas, and we realized it would be a smart thing to do. When we realized that it wasn’t within our capabilities we turned to someone who did have the expertise. “We learned people like to communicate with companies.”
To date, one of the most popular social media attractions has been its Phantoms hockey ticket giveaways. Nazareth Pallet is planning to use more of this marketing approach in the future. The company also posts pictures of the plant and the construction project, mulch and mulching tips, pallet craft ideas, and much more.
“Facebook has been the most popular social media outlet for us,” Frack said, adding that he recently started his own Twitter account. “It takes a lot of time to keep it fresh – more than what we thought when we began. However we have seen some positive feedback, and we are going to stay with it.
Another avenue for its social media campaign is through YouTube. A quick search at the popular video website indicates that the Nazareth Pallet channel currently offers nine company videos that have been produced over the last two years. These include an introduction to the company and explanations about various products such as colored mulch, recycled, remanufactured and combo pallets.
A recent YouTube series showcases employees who briefly discuss their jobs at the company, providing prospective employees a glimpse into the work environment. “In our area it is very challenging finding new people,” Frack elaborated. “In 2015 alone we have added 17 new positions while other businesses in the region are also growing and looking for good people. With the videos we have taken the angle that we have people who like working for us, so why not let them chat? We are proud of our people for the responsibilities they carry, what they have done and what more they can achieve. It is motivating.” While people could be a little shy at first about speaking they quickly became comfortable talking about what they do at Nazareth and enjoyed the interview experience. “It’s a morale booster too, which is another benefit.” says Frack.
One video celebrates the military service of employee Bill Cooke. “Bill served his country with multiple overseas tours and it should be duly noted,” Frack said. He further indicated that supporting veterans is a focus for the company when hiring. Nazareth Pallet is recognized as a Patriotic Employer by the Office of the Secretary of Defense as well as through a Journal sponsorship for veterans in the Lehigh Valley. George Sr. himself is a decorated Vietnam veteran. “Currently we have 7 veterans employed in a variety of job positions.” Frack states.
An entire new series of videos is in the works which is meant to be primarily educational and will be beneficial to the entire industry and not just Nazareth Pallet.
Nazareth Pallet also sponsors two local professional sports teams, the Lehigh Phantoms, the American Hockey League affiliate of the Philadelphia Flyers, and the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, the AAA affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. As an indication of how the company embraces new opportunities, when Nazareth Pallet launched its sponsorship with the Phantoms, George had only ever attended one professional hockey game in his life. “It turned out that we enjoyed the hockey quite a bit,” he quipped. “I’ve enjoyed going out to games with customers and employees myself.”
One exciting event for the company will take place this August, when a Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) film crew visits. The company was selected as an example of an environmentally positive company to be featured in the PBS program, In America with James Earl Jones. Frack explained that he was told the show’s research staff found out about his company, he suspects, either through the media attention generated from the 30th anniversary or perhaps from all of its collective strong and constant social media presence in combination with all of its other forms of branding exposure. . The show will air in the fall of 2015.
Backing Up the Marketing with Processing Excellence
Of course, all the social media and marketing in the world won’t lead to enduring success unless it is backed up by excellent quality and service at a competitive price which is exactly the case with Nazareth Pallet. In addition to recycled pallets the company offers a range of standard and custom remanufactured or combo pallets, crates and containers. Nazareth Pallet also provides a number of services including onsite management and drop trailers. Beyond just wood, the company offers a single trailer dock sweep service for mixed recyclables including wood pallets, stretch wrap, cardboard and plastic pallets. The company also participates with national pallet network providers to offer their customers national coverage if needed.
In terms of its production line, incoming 48x40s are sent through an Automated Machine Systems continuous motion repair line. Good pallets go to the stackers while the rest go down the line for further processing. Other common sizes are processed on a separate line. Unrepairable pallets are conveyed to the wood recovery area for dismantling while unusable material is sent for grinding to be converted into colored landscape mulch.
There are two separate wood recovery rooms. One utilizes three single operator Trace dismantling units and a PRS trim saw while the other wood recovery room enlists a pair of two-operator Smart dismantlers and a Smart trim saw. The company runs residuals through a recent model Morbark tub grinder with a grapple. Equipment from Colorbiotics helps the company deliver a quality colored mulch product.
“We have equipment from many different manufacturers,” Frack commented. “We purchased different machines to meet specific applications for us. One of the key bottlenecks we currently have, resulting from our growth, is with respect to the wood recovery rooms. Our goal through getting the whole operation under one roof is to more efficiently integrate wood recovery and pallet building activities.”
One of the key factors that Nazareth Pallet considers when evaluating new equipment purchases is the responsiveness of vendors and service after the sale.
One thing that visitors frequently comment on is the cleanliness of Nazareth Pallet. “We are very proud of our plant,” Frack declared, “and about keeping it clean.” While the company employs an end of shift cleanup routine, common in the wood products industry, it is fastidious in ensuring effective cleanup. Throughout the entire work day the company has an employee dedicated to keeping lanes swept and doing whatever else needs to be addressed in the way of sanitation. “Clean as you go! That’s the model we follow.” says Frack. Cleanliness is made easier thanks to the company’s extensive blacktop coverage which aids in maintaining a neat appearance. “It is an expense,” Frack suggested, “but it is worth it. You can tell it has been kept clean. The process also keeps us all safer too.”
Nazareth Pallet continues to grow, embracing new opportunities to expand its footprint and range of offerings while increasingly reaching out to the local community through its innovative marketing efforts.
