Matt Beiler is a co-owner of Hillsdale Pallets in Cherry Tree, Pennsylvania, which is located a little over 20 miles southeast of Punxsutawney. He is joined daily by three brothers, Merlin, Daryl and Jason. Hillsdale Pallets serves customers with new and recycled pallets along with some specialty crating.
Pallet Enterprise: What is the best piece of business advice that you have ever received?
Beiler: Your most important asset in your business are your people; be willing to invest in them. Every day good customer service, superior quality and efficient production are in the hands of our employees. Keep it simple. Never compromise absolute integrity.
Pallet Enterprise: How has rising inflation impacted your business?
Beiler: The most dramatic area affected by inflation is labor costs. We pay more for our labor force than most pallet companies, but this has been well rewarded by a good, dependable workforce.
Pallet Enterprise: How do you decide whether or not to try a new idea in your company?
Beiler: Kick it around for a while first. We are a family-owned partnership business, so often we run a new idea by our management team before trying it on the floor. Although a partnership may seem bulky at times, we find it a blessing to bring stability to our business.
Pallet Enterprise: What is one thing you do at your company that is different from other pallet companies?
Beiler: We pay our employees a good wage. We aim to give them a good career opportunity. We strive to keep an orderly yard, a gravel driveway, a clean bright production floor, and well-oiled machinery. We assign clear roles to give all our employees a sense of belonging and importance.
We make a conscious choice to look for the good in life rather than focusing on the negative. Negativity will drag you and your company down, especially if you are in leadership.
Pallet Enterprise: What is one of the hardest business decisions you have ever made?
Beiler: After a fire destroyed our offices and cutting facility in 2022, decisions were intense and immediate. Thanks to an incredible team of equipment manufacturers, electricians, and more, we were able to merge our line into an existing plant and were back to processing our own material in four months. I want to especially recognize Pendu, Keystone Machinery, and AFS Energy Systems for their contributions. These decisions have also turned out to be some of the best financial decisions we have made.
Pallet Enterprise: What performance indicators do you track to measure how your company is doing?
Beiler: From a financial perspective, because we are a small company it is much easier to track our production costs than it is for a large company. We track cost to volume on a regular basis and perform quarterly inventories to gauge our profitability. Finally, it’s our goal to have everybody smiling at the end of the day – not for our benefit, but for theirs. While we recognize profits are necessary, profits are a by-product of our mission to maintain a Christian kingdom-focused vision by serving others.
