Hope Timber Pallet & Recycling is a full-service pallet company located in Newark, Ohio. Family owned and operated; it has been growing successfully since 1994. Today, it is led by two brothers, Kevin and T.J. Harvey, equal partners and owners. Kevin holds the title of president and T.J. is vice president and director of operations.
Pallet Enterprise: What is the best piece of business advice that you have ever received?
Harveys: Continuous improvement is the key. Getting one percent better every month creates long-term impactful success.
Pallet Enterprise: Have you recently started pursuing any new markets/product lines?
Harveys: We are primarily staying focused on our core pallet business and continue to implement more automated equipment to improve efficiencies. In addition to our 48×40 repair business, we are growing in our custom new pallet capacity to service our customers.
Pallet Enterprise: How do you decide whether or not to try a new idea in your company?
Harveys: We bring new ideas to our leadership team in our set weekly meetings. As a team we discuss whether it’s a good fit for our core business and run through a pro forma to gauge whether or not to move forward.
Pallet Enterprise: What is one thing you do at your company that is different from other pallet companies?
Harveys: We are family owned and operated and are truly full-service. In addition to supplying new and recycled pallets, we haul away unwanted pallets and wood scrap via our own fleet. We operate a wholesale wood grinding and mulch operation to process the excess wood waste.
Pallet Enterprise: What is one of the hardest business decisions you have ever made?
Harveys: How best to continue our growth most efficiently – decisions to open up additional locations in strategic locations, filling out second and third shifts on existing locations, and so on.
Pallet Enterprise: What performance indicators do you track to measure how your company is doing?
Harveys: We use a system called EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System). This helps our organization have a shared vision, set clear goals, and have a weekly meeting pulse to review our performance with a weekly ‘scorecard’ full of measurable metrics. Within our EOS system, weekly ‘TO-DO’s’ are assigned in our meetings to keep us on track and on target for our goals.
Pallet Enterprise: What is the most important thing you do each day?
Harveys: Being consistent for our internal teams and for our customers. Constant communication and involvement to help things run smoothly and address any issues that arise. Give our team the tools they need to succeed.
Pallet Enterprise: Have you ever had what you thought was a great business idea completely flop?
Harveys: Absolutely. Some years back we thought we could successfully run a sawmill and process logs to lumber for our pallet stock supply. That was a humbling experience.
