Owners of Worldwide Steel Acquire Elmwood Reclaimed Timber

When Gordon Harton heard that the owner of Elmwood Reclaimed Timber wanted to sell, it piqued his interest.

"We thought it was a huge opportunity," Harton said.

After nine months of due diligence, Harton and his business partner, Jeff Snell, purchased the Peculiar-based company, which has 35 employees and $6 million in annual revenue. Snell and Harton also own Worldwide Steel Buildings, conveniently located about two miles away. Harton said there's opportunities for cross-marketing and collaboration on projects between both companies.

Founded in 2002 by Mark Callison, Elmwood Reclaimed Timber specializes in procuring and crafting products from reclaimed and sustainable woods. Callison, who sold the company, no longer is involved.

Elmwood's offering includes paneling, flooring, beams, barn siding and mantels. The new co-owners like the product category, because it's growing and projected to continue growing in the future, Harton said. Elmwood typically distributes its products to higher-end restaurants as well as commercial and residential projects.

The acquisition closed July 17. Financial details weren't disclosed.

One attractive aspect is the company's "huge opportunity to grow," Harton said. Both Harton and Snell are accustomed to making potential growth a reality. They purchased Worldwide in 2016, and by early 2019, revenue had doubled for the custom steel building manufacturer. O'Keeffe and O'Malley handled the acquisition. Worldwide embarked on a roughly $500,000 expansion last year and raked in $15 million in revenue.

Harton said they envision a similar opportunity with Elmwood. Some of the improvements that they plan to make include revamping the website to make it more user-friendly, improving processes such as customer service, offering a more attractive benefits package to employees and creating a team atmosphere.

Both Worldwide and Elmwood could spur growth for each other. Homes comprise 20% of Worldwide's sales, and Elmwood's products are a perfect fit, especially for "barndominiums," he said. Reclaimed wood such as siding complements the look of the upscale barn-style homes. Elmwood and Worldwide also could feature cross-links between their websites.

"I would say we are more excited today about the opportunity than we were two weeks ago, just because of the things we've seen as we've gotten in and learned even more about it," Harton said.

Article courtesy of KCBJ.