Spring Valley Mulch Continuously Sustains a Pattern of Growth
Brian Klinger’s family was in the pallet business for 35 years, but in 2003, he saw an opportunity to branch out in a new direction. On his own, he started a mulch business, and today, Spring Valley Mulch has 19 employees producing a top-quality product.
“I have an awesome group of guys” says Klinger.
Klinger believes that dedicated employees and his own hands-on philosophy along with a trusted relationship with Cleveland Brothers and Cat® equipment have helped build his business, Spring Valley Mulch, into a success.
Spring Valley Mulch services a 150-mile radius territory around its Dover, Pa. facility. Drivers pick up scrap pallets from other shops and deliver 15 to 25 truckloads a day to Spring Valley. There, Cat loaders carry the pallets to a grinder. The high-quality mulch (about 1,500 tractor-trailer loads a year) is sold wholesale to local nurseries and landscapers.
Spring Valley Mulch started in business with Cat equipment, veered for a time to another manufacturer’s machines, and is now transitioning back to Cat. Klinger bought three new 962K wheel loaders in 2014, and his entire fleet of seven loaders and one crawler now comprise all but one Cat machine. Even the engines in the trucks are Cat.
“The service and parts of the competitors are no comparison to Cat,” Klinger said.
Cleveland Brothers and Cat equipment reliability has helped Spring Valley Mulch sustain a pattern of growth every year since its founding. “Even the recession almost helped a little bit” he said, as people stopped traveling and concentrated on sprucing up their homes.
“We’re growing,” said Klinger. “Every year we’re doing more and more volume.”
“Cleveland Brothers’ service is unparalleled,” Klinger said. When one of the new loaders had an issue that couldn’t be identified right away, he got a brand-new machine to run while the problem was diagnosed and fixed.
“They didn’t let me hang,” he said. “They gave me another machine free of charge until they figured out what was wrong with this one.”
Klinger has recommended his Cleveland Brothers sales rep, Devin Kessler, to others, and they all say the same thing:
“’If you have an issue or want an answer, this guy is going to get it for you.’ And he does,” Klinger said. “He’s very dependable and reliable.”
Business is steady year-round, while the company produces mulch in season, prepares for demand off-season and produces animal bedding. Klinger expects to continue upgrading his fleet, replacing his last non-Cat loader with a new Cat and possibly buying an excavator with a grapple to ease the job of loading trailers with waste wood. Through it all, his people work hard to provide a consistently high-quality product.
“It takes a good employee to keep a watchful eye on the operation,” he said. “Like I said, I have a great group of guys. Everyone is quality conscious here.”