AK Materials Handling Systems

How a Minneapolis-St. Paul Area Company Put its Team First

PPP LOAN PROFILE // 21ST CENTURY BANK

For those leading companies through the worst pandemic of our lifetime, COVID-19, you know it takes immense courage and strength, to lead a small business through adversity. It’s a tough challenge for the most experienced of entrepreneurs – now imagine leading a company through the coronavirus as a brand-new entrepreneur.

That’s exactly what happened to Josh Smith, the owner and leader of AK Materials Handling Systems. He’s worked for the decades-old company for years – that proudly offers white glove solutions to people and businesses in need of storage. When he found out the owner of the company was interested in selling, he jumped at the opportunity to purchase the business, with help from 21^st Century Bank.

He bought the business for a number of reasons. Of course, he always had the dream to become a business owner, but Smith saw the opportunity to continue the legacy of the business and jumped at it. Having worked for the business for so many years, Smith has hired more than 80% of the employees. He’s invested in the success of the business and wanted to continue to help the customers and the industry.

As a white glove company, AK Materials Handling Systems makes it a point to listen to their customers, provide opportunities and suggestions to grow in their market, and become more successful by providing layout design services. “Customers are treated the same from start to finish, no matter their size,” according to Smith.

When it came time to purchase, Smith approached more than five banks before meeting Jon Dolphin, our president at 21st Century Bank. “Jon’s been instrumental in navigating through some of the business decisions — both for banking and organizational questions, too,” he said. “Jon Dolphin and Isaac Sandberg have a lot to offer anybody who sits down with them to talk about business or banking.”

Dolphin had a good feeling about Smith, too. “My first impression of Josh was that he has what it takes to be a successful business owner,” Dolphin says.

With an optimistic outlook and excitement for his new business, then came the pandemic.

The COVID-19 Impact on AK Materials Handling Systems

When COVID-19 hit, Smith saw AK Materials Handling’s business turn. The team found themselves putting out fires and saw substantial projects were put on hold. While the small business has a loyal customer base, and the opportunity to serve them throughout 2020, business had changed. The volume of orders increased, yet the orders were smaller.

“The conversation turned to what we need to know and what we need to do to keep the doors open and keep everyone employed,” said Smith. “During a crisis, everybody gets scared and the toughest part of it all is showing leadership and courage.”

Back in March, Smith began looking for opportunities, finding out who was buying during the pandemic and where they were located – about the same time 21st Century Bank and a Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan came in.

How AK Materials Handling Systems Amplified the Impact of a PPP Loan

With a PPP loan from 21st Century Bank, AK Materials Handling was able to keep all 26 staff members working who were impacted by COVID-19 through school closings and business closings. Once they made the decision to keep everyone working, leadership set about navigating the unknowns and keep things going smoothly – even steadying on to continue and trying to grow the business. Through it all, Smith held onto a single mantra: “We’re going to get through this.”

Smith is proud of the culture AK Materials Handling has nurtured over the years and believes that it’s a big factor in what sets the business apart from its competitors, and what helped them navigate the pandemic successfully. “We’ve been named eight times as one of the best companies to work for. I think that says a lot about our environment, our employees, and how we care,” said Smith. “Employees are the heart of our company.”

This is where company culture really comes into play. “We believe that when people come first, growth and success are the organic results,” says Smith. “Our team members are empowered to make a difference on a daily basis. Because of that, each employee feels a sense of ownership.” A quick look at the company’s social media will show you that AK Materials Handling is all about supporting the strong culture they have built and they are always doing fresh, cool team activities to keep employees happy.

And happy employees provide better service, resulting in happier customers.

And 21st Century Bank was there from, well, even before the beginning of the process. “We took a real proactive approach to PPP loans with all of our customers,” says 21st Century Bank Vice President, Isaac Sandberg. “We didn’t even wait to see about the PPP coming out because we wanted everyone to be ready to go when it went live.”

Sandberg attributes Smith’s decision-making and responsive action amid crisis attributed to his success at navigating through COVID-19. “Even before the PPP loan process, Josh has been awesome to work with,” Sandberg said.

As for Smith, he’s never been happier with a bank. “21st Century Bank has definitely done their homework on small business. Their hands-on approach combined with an amazing team is hard to find these days, especially from corporate banks,” he said.

As Dolphin has gotten to know Smith over the past couple of years, his opinion about Smith has only gotten even better. “Josh is always going above and beyond for his team and has the instincts to bring in the right people when faced with challenges,” says Dolphin.

While navigating COVID-19 has been difficult, Smith and the team at AK Materials Handling are looking on the bright side. “We’ve become very knowledgeable in how to keep things safe for customers, vendors, and employees,” Smith said. “We’ve also learned how to communicate in different ways online and do business remotely.” And from our viewpoint, it’s working.