April 2025

Team,

As we roll into April, I want to take a moment to recognize the continued strong start we’ve had to the year. Across the board, it’s been great to see everyone working together, staying aligned, and pushing toward what’s shaping up to be a very successful year. The collaboration, focus, and energy from all of you drive that momentum, and I am am grateful for all of you.

This month, I’d also like to highlight something important to our industry—Issue 2 on the upcoming ballot in Ohio on May 6. Supporting Issue 2 is a vote in favor of investing in the infrastructure and workforce that keep our state growing. It directly impacts future building and development opportunities across Ohio, including many of the industries and communities we serve. I encourage you to learn more about why it matters at yes2buildohio.com and vote.

As we head into our two busiest months of the year, I want to remind everyone to stay safe, physically and mentally. Keep the lines of communication open. If something’s not working or you’re running into a challenge, speak up so we can tackle it together and keep things moving.

Thank you again for everything you’re doing. Let’s keep the momentum strong and keep working as one team. Your effort matters, and it’s making a real difference.

Great work team – Q1 finished strong!

We had three major wins this winter that pushed us ahead of plan. As a result, Revenue is up 35% and Net Income is up 32% compared to the same time last year.

Here are a few key highlights:

• Salt Sales have almost tripled.
• Organic Sales to Scott’s are up over 100%.
• Contract Revenue jumped 75%, thanks to clearing out the chutes at Conneaut.

These wins have put us 25% ahead of budget on Revenue and 30% ahead on the Bottom Line.

If we stick to the plan and stay the course, we’re well on track for a successful 2025 – which is already off to a fantastic start.

For many of you, you may not know that the first week of May is International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW). The goal of ICAW is to raise awareness of the importance of composting organics and using compost to create healthier soils. Please see the link below for additional information.

As you may or may not know composting is one of the life bloods of our business at Kurtz Bros. Kurtz been leaders in the composting industry in Ohio for decades. We compost more organics than another other company in the State, we are innovators in compost products and uses, and we are leading members at the Ohio Organic Council, which is the Ohio Chapter of the US Compost Council. We use compost to recycle thousands of tons of organic biomass every year, and composted materials are critical ingredients to the soils and mulch that we manufacture. Additionally, compost can help solve some of our biggest socio-environmental challenges currently facing the State. Compost can help increase recycling rates while also improving soil health for farmers which then reduces nutrient pollution into Lake Erie.

During ICAW I encourage you to spend some time learning more about the benefits of compost and convey those benefits to our customers. If we are broadly pushing chemical fertilizers such as 12-12-12 or a multi-step fertility program, we might be missing the point and mission of our company, “to make the good earth better.” Think of the impact that we are having on our environment with chemicals and instead try educating your customers on why 12-12-12 on KB soils is a waste of Phosphorus and applying chemicals to your lawn five times a year is wildly overkill and massively adding to the water quality issues of lakes rivers and tributaries in our region. Instead suggest using compost as a fertility source and use organic forms of nutrients while providing Soil Organic Matter which is often the missing link for degraded soil conditions. Help be part of the solution and utilize the great assets that we manufacture ourselves instead of just flipping to chemicals because that’s what’s traditionally been the norm. For more information please feel free to contact me at your convenience or check out all the great resources that are available to you at: https://www.compostfoundation.org/ICAW/ICAW-Home

As a side note, if anyone, or anyone you know, is extremely passionate about compost and the positives it can provide to our environment and economy please check out the Ohio Chapter of the US Compost Council; the Ohio Organics Council at https://www.ohioorganicscouncil.org/ We are always looking for new members and this year we have a great opportunity to help the Ohio EPA with solid waste management planning for organics as well as rule guidance for composters. We are a great organization and do great things so if you or your customers would be interested in joining we would love to have you on the team.  

Is it Winter or Spring?
Honestly, it’s hard to tell—one day it feels like spring, the next everything’s covered in snow! But one thing’s clear: the 2025 season is about to take off quickly and without much warning.

The Sales Team has a long project list ahead, and our Book of Business continues to grow. New orders are already rolling in from Canton to Madison and all the way over to Avon. If you’ve noticed the sea of orange barrels thanks to ODOT crews, take it as a good sign—traffic may be frustrating, but construction means opportunity for KB/ENW!

Our distributors are stocking up, and our stores are doing the same. Soil orders have kept both the sales and transportation teams on their toes these past couple of weeks. Our “Dry Soil” is moving well and looks great coming from all production sites—huge kudos to Aaron and the Production Team!

Let’s not forget the specialty soils—CU Structural Soil, Bio-Retention Mixes, Infield Mix for ballfields, and Slinger orders. The sales team is ready to take those on. We also have 304 and 57 Blast Furnace Slag available, offering a strong alternative to limestone—if there’s a request, bring it to us.

There’s no question we can’t answer when it comes to construction bulk materials. If a customer needs something out of the ordinary, let the sales team know—we’ll find a solution. In 2025, let’s commit to turning every inquiry into a sale.

Remember, customers are the key. Show them how we do things differently—and better.
Buckle up—it’s go time!

Our production teams have been hard at work across all sites this week. In North Canton and Bridgeview, we’ve been focused on grinding, screening, and coloring mulch to keep pace with seasonal demand. Over in Avon, both mulch coloring and grinding are underway, along with ongoing soil production. The team at Grand River successfully completed a full chute cleanup, ensuring continued efficiency and safety. At Warner Road, we’ve begun receiving material from Cliff’s, further supporting our waste-to-resource initiative. These efforts reflect our continued commitment to operational excellence and sustainable production across all facilities.

March has been another successful month for our transportation department. I am pleased to share that we safely transported a total of 2,167 loads across various categories. Here’s a breakdown of our efforts:

• 492 store loads
• 264 loads to Scotts
• 125 loads of CDF
• 43 loads of foundry sand

Thank you to everyone for your hard work and dedication in ensuring the safe and timely delivery of all shipments. Let’s continue this momentum into April!

We’re kicking off this month with plenty of exciting updates and accomplishments to celebrate. Here’s everything you need to know about what’s been happening across our company.

Welcome to Our New Hires!

A warm welcome to all our newest team members! We’re thrilled to have you on board and can’t wait to see the amazing contributions you’ll bring to the table.

A Big Shoutout to JJ!

Our trainer JJ has been doing a fantastic job, and we want to take a moment to recognize their hard work and dedication. Your efforts make such a big difference to our teams—thank you, JJ!

We’re Hiring!

We’re still looking to fill roles in a few locations. If you know someone who’s looking to join a dedicated and growing team, encourage them to apply today!

Training & Development Updates

· Alliance Lighting Training: Managers recently completed training on lighting through our partners at Alliance.

· Smart Count System Training: We hosted a 3-hour training session for our new Smart Count inventory tracking system. This tool is poised to help us streamline operations, and we’re so excited about its potential!

· Manager Swap Days: Our popular Manager Swap Days have kicked off! For the third year in a row, managers are visiting other stores, sharing ideas, and learning from each other’s experiences. This collaboration is a staff-favorite and continues to strengthen our team.

Achievements and Events

· Painesville Bulk Location Open House: The open house for our newest location in Painesville was a huge success! Thank you to everyone who helped make it happen. We are seeing growth with sales every day in March!

· Partnership with KB Columbus: We’ve teamed up with KB Columbus to bag our own soil and mulches. We’re looking forward to watching sales grow with this new venture.

Sales Highlights

• New Customer Goals:
• Strongsville had the biggest jump last week.
• North Canton is currently at 22% of their $175,000 goal. Let’s cheer them on!
• Overall, our stores are at 12% of their goal. Time for those stakeouts!
• Product Sales Success:
• After re-merchandising the stores, tool sales increased a massive 84%!
• Year-to-date tidbits:
• Earthblend Compost sales are up 20% thanks to our friends at Scotts.
• Supersack sales are up 50%, with 112 Supersacks of rock salt sold so far.
• Hardscape sales are off to a slower start, down 37%. But with warmer weather on the horizon, we’re optimistic about a strong rebound.

Thank You, Team!

Your hard work and dedication continue to drive our success. Thank you for being such an essential part of our growth. Keep pushing forward, and don’t forget to celebrate all the wins, big and small.

Looking forward to what’s ahead!

We’re excited to share that retail sales are trending in the right direction! We wrapped up Q1 of this year with sales approximately 12% higher than Q1 of last year, with a notable spike in online sales during March. Thank you to everyone contributing to this strong start!

Most of our spring marketing campaigns are now live. You may spot us on ESPN.com and their affiliated streaming platforms, as well as across Facebook, Instagram, and Google. If you see one of our ads out in the wild—screenshot it and send it our way!

We’re also working behind the scenes on improving our website optimization, so we show up higher in organic search results. That means more visibility, more clicks, and more potential customers finding us faster than ever.

Customer reviews are starting to roll in for our store locations, and we’re thrilled to report that the feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive. (Way to go, team!) If you haven’t yet, please take a moment to leave us a review on any of our Google pages—every bit helps boost our online credibility and reach.

Lastly, we continue to see fantastic support and engagement on our social media channels. Whether you’re sharing, liking, or commenting—thank you. Your support goes a long way in expanding our reach and strengthening our brand presence.

2025 Billboard

Stay tuned—we’ve got more exciting campaigns and content coming your way soon!

🧑‍💻People Are Everything

• Having trouble logging into People Are Everything?  
• Your username is your personal e-mail address.  If you forgot your password, click the “Forgot Your Password” link under the “Login” button to reset it! 

📖ADP – Learning Reminders

• All employees must complete their assigned tool box talks and learning courses in ADP.  These can be done on the Mobile App or on a desktop workforcenow.adp.com
• Learning assignments show under “Things to Do”.  You can also find and complete your assignments by going Myself > My Learning 
• In the mobile app – you can choose All Features, then choose Learning.

💲Career Center

• We are always searching for great team members and updating our open positions in our ADP Career Center. 
• View the career center and current openings, and share the link with others!  If you refer an employee who is hired, YOU can get a referral bonus!