Leveraging the Right Connections to Support Growth

To drive the growth of its business, BCR Environmental made a strategic decision to focus on developing high-value partnerships to deploy their broad range of technologies that convert organic and industrial waste streams into safe, valuable, and marketable end-products.

“Making this decision has been a game-changer for us, and it has built a lot of business momentum in a short amount of time,” says Joshua Scott, the company’s CEO. “We had many relationships at the plant level, but it was difficult to get in front of high-level decision makers to develop win-win partnerships,” he adds.

Opening the Door to Decision Makers

As an XPV Water Partners portfolio company, BCR Environmental has a direct line to the firm’s Portfolio Performance Team, led by industry veteran John Coburn. When BCR decided to focus on developing high value partnerships, Scott turned to the XPV team to tap into the firm’s support and expertise. Together, they developed a strategy to find – and get in front of – the right customers.

“The ideal customers have multiple sites and repeatable business,” says Coburn, who brings more than 40 years of experience in the industry, including several years as President and COO of ZENON Environmental, which sold to GE in 2006 for US $640 million. “We advised Josh to prioritize ‘high leverage’ partnerships. That’s what really worked at ZENON.”

With Coburn’s guidance, BCR and XPV decided to pitch BCR’s solutions to a large engineering firm that owns and operates hundreds of wastewater treatment plants. Coburn turned to his own professional network and tapped one of XPV’s executives in residence to support the introduction process at the C-suite level.

“Decision makers in the water sector want a proven solution,” says Scott. “They need to trust who is providing it; they need ‘safe hands.’”

“Making the right introductions at the right time is one of XPV’s greatest strengths,” Coburn says. “Over the years, XPV has developed an extensive industry network, including high-level decision makers. Tapping into this network is an advantage of being part of our ecosystem.”

An XPV-facilitated meeting took place during a dinner at WEFTEC, the largest annual water industry event in North America. It proved to be a strong catalyst. In the months that followed, Scott fostered the relationship, meeting with all levels of the engineering firm’s operations team and raising awareness of BCR’s solutions. Within a few months, BCR had gained a new client, booked two projects worth US $2.5 million, and secured a multi-site agreement with the firm.

Maintaining Momentum

BCR continues to build on this success, and XPV’s Portfolio Performance team continues to work closely with the firm’s portfolio companies to provide guidance, evaluate business opportunities, and make connections. “We’re committed to supporting growth, adding value, and shortening the learning curve for our companies,” Coburn says.

Scott adds that being part of the XPV ecosystem has made – and continues to make – a significant difference for BCR. “The XPV team has the right contacts, and they know how to approach them,” Scott says. “Thanks to the firm’s insight and network, BCR is growing its equipment and service business, and establishing new recurring revenue streams faster than we could have done on our own.”