Strength & Stability During Uncertainty
Merchants is Stronger Than Ever
It’s during the tough times that we learn the most about our companies, and each other. Throughout my 20-year career as CEO, I have had the opportunity to help companies thrive through previous crises—the burst of the Internet Bubble, terrorist attack on 9/11, and the financial industry meltdown. During this time, I developed the 7 plays in my Tough Times Playbook. In March, Merchants pulled out the playbook and acted quickly with two key tenants in mind: provide the best service in the industry to our clients, while maintaining the health & safety of our employees.
I am proud to say that because of the bright minds at our company, the methodical & strategic decisions we have made, and the clients who make it all possible, Merchants is thriving, and our company is stronger than ever for our clients & employees.
We wanted to share with you some reasons why Merchants is Stronger Than Ever.
Over 125,000 Units Under Management
Across the country, there are vehicles driving on the streets—many of them essential business fleet vehicles—that are managed by Merchants. Over 125,000 of those vehicles, in fact. As our company implemented its 123 strategic direction in the beginning of 2018, we have seen more and more companies choose Merchants as their fleet partner. We are grateful for the clients that we get to service every day.
$50 Million in Growth Financing from Bain Capital Credit
This spring, we selected Bain Capital Credit as our partner and secured $50 million in growth financing. This infusion of capital will enable Merchants Fleet to further accelerate our growth trajectory and mission of serving our clients and bringing innovation to the fleet management industry. As seen in the Wall Street Journal and heard on Bloomberg Radio.
Every Day 1 Million Homes Receive Essential Goods in Vehicles Managed by Merchants
During the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more goods have been purchased online, and thus delivered to homes. With this surge, we have seen tremendous growth in our home delivery fleet business and surpassed 1 million goods delivered in our managed vehicles. As the pandemic continues to make an impact and more people get comfortable purchasing goods online, we expect this trend to continue.
New Programs Launched to Serve Clients & Provide Flexibility in Uncertainty
While many companies have decreased their operations and service, Merchants has expanded to be able to keep our clients moving and provide the services that they need most. Some of those services include our last mile delivery program, truck rental services, our commercial truck sales offering, and most recently the launch of the industry’s first convertible lease.
Named Fastest-Growing Company of the Year by Stevie Awards
This week, we announced that Merchants earned 3 industry awards from the reputable Stevie Awards organization in 3 categories: Most Innovative Company of the Year, Achievement in Management, and Fastest-Growing Company of the Year. Merchants is proud to have earned several awards over the last few years, which reinforces our trajectory and our strategic direction.
New Headquarters to Support Our Growth
In the fall of 2019, Merchants opened the doors of its new, state-of-the-art, 55,000-foot facility for its employees and clients. As we continue to grow our FleetTech programs, our facility needed to support the expansion of our employee base as well as the direction of our company. We look forward to when we can all be back in the office together.
Award Winning Innovation Initiatives & Culture
Last year, we launched our innovation department focused on building our innovation culture and driving new value for our clients. This focus continues to gain momentum as we have launched new products & services, grown our technology platform & tech enabled our business, executed thousands of hours of innovation training, and more. Because of our growth mindset & innovative thinking, we are well positioned to navigate this pandemic.
Great Place to Work for Our Employees
Our strength is in our people. Merchants is absolutely a tremendous place to work, as many of the most sound organizations have indicated in third-party surveys. While we are proud of the awards we have received and our consistently growing employee satisfaction, I would encourage you to not just listen to me. Ask our people. It’s why our clients like doing business with us. Great Place to Work
Over 50 Years in Business
Finally, our strength & stability is in our history. We initially opened the doors of Merchants in 1962 and throughout the years stayed true to the values of integrity, service, community, flexibility and innovation held by Irving Singer, our founder, and the Singer Family. Never has that been more important than today.
Merchants is stronger than ever, and because of that, so are you.
Brendan P. Keegan
Chief Executive Officer
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