How a human approach to financing allowed agricultural company to rebuild after fire
When Patrice Desrochers joined Anderson Group as a comptroller in 2005 at just 25 years old, he had no longterm ambition of taking over the agricultural equipment manufacturer. A native of Chesterville, Que., where Anderson Group’s facility is based, Desrochers was simply content to get a foot in the door in an industry that has always been close to his heart, having been raised on a dairy farm himself.
But shortly after joining the company, Desrochers gained a comprehensive understanding of the business, and grew close with then-president Dany Poisson. His ability to see opportunities for growth, while improving operations and ultimately the company’s bottom line, endeared him to management.
“I had a very good relationship with the president and I felt confident in my abilities so I used to bug him by saying: ‘One day I’ll sit in your chair,’” Desrochers said. “He would respond by saying: ‘Sure, just write me a cheque.’ We were joking then but I never thought it would happen as quickly as it did.”
In 2008, just three years after joining the company, Desrochers became a partner in the business, and is now president and CEO of the entire operation. As comptroller he had worked closely with the company’s account manager from Desjardins Business, Hélène Tremblay, so naturally their relationship carried forward when he became partner, and eventually took the reins of the company.
“He was a bit of a visionary; he saw developments in the business that weren’t often discussed by the owners, and he knew the business very well and adapted quickly,” Tremblay said. “He was talented and a very hard worker; he had all the necessary qualities, so we worked with Desjardins Capital to see what we could do for him.”
Among his many plans and projects for the company, focusing in on Anderson Group’s core business was of the utmost importance.
“I knew we had to stop investing in the laser cutting technology arm of the business and zero in on what we excelled at, which is the design, creation and manufacturing of specialty agricultural machinery,” Desrochers said.
Having guidance from Desjardins was an invaluable resource for the young business owner, as Tremblay helped steer him in the right direction for many of the company’s financial decisions.
“Hélène always took my requests seriously, even at my young age at the time,” Desrochers said. “She was also very helpful in finding solutions and would look into things if she didn’t have the answers. She brought me to knock on the right doors, since you don’t always know how these things works at a young age.”
In addition to helping out with routine business decisions regarding growth, financing, credit, and currency exchange contracts (60 per cent of Anderson Group’s sales are in the United States), Desjardins was also essential in helping the company get back on its feet following a devastating fire in 2012.
The fire decimated roughly 80 per cent of the company’s facility, and struck at a time of rapid growth. By 2012, sales had doubled since Desrochers took over in 2009, but during the year of the fire, the company experienced a five per cent loss.
“After the fire, it wasn’t the time or the motivation to rebuild that was difficult, but the lack of funding to relaunch our operations,” Desrochers said. “Desjardins was critical in enabling us to resume our business because they facilitated the liquidity we needed to pay contractors while we were working with and waiting for payouts from the insurance companies. It was really our relationship and the trust between our company and Desjardins that allowed us to restart quickly.”
Construction on the company’s new, expanded facility began in November 2012 and wrapped up the following April, allowing the company to resume operations within six months of the fire.
“April is really important because it’s the start of our season, so without restarting then we probably would have lost 30 to 40 per cent of sales volume,” Desrochers said. “Hélène really helped us as a lender, to cross a broken bridge after the fire.”
The year after the fire, sales picked up at the pace they had experienced before the untimely disaster, with revenues growing 20 per cent.
Today, the company is doing $33 million in sales and employs roughly 140 people. Desjardins is still very much involved in the business, helping Desrochers and his team optimize operations and guide the company’s long-term strategy.
“Acquisitions haven’t been removed from the equation entirely, but right now we have a product development strategy in place for the future,” he said. “Our objective is to surpass $50 million in sales by 2024.”
Desrochers has a firm intention of attaining this goal while keeping the business at home in Chesterville.
“This is a village of some 900 inhabitants and so to have a large business here has an enormous economic impact,” he said.
As the company continues to grow, Desrochers said he values his relationship with Hélène and Desjardins and that the service he’s received from the institution has been nothing short of incredible.
“I really couldn’t ask for more,” he said. “Business is business, but we have a warm relationship, and it’s their ability to consider the human factor that really sets them apart. When we meet, we’re not just there to talk about the numbers; they really understand that there are people behind those numbers.”