Case Study
Jones Lake Management
Location:
Cincinnati, OH
Sector:
Business Services
Date Acquired:
Rob Jones
Founder, Jones Lake Management
"From day one, Jones’ commitment to our customers and employees has been the foundation for the Company’s success. In Fort Point, we found a partner who shared that belief. They have invested in our organization and people, expanded our geographic footprint and broadened our service lines, all while never losing sight of our core values as a Company."
Situation
Jones Lake Management (“JLM”) is a science-based provider of pond and lake management services, fish stocking, pond aeration, fountain sales and services, and ecological improvement services. JLM’s field staff of professionally certified biologists service residential, HOA, commercial, and municipal customers, with most on annual service contracts.
Rob Jones was seeking a liquidity event after leading the business for over 30 years and was looking for an experienced partner who could help Jones enter a new phase of growth while maintaining its strong team culture and service mindset.
Our Role
Fort Point Capital partnered with Jones and completed the recapitalization in March 2022. Our team promptly identified and implemented key strategic initiatives, including the build-out of management team, professionalization of the operation and infrastructure, and development of an effective and scalable sales and marketing strategy. Fort Point and JLM teams developed a robust M&A pipeline and internal capabilities to execute and integrate add-on acquisitions.
Senior Management Team
- Identified additional hiring needs and recruited executives to complement the existing management team
- Transitioned founder into Chairman role and hired CEO, Director of Sourcing, HR lead, and other key personnel to lead the Company for the next stage of growth
- Brought on an independent director with relevant industry experience to provide support at the board-level
- Established the framework for existing Jones employees to grow into leadership roles, internally promoting four employees to Regional Manager leadership roles and 12 employees to Branch Manager roles.
Operations & Infrastructure
- Re-designed organization structure along service practice lines, each with a dedicated practice leader reporting into the COO and CEO
- Oriented operations towards key KPIs and managed towards goals around those metrics
- Implemented new business management systems including a new CRM, financial reporting ERP, and field management system
Growth Strategy
- Introduced an updated pricing model and renewable contract structure
- Launched new services to customers, including aerator and fountain equipment rentals, dredging, and other ecological improvement services
- Sales & Marketing Strategy
- Built out internal sales team and scalable account services infrastructure
- Green-fielded an additional six locations
- Established a sales compensation structure and cross-sell incentives
- Updated logo, website and other marketing collateral
M&A
- Recruited and hired Head of Corporate Development to oversee add-on acquisition, integration, and special projects
- Completed and fully integrated 12 strategic add-on acquisitions and acqui-hires, with additional actionable pipeline targets identified
- Enhanced integration plan to establish effective, repeatable process for future transactions
Results
Fort Point has worked closely with management to implement a sustainable growth strategy and provided the necessary resources and tools to achieve its new phase of growth. In partnership with Fort Point, Jones Lake Management has grown from 4 states to 18+ and has become one of the largest providers of pond and lake management services in the US. The partner of choice for like-minded service providers in the industry. Since Fort Point’s investment, revenue and EBITDA have increased more than 3x. Jones continues to maintain a strong employee-focused culture with roughly 200 full-time staff members and preserving best-in-class staff retention.