It was 1996 and the successful founder of
Cline, Davis and Mann, Inc., now arguably the world's largest pharmaceutical advertising agency, was returning home for a trip to visit his elderly mother, Lucile. He made numerous trips back home to visit the parents he cared for so.
After escorting them around the world during their early retirement,
Morgan Cline's dad had passed away and his mom lived at home with around the clock care provided by her son.
It was during one of these trips home in 1996 that Cline recognized the deteriorating and vacant home of an old family friend of his parents. This home would prove to be the first project of his in Centerville and wouldn't be the last- not by a long shot. His brother Gary wanted to return home as a recent retiree from teaching and this would be a great place.
As the house was nearing completion, a landmark on the historic and notably large town square was being slated for demolition. The community had written it off. Once a regional center, Centerville, Iowa was dying as industry weakened and the gorgeous rolling hills of Iowa were not producing the wealth that flatter crop producing land was. At the heart of the town square was
The Continental Hotel. With its collapsing roof, broken windows, piles of garbage and debris, it was three stories of antiquated liability that no one in Iowa's third poorest county could afford to adopt.
The Continental in some ways wasn't unlike many other large regional hotels from the turn of the prior century. In other ways it was. The Continental had seen more than its share of historically significant figures. Even Iowa's own Simon Estes was a native of the community and had worked at The Continental, along with his father.
So the decision was made and The Continental was adopted being pulled from the edge of the abyss. Two million dollars later, it reopened on August 15, 1997 and one of the region's gems was reborn.
It was just before the hotel opened that Cline learned the manager he had hired had a change of heart and was planning to resign. From his high rise office at 450 Lexington in Manhattan, he scrambled to find a replacement. Who could he get to run the hotel? According to Cline, "I called some people I knew including my sister and the construction manager who was finishing the restoration asking them, "Who do you know that could run The Continental?" and repeatedly I heard, "Bill Burch" so I got his number and the rest is history."
Burch recalls the contact, "I was in Utah being trained as a facilitator for Stephen Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People and received a couple messages from Morgan Cline. I only knew him as the man that was restoring The Continental." "When I returned home and called him I was more than a little shocked to hear he was interested in visiting with me about the prospect of managing."
History will show that not only did Burch and Cline come to an agreement one August Sunday in 1997; the two would eventually change Centerville in a notably significant way. "I was deeply involved in the community and on a number of (too many) boards and committees. I was the president of our local Chamber that year and was going to more than 50 meetings a month trying to do everything possible to change the place I called home, for the better. One day after working with Morgan for a short while the light went on. Why not shift my efforts from struggling with all of these meetings and community leadership roles, and dedicate that effort to him? He is a super guy, has a lot to teach me, and he financially can do anything he wants to do. This guy could save our community!"
So began a partnership that some would claim saved the region.
There is a lot written about Cline's contributions and his efforts to save historic buildings and put businesses in them that could give them a life indefinitely. His contribution is unheard of and likely more should and will be written. There is not much written about Burch or what quietly appears to be the next big thing Centerville will experience beyond Cline's impact, which will be hard to match. Behind the scenes Burch scrambled to keep up with his boss's willingness to do one project after another. Trapped in one of the most depressed areas of the state with a declining population and seriously declining retail sales, he knew that the current use of and fees from service firms were going to strangle the company. In addition, the number of employees was growing and with nothing but very small businesses, getting health insurance, doing payroll, and organizing benefits was going to prove nearly impossible and financially detrimental.
"I not only knew I had to do something different, I knew I had to do it fast and it had to be terribly effective or the machine would slow and our opportunities would grind to a halt. There had to be a way to act like a big business by combining all of our small businesses" he shared. That is exactly what he did.
Burch started a different entity; a company called Commercial Resources, Inc. and with Cline's mentorship and blessing, Commercial Resources, Inc. became a back office powerhouse. Burch's vision was to create a hybrid business combing the best of what accounting firms, professional employer organizations and consulting firms could offer, but in a woven way that enhanced efficiency and focused on the entrepreneur's perspective.
Burch drove CRI to organize all of the accounting, human resource/payroll/PEO, basic marketing and other typical office support and procedures into a well-oiled machine. To track the time of the CRI staff so the expense of the office could be split in a fair pro-rata way between all of the companies, new software was purchased and new systems developed. The company was deeply committed to asking how it could do things more efficiently.
While other firms anchor their fixed rate models to capture margin from developing efficiencies, Burch wanted to motivate not only his staff but his clients to be more efficient for their own good so he refused the traditional systems of billing and chose a strait time/rate system. The more efficient the client is the better the result and the lower the bill.
Rachel Hoffman, Vice-president and Executive Director explain, "Our goal is to earn a long-term relationship. Our clients want nothing different from their businesses than Bill wants from his and Mr. Cline's. It is only prudent to challenge administrative costs including what CRI does."
At the same time Burch was starting Commercial Resources, the duo started to partner on a few businesses. Before long they shared ownership in businesses including a property holding company, an assisted living community, a nursing home and an appliance store. Burch was as driven as any business owner to keep administrative overhead to a minimum confessing, "We haven't always been as successful as we would have liked. There has been a lot of trial and error. The personalities and the abilities of different business managers proved awkward especially with our very unique situation." Early on, Burch gambled and promoted an unknown to the leadership position at Commercial Resources, Rachel Hoffman. Hoffman would in effect step up to take the reins so Burch could continue concentration on the continually growing family of projects. With Hoffman's work ethic, intelligence and spirit combined with her commitment to "on time as promised," Commercial Resources continued to strengthen. As business peers started to learn about CRI's model, they started to ask if the same services and systems could be made available to them and that is how CRI started its ascension.
Now Commercial Resources is a quietly growing business service firm not only earning the appreciation of its entrepreneurial clients, but also garnering the attention of job seekers in the area. Hoffman shared, "We aren't easy to work for. We have a unique culture that combines very bright people, very hard work and long hours with fun and deep appreciation for each other. You can't just be smart, or just be kind, or just be a hard worker to make it here. You have to be all three and more. We've developed a team of professionals that get what an entrepreneur needs and expects."
Combining the services of an accounting firm, professional employer organization, and other services in a totally unique way driven solely by the needs of the entrepreneur changes the landscape and seems to be a potential game changer in an industry that some would call stodgy. If Burch has it his way, while they are changing an industry they will change the community. It is his vision to employ over 100 people in CRI's offices alone. Between Burch and Cline, they already employ 150.
Appanoose County has even more going for it than Cline and Burch. The county also captured the new development of Iowa's first destination state park resort, Honey Creek Resort. Fifty million dollars later, Centerville and Appanoose County seemingly better than doubled the benefits provided by Cline's efforts.
So what's next? Burch smiles as he shrugs and says, "We'll see." For now Burch says he plans to honor and maintain Cline's legacy and build on it and continue in his footsteps.
