By Nicole Needles
Zion Solutions Group has only been on the material handling scene for a short time, but the founders’ and team’s knowledge and experience span far beyond that time. With a steadfast vision, excited tenacity, 16 employees and three locations, the company is just entering its most successful phase yet. What will Zion Solutions Group go on to do? We’re all eager to find out.
Jim Shaw, Drew Eubank, Jordan Frank and Chuck Frank joined together with their combined years of experience in the material handling industry to pursue a common goal: to leverage resources and provide solutions to the supply chain. Another key player who brings the financial expertise that allows the company to do what it does is Kathy Frank, Jordan’s mother.
“We really want to work with good customers, we want to build an attractive culture, and we want to have the ability to continue to be innovative in everything we do,” said Jordan Frank, executive vice president and co-founder at Zion. “At the end of the day, we want to deliver memorable experiences and guide intelligent change. That’s our vision statement and who we aspire to be.”
Since its start within the last two years, Zion Solutions Group has been fostering already established relationships, growing the company and taking care of its employees.
One way they do this is by feeding the family business feel and embracing employees and employee families.
“We don’t have teammates; we have family members. So anybody that’s part of Zion is part of the family. We hire the husband, the wife, the child, the extended family. It’s a big deal to us,” said Drew Eubank, executive vice president and co-founder at Zion. “We focus on relationships. We’re not transaction-based. We’re long-term-relationships-based and focus on partnerships with our teammates and our customers.”
In addition to emphasizing family, listening to customers and being relationship-focused, the company also values being an innovator. They recognize that there are new ideas around the industry, and the goal isn’t to find the best way but to find commonality in all the different solutions.
They note passion and commitment as part of the company’s values, which help drive the rest of the values. Last but not least, they emphasize that they like to have fun. The team calls are well-known for making jokes and sharing fun stories in addition to business items.
The material handling industry comes with challenges and opportunities. At Zion, they believe that the two are the same. The advancing technology can be daunting in the industry. It can be seen as a huge hurdle to overcome to stay on top of modern solutions.
However, Frank said, “I think the opportunity there is understanding and staying relevant. What I have learned is there are not many people out there who can speak broadly about various technologies and implementations they’ve done in the past. But if you can do that, and you’re a professional entering this market, you will succeed and be noticed. Your opportunities are endless.”
Zion has many bright years ahead, and the team is eager to take the journey. In fact, each time they’ve had a planning meeting, the plan wasn’t big enough for them.
“In five years, we’ll have a company where our values haven’t changed, our mission will not change, and we’ll have more teammates that are more well-rounded,” Eubank said. “Then we will potentially provide more services than just a traditional integrator. For us, it’s all about the experience. We’ll continue pushing the envelope to make it even better.”
