Mike Rivard

East Bethel, MN (USA)
Role(s):
Founder/Owner/Principal

Rivard Companies

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Location: East Bethel
Industry: Wholesale
Year Founded: 1989
Number Employees: 10-50 people
Description: Rivard Companies is made up of four divisions - Rivard Contracting, Central Wood Products, ECO Bales, and Gronomics. These four diverse yet complementary ventures make up a 10 million dollar company heading for 100 million. The company was founded 19 years ago in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metro area. The Rivard Contracting division is a tree clearing company specializing in government contracts and large scale commercial projects. Additionally, this division has recently begun utilizing its fleet of five large scale grinders in plastic reclamation projects across the country. There is immense potential in grinding the millions of tons of land fill plastics in the U.S. into recyclable plastic chips. Rivard Contracting with it years of experience in the grinding industry and its $7 million plus fleet of grinders, loaders, semi-tractors and trailers is strongly positioned to succeed in this burgeoning industry. The Central Wood Products (CWP) division is a manufacturer/wholesaler of wood mulch products. This division began as a means to profitably distribute the raw materials (wood mulch) harvested by the Rivard Contracting division. CWP now has a variety of natural, colored and imported mulches. CWP controls approximately 40+% of the Twin Cities wholesale mulch market. CWP's customer list of nurseries, garden centers, and landscape professionals is now in excess of 600 in Minnesota alone. CWP has begun to slowly develop a national market presence over the past few years and is looking to greatly accelerate this process. We have the product, the expertise, the equipment, and the contacts to make this happen. ECO-Bales is a spin off of the CWP division. While CWP focuses on bulk mulch products, ECO-Bales is the future of consumer packaged mulch products. Currently, the vast majority of consumer mulch purchases are in the form of mulch packaged in plastic bags. It is estimated to be an annual national market of $600 million. ECO-Bales aims to claim a large share of this market over the next five years. The innovative patented ECO-Bales packaging method eliminates over 90% of the waste as compared to traditional plastic bag packaging. Our quality mulch products are packaged in a convenient, easy to carry, 25lb compressed bale. Mulch in this form offers many advantages to both the retailer and ultimately the consumer. As our slogan states "Products for Today, Packaging for Tomorrow". ECO-Bales have been introduced to distributors and wholesalers across the country with amazing success. We have commitments from every region of the country to begin carrying this product line. As with our other divisions, we have just scratched the surface of the potential this product has. Our fourth and newest division of the company is Gronomics. Gronomis is what we believe to be the future of gardening. Gardening is America's number one hobby. But these days with so many concerns over the chemicals used to "protect and preserve" fruits and vegetables, gardening allows the individual to know exactly what they are eating. More and more people are growing their own food as our culture shifts away from the large scale corporate farms. While many people would like to have their own garden, there are often many challenges that keep them from doing so. Whether it be a lack of space, an urban environment, poor soil, or even physical limitations - Gronomics is the solution to many of these problems. Gronomics is a product line of pre-packaged grow media and elevated stands and boxes. With these products you can grow a weed free garden in a very limited amount of space with great ease and convenience. As with the ECO-Bales product line, these products have been introduced throughout the country and will be available through distributors in all regions of the country this spring. As you can see Rivard Companies is a diverse collection of division all built on the corporate mantra of "we'll find a way". We are looking for an investor to share in this vast potential of these companies. Funding is needed to build inventory for our upcoming season, to support the continued expansion into these new markets and for the on-going development of our innovative products. Please visit our website at (URL removed) for more information on our company and its products.