The genesis of Albany’s Complete Resource Management (CRM) becoming a local leader in industrial waste processing, didn’t happen overnight or by accident. Much, like the success of AB&T, the community bank that CRM and its owner Whitcomb Barnhill call home, the success of today is rooted in true relationship building, and a willingness to see beyond the realities of the present. 

Today, CRM is on the leading edge of industrial waste recycling, working with clients to remove various industrial waste, while finding novel ways to repurpose that waste into viable secondary products. 

Handling everything from wood, paper, plastic, cardboard, metal, glass and even organic food waste, there are few non-hazardous materials CRM doesn’t deal with, but according to Barnhill, the journey to this point started halfway around the globe while he was still at Auburn. 

The seeds of CRM were first planted when Barnhill started Complete Carriers to move cashew harvests from his father’s plant in Parakou, Benin to the port of Cotonou and then overseas. 

“Me, my dad and my brother-in-law drove semi-trucks to the port of Jacksonville, put them on a boat with these trailers and shipped them overseas,” Barnhill explained. “It was awesome. I’m a college kid, and this was like a great adventure. Every summer I’d go over to Africa, and run it and get things going. And that’s where Complete Carriers was formed in 2012.” 

Barnhill said Complete Carriers continued growing after his graduation and a brief stint working for a food processing plant in Waukesha, WI, and he started to see greater freight business opportunities. 

“It was ‘Ok, we’re doing all this internationally, why don’t we do some domestically,” Barnhill added. “‘Let’s start brokering some trucks.’” 

However, Barnhill soon realized some pitfalls of operating a freight business using a brokerage approach. Difficulties, he explained, that ultimately led to the founding of CRM and a change in focus for the young entrepreneur. 

“We were exporting peanuts and cotton seed and things, and importing some different commodities, and it was just struggle to get trucks,” he said. “It was hard to find reliable carriers. 

“So, we’re like, ‘We’re going to by some trucks and going to do this in-house where we can control our own employees.’” 

And that search for trucks led Barnhill to a small recycling company outside of Albany. 

“I hear about a company down in Sylvester, GA, and I hear that he’s got some really nice trucks,” Barnhill explained. “That’s all I’m interested in. I just want to buy the trucks. This was in probably 2016. 

“We get to talking and looking at it, and it’s intriguing. I’m seeing all these opportunities. Finally, I agree and say ‘Ok, I’ll buy the whole thing,’ even in the back of my head I was thinking, I’ll probably utilize the trucks, maybe the recycling does a little something on the side, until I flip that off. 

“But we get going, and it’s just like, ‘Wow, there’s such a demand!’ There’s really no one else in the industrial recycling world that’s around here.” 

From there, Barnhill said it was only a matter of utilizing some tried and true sales techniques, and prioritizing customer service, before things started to take off. 

That willingness to help clients tackle an increasing variety of waste byproducts, eventually led to further expansions for CRM as the company found additional opportunities for the waste they were handling. 

An early example was the company’s decision to stop selling the majority of their wood debris as fuel, and instead find a second life for it—which in turn led to the acquisition of a mulch making operation in Valdosta where the company co-packs a brand of mulch sold in nationwide. 

Of course, while Barnhill brought ingenuity, vision and a positive, service-minded attitude to bear on the endeavor, he still needed a banking partner to assist in that journey. And fortunately for him, he found kindred spirits in AB&T and SVP Gayle Woolard, who Barnhill said presented a stark contrast from the banks he’d dealt with in the past. 

“It’s more of a two-way street,” Barnhill said of dealing with Woolard and AB&T. “It’s more of a relationship. 

“Basically, it’s good customer service. It’s the exact same thing I try to do in my business. It’s stuff that is different. And it’s not something that you really see every day. AB&T is a different customer service culture that it is very much ‘we’re here for you.’ Not many banks are like that.” 

Barnhill said that it’s common for Woolard to proactively reach out to share information about banking trends, and she also takes the time to stay current in what’s going on in the world of recycling to ensure she is serving as a ready resource for her client. 

“I mean it’s the relationship,” Barnhill repeated. “And if that means, for one customer, sending them a weekly email with updates on recycling stuff, that’s what she does. 

“And honestly, the biggest thing for me, is the ease of doing business. They make it very easy to get things done. 

“And when things don’t fit in the box, not being closed off to that. Not everything is going to fit in the banker’s box and AB&T, I feel like, has been more willing than anyone else I’ve seen, to look outside of that and to really look at opportunities for what they are.” 

For her part, Woolard doesn’t see her partnership with CRM as any different than how she approaches all of her clients—which is to diligently work to build the solid foundation of trust that all lasting relationships require. 

“I believe it’s my responsibility to my clients to understand their business,” Woolard explained. “It is a priority. I need to know not only what is happening with their business currently, but their plans for the future too. Having that type of relationship, and having earned that kind of trust, is what helps me to then dig deeper with recommendations and thoughts to serve as a true resource, a trusted advisor. Some of the conversations are about strategy and some are about timing, but it all boils down to how can I be their partner and help them achieve their goals and dreams.” 

And it’s that dedication to building relationships that has fueled, and continues to fuel, AB&T’s recent and on-going successes.