Page 20 - Chester County Chamber - 2023 Guide & Membership Directory

ENTREPRENEURS
CHESTER COUNTY:
Where Innovative Entrepreneurs Have Room to Grow
Chester County is home to major companies like Vanguard and QVC, but the county is also a great place for smaller businesses to find and grow their niche.
Meet some of the innovative, entrepreneurial companies thriving in the area.
GREENCASTLE CONSULTING:
No Challenge Is Too Daunting
Since 1997, Greencastle Consulting has been helping clients accomplish any task they need to make their business more efficient and productive. Its expertise lies particularly in the areas of project management, change management, process improvement, and business intelligence.
The company sets itself apart from others in its space by being 100% owned and staffed by veterans, said CEO Joe Crandall, who has been with Greencastle since 2012 and bought the business in 2019 from its founder Celwyn Evans.
“One of the pillars of my purpose is to help veterans have a good career, which means providing them with a great place to work and
opportunities for promotions,” Crandall said. “We offer them an environment where they’re professionally and mentally challenged.”
Those challenges come in the form of the “pretty hefty problems” clients ask the company to solve, Crandall said. “They will come to us with a grand idea like replacing a software system or creating a new service line. Our team helps with this new endeavor or with parts of it.”
One of the trickiest aspects of any job Greencastle takes on is dealing with the natural resistance to change among a client’s personnel. “It comes down to change management — winning the hearts and minds,” Crandall said. It’s a tough challenge that might phase many, but not Crandall’s motivated team of veterans, as illustrated by the company’s explosive growth.
In his first year, Crandall set a goal of 25% revenue growth, but outstripped that goal
by 40%. The following year, the company experienced 75% growth, earning itself repeated spots on Inc. Magazine’s list of fastest- growing companies.
But even if the company continues to grow, it will stay put in Chester County. “Chester
County has been a very good place for us. The company has grown up here,” Crandall said. The location is also ideal due to the high density of potential client companies and
a strong presence of other veteran-owned businesses such as cybersecurity firm Layer 8 Security.
Greencastle’s commitment to veterans
also extends beyond the four walls of the company’s location on Chesterfield Parkway in Malvern. Annually, Greencastle donates some $250,000 to veteran service organizations. This past September, the company held a VetFest in conjunction with the Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry. Held in Greencastle’s parking lot, the event highlighted veteran- owned businesses and connected them with veterans looking for jobs.
Learn more at www.vetfestpa.com.
18 Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry