Texas group acquires minority stake in Rogers furniture maker EcoVet

Scoreboard Ventures, a holding company headquartered in Frisco, Texas, has acquired a minority ownership interest in Rogers furniture maker EcoVet.

As part of the deal, EcoVet will be rebranded and its website will be updated to offer an e-commerce component. Those details will take place later this year.

Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. EcoVet will remain at its headquarters at 807 W. Hudson Road.

“The investment and partnership with Scoreboard Ventures will provide EcoVet with the necessary capital and resources to help us grow beyond Northwest Arkansas and create a much-needed e-commerce presence,” EcoVet owner and CEO Mike Hagood said. “The Scoreboard team has already made an immediate impact by introducing technology for our business processes and new marketing and digital strategies.”

Scoreboard Ventures was formed recently and invests in early-stage companies in need of capital, technology and marketing assistance. The firm was founded by entrepreneurs Brian Dick and Nahid Giga and supports a growing roster of businesses.

EcoVet recycles decommissioned 53-foot semi-trailers, captures the maple and oak planks that make up the flooring, as well as the trailer metal, and then uses them to make custom tables and chairs. Its primary goal is providing jobs for military veterans.

The company began as S.A. Concepts in 2012, a startup venture dedicated to providing livable wage jobs for military veterans also trying to get a college degree. S.A. Concepts initially hoped to secure nonprofit status as a workforce program but because the employees were manufacturing a product for sale, the company was denied nonprofit status.

Dick said Scoreboard Ventures is investing in EcoVet to support the company’s social causes — sustainability and employing veterans. He also sees an opportunity to create a “healthy and profitable” business.

“We see this as an opportunity to build an enterprise that gives back to our veterans by providing them an opportunity to re-enter the workforce, learn new skills, and be a part of growing business,” Dick said.

EcoVet, which has 22 employees, had revenue of about $500,000 in 2016 and $700,000 in 2017.

FRIENDS RECONNECTING
Hagood said he and Dick have a friendship that dates back a decade. Hagood spent 35 years working in the retail industry, and 22 of those were at Walmart. The last three at Walmart, Hagood ran the retailer’s zero waste program.

One of his vendor partners was Dick, who was the CEO and founder of Quest Recycling Services, a company he launched in Frisco in 2007. Quest quickly caught the attention of Walmart, which was just beginning to roll out its aggressive sustainability goals, and the two companies had a relationship in the recycling and waste disposal business segment.

Driven by an expanded relationship with the retailer throughout the U.S., Quest grew significantly, and eventually merged in July 2013 with Infinity Resource Group. Dick and Giga later established the co-working space and startup incubator LaunchPad City in Frisco in 2015.

Hagood, who remains majority owner of EcoVet, is enthusiastic about what the company can achieve with the new partnership.

“[Scoreboard Ventures] just brings so much to the table,” he said. “We needed to go direct to the public and I just didn’t have the juice to do it. They bring the IT side, the marketing, social media, e-commerce; all the things that I was lacking as a small company. The value they offer is taking [the company] nationwide.

“This is exciting for all of us here at EcoVet.”