The Evergreen Story: Started in a Cabin and Now We're Here
Nearly seven years ago, the idea for Evergreen was born when founders Jeff and Ramsey attended their first Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting in Omaha, Nebraska. They noticed that Berkshire had created a one-of-a-kind home for large companies that wasn’t available to small businesses. Shortly after returning from Omaha, they rented a cabin in the woods for a weekend and sketched out the original vision for what would soon become Evergreen.
Backed by the support and skills they obtained while at Alpine Investors, Jeff and Ramsey sought to create a company with a forever time horizon. A company that acts as a permanent home to small businesses, treating employees and customers not as commodities, but as the assets that allow companies to thrive. A company that helps founders with succession planning to ensure their company and legacy live on for the long haul. And a company committed to decentralization, where each company in the Evergreen family operates independently with a high degree of autonomy.
2023 was a significant year for Evergreen as we surpassed some audacious goals that were originally set in that cabin in 2017. Evergreen has grown beyond our wildest dreams, and we have now partnered with 89 great companies. Call us sentimental, but we want to take a trip down memory lane and walk you through some of the highlights along the way.
Milestones
First Acquisition – Evergreen’s first milestone took place in December of 2017 when we made our first acquisition: Wolf Consulting. Founder Lloyd Wolf caught our attention as a prominent figure in the IT Nation community and a world-class MSP operator. Since its acquisition, Elliott Hyman took the reins as Lloyd’s successor and Wolf's business has nearly quadrupled while maintaining the Wolf Consulting brand, culture, and reputation for outstanding service.
Navigating Covid – 2020 was marked by the heroics of our leaders and customer support teams. Our companies helped over 3,000 customers navigate an overnight shift to work-from-home. In just one example of how we supported our customers, Tech-Keys helped several nursing homes roll out Zoom-enabled iPads to their residents. The iPads kept residents connected to family members who could not visit them during the lockdown.
Industry Expansion – After seeing how well the Evergreen model resonated with MSP business owners, we have expanded into three other industries: financial software, government services, and ERP consulting.
Annual Summit – Every year we get the leaders from across our group of companies together to celebrate wins, share best practices, and build lasting relationships. Our 2023 Summit in Denver was a highlight of the year and was attended by over 100 of our leaders!
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International Expansion – After expanding into Canada in 2021 and acquiring 5 leading MSPs, 2023 marked Evergreen’s expansion outside of North America. London-based MSP The Final Step began Evergreen’s expansion into the UK, and Auckland-based Lancom Technology kicked off our expansion into the Australia/New Zealand region.
Looking ahead
These past seven years have served as a great validation of the unique approach that Evergreen takes to acquiring small businesses. What started as a simple idea between two friends has become an important company serving thousands of employees and customers. Companies across many industries and geographies are better off for having partnered with Evergreen as a permanent owner.
As we look to the future, Evergreen has no plans to slow down. We are growing our team as we seek to bring the Evergreen model to more businesses around the world. Most importantly, we remain steadfast in our commitment to deliver on our promises and be a permanent home for the great companies and leaders that choose to partner with us.
If you would like to keep up with the future of Evergreen, feel free to reach out to our team. Check out our YouTube channel and website for the latest Evergreen content and behind-the-scenes of what it’s like to partner with Evergreen.
Advisor, Facilitator and Business Consultant
5moCraig and I could not have found a better partner and permanent home for our business. Love being a part of the Evergreen story and journey.
Certified EOS Implementer®. I help business owners and leaders with 10 to 250 employees achieve more and get everything they want from their business.
5moI feel blessed to have found Evergreen back in 2017 as the permanent home for my MSP business (Wolf Consulting) along with it's leaders and team members. I am honored to have been their first acquisition, and remain proud of what Evergreen has been able to do with the company over the past 6+ years. Congratulations Evergreen, Jeff Totten, Ramsey Sahyoun, Brad Wittwer, Elliott Hyman on all of your growth and success. I'm excited to watch what you accomplish in 2024 and beyond!