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Banking on Relationships - Coast to Coast Equipment & Supplies Inc. and State Bank lender Scott Goeddel

Running a family business means you are never really “off the clock”. Work gets discussed at family dinners and children’s birthday parties, holidays are spent with your “co-workers,” and your sibling may be your boss during the workweek.

It also makes one recognize the importance of collaborating with other professionals who treat you like family. That’s why Coast to Coast Equipment and Supplies, Inc. continues to be loyal State Bank customers.

All five Coast to Coast co-owners - Paul Faus, vice president, Faye Birk, president, Christy Muertz, office manager, Nathan Birk, chief information officer (CIO), and Merl Doerr, vice president of sales - had the same answer when asked what keeps them banking with State Bank.

“It’s because of Scott,” the team said in unison.

Scott Goeddel, vice president and relationship manager at State Bank, has handled the Coast to Coast account from the beginning. That strong customer relationship has lasted more than three decades.

In 1989, when Paul Faus and his sister, Faye Birk, teamed up to run the St. Louis branch of Coast to Coast, Paul was already a successful entrepreneur and expert in the industry.

Starting his career with Western Union, Paul transitioned from Telex and TWX communications to facsimile and copiers. He then started his own copier and communications operation and watched it grow into 18 branches spanning the country - literally from coast to coast. 

When Paul decided it was time to leave California and return back to his family in the Midwest, he approached his sister Faye about helping him run the St. Louis branch of Coast to Coast.

Faye jumped at the chance to be part of the Coast to Coast team and, having worked in the banking industry before this venture, reached out to her good friend and former co-worker, Scott Goeddel.

Scott helped secure loans and forged a banking relationship with Coast to Coast that is still going strong today. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Many things have changed in the 35 years Coast to Coast has been in business. Gone are the days of Xerox copies, refilling copier ink manually, and having a separate machine for each job.

Copiers today are all-in-one machines allowing the user to copy, scan, print, email, fax, and more, with just one machine. Some even have the capability to run postage, fold, shred, print high resolution photos and large scale marketing materials like signs and banners. Many copiers now run off an app, connect to the cloud, and store data on shared drives.

Coast to Coast has grown from the original three employees – Paul, Faye, and salesman turned co-owner Merl Doerr, to over a dozen employees. They now have thousands of accounts with businesses across the U.S. They also transitioned from renting a four-room building to owning a 10,500 square foot building.

“When we started, we had small mom and pop businesses,” Faye said. “Now we have schools and big industries, even Fortune 500 companies.” 

The co-owners of Coast to Coast credit much of their success over the years to their ability to adapt to changing technology and their devotion to providing outstanding customer service.

“Technology will keep changing,” said Faye, “Nathan has a lot of IT and technology knowledge, we’ll change with it.”

“You’re either growing or you’re dying,” Paul added.

When a customer calls with an issue, Coast to Coast will do everything in their power to get them back up and running as soon as possible.

Everyone on staff is trained to help troubleshoot an issue, the Service Department averages 2.5 hours onsite response time, and all of their sales reps are capable of working on the machines.

Why do they put so much emphasis on keeping the customer happy?

“Everybody is a potential client for us - even in somebody’s home they have a printer,” Paul said. “Everything in life is customer relations.”

“Customer service is everything, in every business,” Faye agreed.

That shared commitment to superior customer service is one of the things they like best about State Bank.

With the majority of their staff boasting 20 plus years with the company, the owners of Coast to Coast know how to keep their customers and their employees happy.

“Our goal is to keep a customer, not just to sell them something and move on,” Christy said.

Paul and Faye are now retired – though still very much involved in ownership of the company – and have passed the reins on to Faye’s children, another brother and sister pair, Nathan Birk and Christy Muertz.

State Bank has been supporting Coast to Coast since 1989 and continues to help this business keep up with changes in technology.

“They’re very helpful,” Christy said. “We did some transitioning to do online payroll and direct deposits and I can call Angie in the bookkeeping department, and she will walk me through any issue. She is great to work with.” 

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