A small firm with a long memory of this valley
Birch & Elm Consulting was founded in 2009 in Youngstown, Ohio. We have stayed deliberately small so that the person who studies your business is the person who fixes it.
Founded on Little Street, and still here
Birch & Elm began with a single client — a 40-person fabricator that was profitable on paper and running out of cash every February. Sixteen years later we have completed more than 240 engagements without ever opening a second office or hiring a sales team. Work has come from referrals, chamber introductions and clients who moved to a new company and called us again.
The name comes from the two trees that shade the lot on Little Street. It is not an acronym and it does not stand for anything clever. Neither does our method: look closely, count carefully, write it down, and stay until it works.
We hold no software partnerships, accept no vendor commissions and publish our fee ranges. That independence is the product. If the honest answer is that you do not need a consultant, we will say so and send you on your way with the two-page version for free.
Who you will be working with
Steve Lee
Steve spent fourteen years in plant management across two Ohio manufacturers before founding Birch & Elm in 2009. He leads every engagement personally, runs the on-site diagnostics, and writes the findings himself. Certified in lean practice; former board member of a regional manufacturers' association. He can usually be reached on his cell by the second ring.
Operations & data
Our associate practice handles time studies, data extraction, dashboard construction and the unglamorous counting that makes a diagnostic credible. Two associates support the firm, both based in the Valley.
Specialists on call
For safety, quality systems, employment matters and tax questions we bring in trusted local specialists rather than pretending to be them. You are told who they are and what they cost before anyone is engaged.
Five rules we do not break
Go and see, first
No recommendation leaves this office that was not preceded by time on the floor. Interviews alone produce plausible nonsense.
Attach a number to everything
Hours, units, dollars. If a proposed change cannot be quantified, it goes at the bottom of the list, clearly marked.
Fixed fees, written first
You approve a scope and a price. Overruns are our problem, not yours.
No products, no commissions
We sell hours of thinking. Nothing else. Ever.
Leave the client independent
An engagement that creates dependence has failed. Documentation, training and handover are part of every scope.
The short version
“Sixteen years of clients and not one of them found us through an advertisement. That is either good work or good luck, and we would rather assume it is the first and keep earning it.”
Memberships & community
- Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber member
- Volunteer mentor, regional small-business development programming
- Annual pro-bono engagement for one Valley nonprofit
- Guest lecturer on operations management at local workforce programs
Let's look at the numbers together
A first conversation costs nothing and takes about thirty minutes. Bring one problem that keeps resurfacing — a late shipment, a bottleneck, a report nobody trusts — and we'll tell you honestly whether we can help and roughly what it would take.