Prineville-based Geomembrane Containment Company Rebrands for Growth
BTL Liners has been in business since 1981, when the company was Bend Tarp and Liner and served as a Bend-based tarp fabricator. First serving the trucking industry, the company evolved into the pond and lake liner business, featuring its unique line of tarp, cover and liner materials. BTL helped develop the now widely used reinforced polyethylene (RPE) liner material.
BTL Liners has a solid history in Central Oregon. Since moving the company from Bend to Prineville in 2007, to its new 83,300-square-foot building within the Tom McCall Industrial Park, BTL has integrated with the Crook County community, which has origins in agriculture, forest products, the railroad and manufacturing. In addition to bringing family-wage jobs to Prineville and surrounding Crook County, the company stays engaged with the local community.
Community involvement is a passion BTL shares with its employees and neighbors. The company is involved with community and charitable events throughout Central Oregon, including those that support the athletic department in Crook County, as well as staying involved with Crook County High School and Crook County Chamber of Commerce.
Outside of Prineville, BTL contributes to Eastmont Community School, where several of its employees’ children attend, and is involved in Economic Development for Central Oregon (EDCO) and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Central Oregon.
BTL sees itself as a do-er. In 2010, the company jumped in to make oil containment booms for the spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico.
“We had a glut of inventory we’ve been sitting on in shipping containers for a few years following that spill. So last year we began donating the materials for local use,” says Jared Santoro, Vice President and General Manager of BTL Liners.
BTL donated tens of thousands of dollars worth of materials to various children’s summer camps throughout the area, as well as to the Ochoco Irrigation District. BTL believes in and advocates for donating products for use in Central Oregon.
A New Marketing Agency, A Refreshed Brand
As BTL quickly approached one billion square feet of fabricated and installed RPE liners, it became apparent that a company of its size and workload required a marketing company that fit with its needs and values. Mid 2015, BTL began researching new marketing companies. After vetting multiple firms both locally and nationally, BTL found Bend-based marketing agency, Savy Agency. BTL needed an agency that could build a new website, manage its social media and create engaging marketing content.
Their new partnership first resulted in a new logo and branding for the company.
“We hadn’t considered a rebrand of our logo of 20 years, but one of the designs presented brought an overwhelming response from our team, and it was this logo that became the cornerstone of our company’s new brand,” said Santoro.
“With the ability to meet face-to-face with the Savy team and work together on any aspect of our marketing and branding, we feel Savy was the right choice,” says Santoro. “We have continued to be impressed and have received more progress and support than we could have imagined prior to this partnership.”
According to both Santoro and Christina Brown, Savy’s Creative Director, BTL has already experienced a huge leap in leads, sales and engagement based on their new website, blogging and social media efforts. Savy blogs for BTL and manages the social media and marketing campaigns for the company. Where BTL used to see one to two likes on social media, the company now see 500+ likes, dozens of shares and inquires on Facebook, blogs and through their online forms and web store from all over the world.
“We are delighted to work with BTL Liners,” says Brown. “With a team of such talented individuals and a shared commitment to putting customers first, we are excited to be part of BTL’s future growth.”
Local, National & Global Growth in 2016
BTL Liners is primarily a containment company. Santoro foresees their focus to be on energy independence through oil, gas and mining on the environmental side in 2016. As an environmentally focused company, BTL has product lines that have received NSF-61 international certification for potable drinking water, providing the company avenues in pursuit of the organic agriculture, aquaponics, aquaculture and hydroponics industries.
“With a focus on our new brand coupled with the marketing reach through the work of Savy, BTL sees business continuing to grow both locally, nationally and globally,” Santoro says. “As a smaller company in the industry, BTL definitely has the advantage of being able to adapt and react quickly to changing markets. We’re ready for what the future holds for our company.”
In addition to providing RPE and reinforced polypropylene (RPP) liners for a variety of industries and applications, BTL has a division that fabricates different kinds of tarps and covers. This division focuses on greenhouses, the trucking industry and agriculture, and supplies products throughout Oregon.
“Our tarp and cover products have become a stronger focal point for our company moving into 2016. An important part of our future success is our position in the market, our ability, our 83,300-square-foot facility, and our reputation for being able to produce the largest panels in our industry.”
Along with its international growth, the company hopes to stay local, with its custom and stock tarp and cover offerings. From the hay industry in Powell Butte and Eastern Oregon to tarps for residential use throughout Central Oregon, the company’s products are well suited for local applications.
With a strong local partnership and community focus, BTL Liners has strong projections for 2016, both at home
and abroad.
BTL Liners, 3451 Empire Dr, Prineville, OR 97754, btlliners.com, 800-280-0712, 541-447-0712, www.btlliners.com
(Photo above: Back row (L-R) Karen Cunningham, Jim Johnston, Michael Baron, Julio Lainez, Brad Moores, Travis Wilcox, Ryan Buntjer, Jared Santoro, Dimas Tejada, Julie Hughes. Front row (left to right) Bradford Mathews, Jacob Haff, Nick Jacobson, Josh Wright, Ian Eldridge, Cameron Wuthrich. Not pictured: Teran Horn, Gerardo Munoz, Jim Nicholson | Photo by Christian Heeb)
