Northern Nevada Business Weekly: Tell us about Leach Logistics and your job.
Greg Leach: Leach Logistics was founded in 1984 by my dad and myself. We started out as a transportation company then added warehousing, packaging, blending and milling. Today we are the only company that does what we do with dehydrated foods. We can mill, package, source raw materials, sterilize it and ship it to the end user. As president my day-to-day duties include financing and sales.
NNBW: How did you get into this profession?
Leach: After school when I had met my obligation with Albertson’s, I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to do, so I went to work with my dad in the transportation side of it.
NNBW: Is this the career you envisioned?
Leach: Not at all, never. I figured I would be in the grocery business.
NNBW: Did the recession impact your operations, and if so, what strategies did you put in play to counter those difficult times?
Leach: We leaned the company out and got real aggressive on the marketing side by going after new business and new opportunities. We expanded by adding global sterilization and fumigation. We also bought into Fire Puck.
NNBW: Tell us a little bit about Fire Puck.
Leach: It is a matchless fire starter, and we have finally found ingredients we could source consistently. Right now it is in Sportsman’s Warehouse and Scolari’s, and online at Amazon.com. We are working with a strategic partner to put it in about 1,000 stores in the upper East Coast.
NNBW: What else is new at Leach Logistics?
Leach: We are opening a bulk packaging plant in partnership with a company called Biosafe. They are expanding their operation West. We have never been in the “wet” side of business, so this will be our first endeavor, and we are pretty excited about it.
NNBW: You have pretty specialized food processing and handling operations — has it been difficult finding staff that understands your company’s needs?
Leach: The problem with Nevada is that there are not many food manufacturers. There are just a few companies, and each company does something different. The labor pool here is very low. We spend a lot of time training people because there is no one that knows food.
NNBW: What was your first job?
Leach: I was a bag boy at Albertsons.
NNBW: What’s the best advice anyone ever gave you?
Leach: Work for tomorrow and live for today — my dad.
NNBW: What are your favorite hobbies or pastimes? How do you spend your time away from work?
Leach: I love the outdoors, hunting, fishing and camping. I also coach Little League. I am a firm believer in investing time in your kids.
NNBW: What did you dream of becoming when you were a kid?
Leach: A fireman or a policeman.
NNBW: If you could hang on to just one memory for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Leach: Vacationing in Belize with my wife and kids.
NNBW: What’s the last concert or sporting event you attended?
Leach: A Reno Aces game on July 3. We had a luxury box.
NNBW: Where’s your idea of a perfect vacation?
Leach: Ten days scuba diving in Belize. We just got back from the Virgin Islands for eight days, and the scenery was great but the scuba diving wasn’t nearly as good.
NNBW: Why did you choose a career in northern Nevada? What do you like most about working/living here?
Leach: I love Nevada. I love the high mountain desert as much as I love the Sierras. You can be out of town in five minutes, and you can’t beat that.
Know someone whose perspective you would like to share with NNBW readers? Email reporter Rob Sabo at rsabo@nnbw.biz or call him at 775-850-2146.
