Company Showcase
Founded in 2020 by owner-operators Andrew Smyre and Chris Johnson, Tuscarora Grain Company is a regional organic grain trading and logistics platform based in Pennsylvania. Built on deep market relationships, the Company specializes in matching buyers and sellers in bilateral organic grain markets while providing integrated logistics, storage, and transportation services.
Over time, the business expanded its footprint to include farming operations alongside trading and logistics. While this integration supported growth during strong market conditions, it also increased operational complexity and balance sheet risk. By mid-2025, two consecutive bad harvests, combined with limited financial visibility, placed the business at a critical inflection point.
Partnering With Saorsa Growth Partners
Saorsa Growth Partners first engaged with Tuscarora Grain during a period of mounting financial strain and operational opacity. Losses in the farming division, delayed billing from counterparties, and limited forward visibility was starting strain relations with their lender.
The immediate risk was clear: without decisive action, the business faced continued cashflow pressure and the possibility of lender intervention. Rather than pursue short-term fixes, Saorsa partnered with management to design and execute a disciplined 12-month stabilization and risk-reduction plan, one focused on preserving the core trading and logistics platform while restoring balance sheet resilience.
Stabilizing the Business Through Financial Clarity & Risk Management
The foundation of the engagement centered on creating transparency, discipline, and predictability across the business.
Advanced Financial Modeling & Forecasting
Saorsa built and manages a three-statement, monthly financial model tailored to Tuscarora Grain's trading, logistics, and capital structure. This model became the backbone for decision-making, lender communication, and risk management.
- Clear Cash Flow Visibility: Monthly forecasts and rolling liquidity analysis clarified working capital needs and RLOC utilization drivers.
- Scenario Planning: Management gained the ability to stress-test outcomes under varying volume, pricing, and timing assumptions.
- Ongoing FP&A Cadence: Monthly variance analysis and weekly financial check-ins ensured issues were identified early rather than after the fact.
- Bank Reporting: Restored lender confidence through fundamentals based modeling to present the financial outcome from the company's efforts.
Formal Risk Reduction Planning
Working alongside management, Saorsa helped identify the true sources of risk and executed a plan to contain them:
- Shutdown of the Unprofitable Farming Division: Given the operational complexity, asset base of equipment, and consecutive poor harvests, the team moved swiftly to shut down the farm to focus on the core, profitable, trading and logistics business.
- Asset Sales & Deleveraging: Structured an orderly liquidation of farm assets to pay down equipment debt and the RLOC.
- Cost Optimization: Beyond the farm, Saorsa and the team identified opportunities to reduce expenses, such as insurance and improving working capital strategy to reduce interest.
Weekly Planning, Operational Discipline & Leadership Coaching
Beyond financial restructuring, Saorsa's role expanded into execution support, bridging the gap between strategy and day-to-day operations.
Weekly Planning & Risk Management Sessions
Saorsa instituted a recurring cadence of weekly planning and risk management meetings, focused on:
- Working capital and liquidity tracking
- Trading exposure and inventory positioning
- Operational bottlenecks and exception management
- Short-term decision alignment across leadership
This rhythm tightened feedback loops and shifted the organization from reactive problem-solving to proactive management.
Bank Readiness & RLOC Renewal
As stability improved, Saorsa supported management through lender communications and documentation, ensuring credibility and confidence at every step.
- Bank-Ready Reporting: Developed divisional P&Ls, KPI dashboards, and working capital reporting aligned with lender expectations.
- Risk Reduction Memo & Compliance Plan: Prepared formal documentation outlining the path to RLOC compliance, collateral coverage, and debt paydown.
- Ongoing Lender Confidence: Maintained structured updates through execution, reinforcing transparency and accountability.
Outcome: The Company successfully renewed its RLOC and is now executing against a clearly defined plan to stabilize operations and avoid a recurrence of similar financial stress.
Building a Durable Operating Platform
With immediate risk addressed, the partnership is shifting toward building a business capable of performing across market cycles.
Saorsa continues to support Tuscarora Grain by:
- Reinforcing operational discipline and ownership
- Improving data quality and performance visibility
- Supporting leadership transitions and capacity planning
- Evaluating future investments for after deleveraging milestones are met
The focus is no longer growth for growth's sake, but durability, creating a grain logistics and trading platform that generates consistent free cash flow and withstands volatility.
A Turning Point for Long-Term Value
The partnership with Saorsa Growth Partners transformed a high-risk moment into a controlled reset. Through financial modeling, hands-on execution support, and disciplined risk management, Tuscarora Grain is successfully stabilizing its balance sheet with renewed lender confidence and regained control of its finances.
Today, the Company is operating with greater clarity, tighter execution, and a forward-looking plan designed to prevent the conditions that led to prior stress. Saorsa remains actively engaged as a strategic partner, focused on execution, resilience, and long-term value creation rather than short-term optics.