The Client

The Y is a cause-driven organization focused on three key areas: youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility. It believes a strong community can only be achieved when it invests in its kids, its health, and its neighbors. Its programs, services, and initiatives enable youth to realize their potential; offer families ways to have fun together; empower people to be healthier in spirit, mind, and body; welcome and embrace newcomers; and help foster social responsibility.

Locations
Equipment Refreshes Each Year

Business Impact

Because Meridian has a team of equipment experts and is vendor-agnostic, CFO, Anne Porter, was able to easily track and manage all her equipment across all asset types and all facilities. As a leading independent lessor in the US, Meridian provided 100% transparency and was able to deliver flexibility across all lease types and terms. From collaborating with their equipment suppliers and making sure the right equipment arrived at the right time, to consolidating lease schedules, Meridian has allowed YMCA to focus on what matters most to them: serving and caring for the members of their community.

I find the Meridian team has a very strong breadth of knowledge across a lot of different technology solutions.

Bruce Caudill

Vice President of IT

The Challenges

The lack of transparency had been a major problem with previous leasing vendors. The finance team did not have complete knowledge of their rates and terms until after the lease had already commenced. With over one million visitors entering their facilities every year, the YMCA of Pierce and Kitsap counties understood that keeping their equipment and technology current was paramount to keeping their member base coming back month after month. They needed access to the latest fitness equipment and the flexibility to upgrade and refresh that equipment when necessary. To be attentive to the frequently changing needs of their members, the YMCA wanted the latest strength and cardio machines, as well as access to workstations across their facilities and administration offices. With an ever-growing network of members, Vice President of IT, Bruce Caudill, and his team needed access to technology and technology experts that could walk alongside him to meet his needs and, most importantly, work within his budget.

How Meridian Helped

The YMCA was able to centralize all their cardio, strength, and IT equipment on a single supplement, which ultimately simplified the asset management process and reduced the time the finance team spent managing leases and leasing vendors. The YMCA wanted to be able to refresh their fitness and IT equipment to meet the needs of their members. Meridian, in partnership with their IT Group, was not only able to supply the technology and the financing for the technology, but they also provided industry experts that were able to architect, deploy and support their security, backup and compute needs. Meridian’s flexibility of terms and lease types, and their level of responsiveness meant that the YMCA could focus on building and supporting incredible programs for the hundreds of thousands of community members they serve.

I have truly valued the relationship that I have with Meridian. I will continue using an independent leasing company versus a captive.

Anne Porter

Chief Financial Officer

Related Videos

  • 01 - Case study: YMCA 3:07
  • 02 - YMCA: Choosing Independent over Captives 0:38
  • 03 - YMCA: Communication 0:32
  • 04 - YMCA: Elevating the Customer Experience 0:39
  • 05 - YMCA: Finance Options 0:31
  • 06 - YMCA: Flexibility 0:40
  • 07 - YMCA: Hyperconverged Solutions 0:37
  • 08 - YMCA: Meridian is Vendor Agnostic 0:31
  • 09 - YMCA: Responsiveness 0:23
  • 10 - YMCA: Vendor Collaboration 0:32
  • 11 - YMCA: Lease Consolidation 0:44
  • 12 - YMCA: MCAP 0:52
  • 13 - YMCA: Working with Meridian 0:32

Case Study