Mulch Ado Family Behind TILZ Building a Legacy Brand

BY AUDREY NELSON

PHOTO BY DAVID COHEN

Aaron Crane approached his father, Tom, with a proposal in 2015.

Aaron—fresh out of landscape architecture school at Washington State University—wanted to buy the Bainbridge property then owned by Ray Peterson Bulldozing. He wanted to use the site to start a local wood-waste recycling facility and materials yard. And he wanted his dad to join him.

Tom had been looking for a way to move on from a long corporate career without truly retiring. Aaron’s proposal fit the bill. Here was a project that would keep Tom occupied, offer a way to make a little money and—most importantly— provide a chance to build a community legacy alongside family.

Tom said yes. Thus, TILZ Soils & Compost was born.

TILZ—now a fixture on Miller Road— got off the ground just a few months after Aaron brought the idea to his father. The business wasn’t originally licensed for composting. But almost immediately, the Cranes recognized an opportunity for growth. At the time, Bainbridge had no state-licensed composting facilities, and the island’s burn ban meant that people couldn’t burn their yard waste and organic matter. Anyone who wanted to get rid of that waste had to use the landfill—or drive carloads of waste off island to composting facilities in Belfair or Hansville.

The Cranes decided to apply for a composting permit, hoping to reduce emissions by offering on-island waste disposal. A year and a half ago, they received that permit and TILZ added composting to its list of services. It’s still the only composting facility on Bainbridge, and it’s become a hyperlocal one-stop shop for landscapers, construction workers and homeowners across the island.

The business model is both efficient and environmentally conscious. Aaron put it this way: “Our footprint for basically our entire business is just…5 by 13 [square] miles.” In other words, the area of Bainbridge.

Aaron admitted there was a “steep learning curve” when he and his dad decided to expand TILZ’s services. But they “got an education pretty quickly,” Tom said. Now both Aaron and Tom can rattle off TILZ’s composting process in impressive detail.

When material arrives at TILZ, Tom said, it’s first screened and separated from any lingering trash, then ground up, blasted with air and soaked with water so decomposition can progress. The waste then must be “cooked” at 130 degrees Fahrenheit, while TILZ employees carefully monitor it to avoid fires. The waste typically decomposes in TILZ’s outdoor facility for up to two to three months.

Once the material breaks down, it’s screened again before being turned into TILZ’s popular topdressing compost and soil mixes, which the company sells to Bainbridge residents and businesses.

The painstaking process and multiple screenings help TILZ meet one of its main goals: to provide safe, clean and welcoming service to customers. For several years, Aaron’s wife, Stacia, worked to ensure that atmosphere on the customer-facing side of things. She and Tom’s wife, Pam, headed the TILZ office, selling materials and helping people with their decisions. Although both Stacia and Pam have largely stepped away from office work, TILZ is still very much a Crane family affair. Tom, in particular, is a consistent presence around the TILZ yard and office. There are always inspections to organize, business decisions to manage and friends and neighbors to greet. Aaron is also active both on the yard and in TILZ’s off-site residential construction work.

Tom said that when he and Aaron first started building TILZ, they assumed it would be “a sleepy little business.” They couldn’t have been more wrong. But father and son are both pleased with the outsized impact they’ve made on Bainbridge.

“[We’re] doing good for [our] community and for the environment,” Aaron said. “We provide a service that everyone seems to be really appreciative of. But at the same time, it’s a way to make a living and also work with our family. And, you know, moving forward, something we could pass on to our kids.”

“I have yet to leave a service at St. Barnabas without being brought to tears by at least one hymn or piece. That only happens when the music is from an organ.”

— Parishioner Joan Collins