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Client success story

Treasury modernization drives efficiency for staffing company

How Truist’s custom solutions are meeting Orange Tree Staffing’s needs for today—and tomorrow

Synopsis

Orange Tree Staffing is a staffing and recruitment firm specializing in the placement of allied health professionals and educators within public, private, and charter schools across the United States and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Founded in 2010 as a Minority and Women-Owned Business Enterprise, Orange Tree Staffing has been recognized as one of Inc. 5000’s fastest-growing U.S. companies for seven consecutive years.

In 2024, company leaders noticed that rapid growth had created operational inefficiencies. Outsourcing their invoicing, payroll processing, and accounts receivable increased costs and created duplicate tasks for staff. Read why Orange Tree Staffing chose Truist to help them bring payroll in-house, implement payroll funding solutions, improve cash flow management, and reduce payroll costs while increasing operational efficiency.

Client needs

  • Deeper access to financial tools and strategic advice tailored to Orange Tree Staffing’s unique challenges
  • A trusted, local financial partner to help bring payroll processes in-house and provide payroll funding
  • Resources for leadership training and succession planning

Truist solutions

  • Treasury system upgrades to facilitate internalization of payroll operations
  • $4.25 million working capital line of credit customized to the company’s cash flow cycle
  • Ongoing strategic and financial advice and connection to leadership training through the Truist Leadership Institute

About Orange Tree Staffing

Inside the Orange Tree Staffing office in Florida.

Headquarters: Maitland, Florida

Industry: Staffing services (healthcare and education)

Founded: 2010

Website: orangetreestaffing.com

Relationship: Truist client since 2013

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Audio description: Upbeat music begins.

Visual description: The Truist logo appears in the center of the screen in front of a purple background, then moves off-screen. New scene shows Craig Smith and Mardly R. Smith standing in front of a purple background.

On-screen text: Truist Commercial. Orange Tree Staffing.

Visual description: Scene changes to Mardly being interviewed with a purple backdrop behind her.

On-screen text: Mardly R. Smith, Founder and President, Orange Tree Staffing.

Mardly: I started Orange Tree Staffing because I wanted to build a business around therapeutic staffing to help children.

Visual description: Scene changes to show a woman teacher holding a young boy’s hand as he walks across a low bridge on a playground. Scene then changes again to Craig Smith being interviewed with a purple backdrop behind him.

On-screen text: Craig Smith, Chief Operations Manager, Orange Tree Staffing.

Craig: We’ve gone from operating in a single state, and now we’re in 30 states, including the U.S. Virgin Islands across hundreds of school districts.

Visual description: Scene changes to show a woman teacher beside a boy who is using a wheelchair and writing in a notebook. Scene changes to show a woman therapist talking with a young girl eating lunch. Scene changes to show a woman therapist helping a young girl sound out the letter “O.” Next, scene changes to Craig being interviewed.

Craig: But we didn’t know if we could keep up with the business demand that we were seeing.

Visual description: Scene changes to Mardly being interviewed.

Mardly: If we wanted to grow, we needed a partner that really believed in the purpose of what we were doing.

Visual description: Scene changes to show a woman teacher, a young boy in a standing wheelchair, and another boy in a toy car gathered together on a playground. Scene changes to show a woman teacher stooping beside a classroom desk to help a young girl follow words on a page with her finger and read aloud. Scene changes to Craig being interviewed.

Craig: Complexity is always existing in any business that is growing.

Visual description: Scene changes to show a playground where two teachers help a young girl throw a ball. Scene then changes to Craig being interviewed.

Craig: So, choosing the right partners is absolutely critical.

Visual description: Scene changes to show four people in business attire in discussion at a conference table.

Craig: And Truist got it from day one.

Visual description: Scene changes to show Craig being interviewed.

Craig: Because a lot of times our cash flow will fluctuate, so Truist gave us a line of credit.

Visual description: Scene changes to a close-up of a person signing a document. Scene changes to a woman using her laptop computer at home. Scene changes to a woman using a mobile check deposit feature on her phone. Scene changes to show a woman sorting papers while looking at a desktop computer. Scene changes to show a seated man and a standing woman consulting a desktop computer together.

Craig: But it’s not just the payroll. We’re utilizing the remote deposit capture. We’re also using their fraud management and merchant services.

Visual description: Scene shows Craig being interviewed.

Craig: So, without Truist, none of what we do can happen.

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On-screen text: Truist Commercial. Copyright 2026 Truist Bank, Member, FDIC. Truist Financial Corporation. Truist, the Truist logo and Truist Purple are service marks of Truist Financial Corporation. All rights reserved.

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Filling a classroom need with heart

When Mardly Smith founded Orange Tree Staffing, it was a one-woman operation. After years of working for a Fortune 500 staffing firm, Mardly returned home to Florida and quickly recognized a gap in the education system: Schools needed a dedicated partner to connect them with highly specialized professionals, including speech-language pathologists, occupational and physical therapists, school psychologists, nurses, and special education teachers who could make a difference in students’ lives.

For Mardly, it was the perfect opportunity to combine her background in recruiting with her passion for helping children thrive. And she planned to do it with a recruitment philosophy that was all her own.

“Our goal is to empower children of all abilities to reach their highest potential, and that starts with connecting the right hearts to the right classroom,” says Mardly. “As part of the recruitment process, I have all the recruiters pause and ask themselves, ‘Would I place this person in a classroom with my loved one?’”

That people-first mindset became the cornerstone of the Orange Tree Staffing brand. As the company responded to and won RFPs across school districts and educational systems, Orange Tree Staffing built a reputation that has helped fuel growth and foster loyalty among clients and contractors.

Mardly R. Smith, President, Orange Tree Staffing

“Some of my very first recruits still work for the company,” says Mardly. “And many of our longtime clients say they no longer feel the need to interview the candidates we recommend because they know we’ve already vetted them so thoroughly.”

Finding a partner to help navigate rapid growth

As Orange Tree Staffing scaled rapidly, Mardly wanted to ensure operations could grow alongside the company. She brought in her husband, Craig Smith, whose experience managing complex business workflows for global IT corporations made him a natural fit for the role of chief operations manager.

Craig identified opportunities to improve efficiency and reduce costs, including bringing payroll operations in-house. At the time, Orange Tree Staffing was outsourcing invoicing, payroll, and payroll funding. That structure had worked well when the company was smaller, but it no longer aligned with the organization’s growth and long-term vision.

“There comes a point where the intersection of outsourcing and growth becomes an impediment,” says Craig. “So, we began to study what it would take to bring those processes in-house.”

Internalizing payroll would allow the company to shorten receivable days and gain greater control over late payments to ensure a better experience for their contractors. It would also save the company money by eliminating service fees. But Orange Tree Staffing needed a financial partner to set up the treasury technology they would need—and the payroll funding to support it.

Orange Tree Staffing had opened a checking account with Truist in 2013 but hadn’t taken advantage of the bank’s deeper commercial banking resources until they met relationship manager Robert Suchor in 2024. “They really needed a bank with the ability to evolve with them as they grew and their needs changed,” says Robert.

Craig discussed his goals with a few banks but found that Robert’s experience and attention to detail were the best fit for Orange Tree Staffing’s needs. “We knew that this was going to be a multiyear relationship,” says Craig. “We were taking it very seriously, and we felt like Robert took it as seriously as we did.”

Building efficiency through treasury and payroll modernization

Robert enlisted the help of Truist’s treasury team to ensure Orange Tree Staffing had the technology they needed to run payroll in a way that best fit their needs.

“We weren’t just providing the basics,” says Robert. “We thought strategically about what can go wrong when you’re running payroll. What services could we provide that could be a real lifesaver at relatively minimal cost?”

One of those was same-day ACH, which can help ensure contractors still get their checks if something is miscoded.

“We used to have to fill out paperwork and submit it to the vendor if a contractor forgot to put in their hours for a day,” says Mardly. “I love that we can do things on the same day that we couldn’t before.”

We used to have to fill out paperwork and submit it to the vendor if a contractor forgot to put in their hours for a day. I love that we can do things on the same day that we couldn’t before.
—Mardly R. Smith, President, Orange Tree Staffing

Since the payroll system went live, Craig says the results have been dramatic. “We cut the cost of managing payroll by two-thirds, but I think the most important thing is that we’re more agile,” he says. “We’re no longer duplicating efforts by entering information into our system and then into the third-party system. Now it’s all in one.”

The new payroll system also helped Orange Tree narrow the time gap between invoicing and payroll, optimizing cash flow. By streamlining workflows and reducing manual effort, the new efficiencies have freed up valuable time for employees to focus on strategic priorities, enhance accuracy, and deliver greater overall operational effectiveness.

“We’re future-proofing the business,” says Craig. “We want to make sure that over the next five to 10 years, we’re building a business that’s able to maintain simplicity and efficiency.”

We cut the cost of managing payroll by two-thirds, but I think the most important thing is that we’re more agile.
—Craig Smith, Chief Operations Manager, Orange Tree Staffing

Structuring capital around a seasonal business

Bringing payroll in-house was only one part of the efficiency equation for Orange Tree Staffing. The company also needed payroll funding to cover employee wages without having to wait for client payments. Because they serve school districts, Orange Tree’s business winds down in the summer months, making cash flow and accounts receivable tight during that period.

Other banks offered them a borrowing base tied to their accounts receivable. But that structure didn’t fit with the company’s unique cash flow cycle. Robert understood that and instead offered a $4.25 million working capital line of credit that isn’t tied to a borrowing base. Orange Tree Staffing can bring their line of credit down to a zero balance in the summer and still have access to funds when the school year begins.

“The time they really need to access a line of credit is in the ramp-up in August and September, before they’ve started receiving payments from clients but after they’ve already started staffing,” says Robert. “Under a borrowing base, they wouldn’t have access to that liquidity because they would have minimal to no accounts receivable in August.”

Craig says Robert’s ability to offer a funding solution that fit Orange Tree Staffing’s unique needs was a critical factor in their choice to work with Truist. “Robert was the only one who came to us with a different type of proposal,” he says.

When you understand the business and all the lives they’re impacting, it’s a really powerful thing for us to be able to help them.
—Robert Suchor, Truist Relationship Manager

Building for the future

Craig Smith, Chief Operations Manager, Orange Tree Staffing; Robert Suchor, Truist Relationship Manager; Mardly R. Smith, President, Orange Tree Staffing

That focus on understanding a client’s unique needs and tailoring solutions to fit is a key element of the Truist Business Lifecycle Advisory approach. Since Orange Tree Staffing is in the growth stage, Robert understood their need to create efficiencies to deal with that growth. But by paying attention to their goals, he also recognized that Mardly and Craig are also planning for a transition in five to seven years.

“I believe Robert embodies the same people-first mindset that we strive for at Orange Tree Staffing,” says Mardly. “Because he really listened to us, he knew we didn’t want to sell this company and that we had a succession strategy in mind. He was the only one who spoke about that in a way that meant something to us.”

When he learned that Mardly and Craig plan to give their sons ownership of the business, Robert connected them with a Truist Wealth advisor, who introduced them to the Truist Leadership Institute. One of the couple’s sons has attended training there to help prepare him for a leadership role. And Robert continues to help Mardly and Craig fine-tune what the transition process will look like for them.

“We’ll look at things like how much ownership to transition and the most efficient way to do it,” says Robert. “Part of that is understanding Mardly and Craig as people and knowing where their passions lie and what drives them. When you understand the business and all the lives they’re impacting, it’s a really powerful thing for us to be able to help them.”

The results

  • Orange Tree Staffing cut the cost of managing payroll by two-thirds and created operational efficiency that increased agility and optimized working capital.
  • In addition to transition planning, Robert supports Orange Tree Staffing as they focus on future objectives, such as liquidity strategy and creating a foundation to benefit communities.

How your business can get there

Mardly R. Smith, President, Orange Tree Staffing

Mardly’s advice: “As your business grows, it becomes increasingly difficult for you to oversee everything. It’s important to know your strengths and how to focus them on the right priorities. Then, have the confidence to bring in partners and colleagues that you can trust to handle the parts of the business where their strengths lie. Everyone contributes when you work together as a team.”

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