Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/540088
1 2 | BULLDOG | 2 0 1 5 V 2 The dedication of the employees and management team have made the North Charleston company the largest inde- pendently owned waste hauling entity in the state, Fennell says. It's been organic growth, building upon lessons learned from the Fennells' previous business, Fennell Container Company, which was founded in 1973 and sold to competitor Republic Services in 1995. They started Carolina Waste "from scratch" and exceeded Fennell Container's revenues in half the time. The company now employs 125 people, including approximately 70 drivers, with annual reve- nues of more than $25 million. It operates throughout coastal South Carolina. Carolina Waste's services are split into three divisions: Carolina Waste, Carolina Processing & Recycling, and Carolina Landfi ll. Carolina Waste handles trash pickup for 15,000 residential homes, 4,000 commercial entities and 500 construction customers. They also collect trash for a number of local municipalities, including the City of Charleston. As customers launch green initiatives, Carolina Waste has expanded to meet those opportunities by gathering, collect- ing and sorting through light, dry waste materials at its Carolina Processing & Recycling facility. It separates concrete, bricks, blocks, metals, cardboard, plastic, tires and wood, grinding what it can and transporting the rest to the company's own landfi ll. The company handles more than 800 tons of material each day. Recycling has become increasingly popular and makes up 15 percent of the 250,000 tons of light, dry waste materials Carolina Waste col- lects and processes each year. As more companies move toward zero-waste initia- tives, Fennell sees great opportunity for vertical growth. Three on-site grinders stay busy, with one grinding more than 400 tons of wood per month for reuse. "Grind, shred and destroy," Fennell says. "If a client asks us to recycle an item, we don't ever tell them no. We fi nd a way to make it happen." People are the backbone of the com- pany, and Fennell says he does every- thing he can to ensure employee satisfaction, safety and service. He believes in offering competitive pay and benefi ts but also reaches out by holding monthly safety meetings where he shares industry information and asks employees for their input. "I try to instill the philosophy of starting the day with a good attitude, and hopefully that positive message will spill out to their interactions with our customers," Fennell says. "If you're doing your best, even if things aren't perfect, your customers will understand." AT WORK A driver at Carolina Waste & Recycling LLC reports to the weighing station. I t is a typical morning at Carolina Waste & Recycling, and the steady rumble of Mack trucks underscores Scott Fennell's words as he talks about the company he founded with his father, George Fennell, in 2002. Many of his drivers began their routes at 2 a.m. and are lining up to weigh their trucks; others are off to the back of the lot with refuse to be sorted and recycled.