15 minute read
Industry Leader – Lakeshore Recycling Systems, Chicago IL
INDUSTRY LEADER
Lakeshore Recycling Systems, Chicago IL
Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS) is a comprehensive waste management company with 15 state-of-the-art recycling centers serving municipalities, school systems, and other public institutions throughout the Chicago metro area, greater Illinois, and Wisconsin. In 2019, the enterprise was named one of the Chicago area’s fastest-growing companies, on the renowned Crain’s Fast 50.
LRS controls nearly 2.5 million tons of waste material entering its facilities, which is around 35-40 percent of the entire stream of waste for the Chicagoland and lower Wisconsin Midwestern subregions. Of that waste volume, Lakeshore recycles or diverts about 50 to 60 percent away from routing to landfills, which is an exceptional ratio.
LRS LEADERSHIP TEAM
Lakeshore’s C-suite is manned by an impressive team of seasoned industry professionals, with strong academic and career credentials. The large and aggressively-expanding enterprise is led by Alan Handley, CEO, champion of the corporation’s growth-by-acquisition strategic model. Handley also lectures as an adjunct professor at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Before assuming his leadership role at Lakeshore in 2012,
Handley was Executive VP and CFO at Aldridge Group, a Service in Madison, WI, making LRS a bi-state waste national leader in civil contracting. management enterprise. To name just a few other top executives at LRS with The company has built an outstanding record of a high level of responsibility for the success of the service and has grown organically, but has multiplied company’s thriving portable restroom rental division: the size of the business largely through acquisitions. • Brian Tibble, CMO, came on board as VP of Business Lakeshore continues pursuing its strategy of growth by Development in 2016. Tibble handles sales team acquisition, currently targeting hundreds of potential development and strategic planning for marketing, sales, new assets. and customer experience across the temporary services Now, in December 2020, Lakeshore Recycling Systems division. has nearly 1,000 employees and generates annual • Meaghan Johnson, Director of Marketing notes revenues of about $240m, up from the $50m the that her team “wears many company had been producing hats,” referring to the fact that at the time of the 2012 merger. the extraordinarily versatile The company has LRS’s portable restroom rental professionals are fully cross- built an outstanding services line, power sweeping, trained in all the company’s and dumpster services are individually challenging skill sets record of service and all thriving divisions, and the required in each of its complex has grown organically, company is today’s largest revenue channels. independent waste hauling • Brian Grosse is Lakeshore’s VP but has multiplied the size organization in the Midwest U.S., of Portable Services, oversees of the business largely and one of the industry’s top 40 operations of all the revenue largest in the country. lines in the company’s portable through acquisitions. LRS PORTABLE RESTROOM restroom rental services, RENTAL OPERATIONS industrial, construction, and Brian Grosse, VP of Portable commercial power sweeping, and dumpster rentals. Services, started his career in the wastewater sanitation LAKESHORE’S STRATEGIC industry, went on to own his own portable restroom GROWTH MODEL rental company, and grew it into a thriving business Founded in 1999 in a merger between two companies with the kind of potential that caught the attention of in Chicago, produced the entity that later, in a 2012 Lakeshore acquisitions experts. Grosse achieved the merger, became Lakeshore Recycling Systems (LRS). dream of so many ambitious entrepreneurs, to grow a Five years later (2017), Lakeshore purchased Chicago’s business to the point that it becomes a highly attractive K Holdings company, which brought new revenue lines, asset and then have it acquired. including portable restroom rental services, dumpster Brian came on board with LRS in 2018, as part of services, and power sweeping services. Just a year the transition plan. In just these two years since that later (2018), LRS acquired Wisconsin’s largest dumpster time, the Portable Services division has maximized the provisioning and recycling company, Royal Container synergistic potential of LRS with its newly acquired
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portable restroom rental business, and the revenue line has grown it into the region’s most formidable competitor. Today, Brian oversees a vast area of LRS operations with an inventory of around 15,000 rentable units. The total inventory includes units for construction and industrial needs, special events, and other uses. (Meaghan Johnson mentioned that the company has a total of around 650 field vehicles in its company-wide fleet.) Brian comments, “During the COVID crisis, our units have been very helpful to many industrial companies, enabling them to continue operating when they otherwise may have been forced to shut down. The hand sanitizing and hand washing stations have been especially important for businesses that would otherwise probably never have rented these kinds of units.” Brian estimates that the industrial-grade portable toilets probably account for about 80 percent of the department’s inventory. The company also has a large selection of about 50 luxury restroom trailer units.
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Those include every size in the range from 1 to 10 stalls and ADA units. The remaining inventory consists of numerous hand washing and hand sanitizing stations, etc. He explains, “We serve the greater Chicago area. We also have a sister company in Wisconsin, Badgerland Portables, which we started from the ground up, and it’s growing well. In just the two short years since the company’s inception in 2018, it has become one of the largest in its area.” Brian estimated that the Portable Services division has about 33 power sweeper trucks. There’s a busy team of drivers in the power sweeping department he oversees, especially during the peak period of the year. He talked about the seasonal changes in customers’ needs for portable toilets and power sweeping services that impact his employees across the two departments of the Portable Services division. He explained, “Fall and spring are busier seasons for roll-offs and toilet rental business, and there are more
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events in summer for which those units are needed. In the fall, we have employees who work with those who move over to help with the power sweeping. “It helps keep guys working.” So, the fascinating operating mode of LRS’s unique management system in its Portable Services division is to cross-train all field services employees so well that they can seamlessly switch job roles back and forth in fall and spring. All the while, of course, they must maintain seamless professional-quality of the heavy equipment operation and care and performance of else you can think of. It’s mostly because from the very services. It’s an unparalleled operational model that founding days of our company, we set that out to be the company maintains, to accommodate the shifting our goal—that we wouldn’t sacrifice environmental seasonal demands between roll-offs, toilet rentals, and stewardship or sustainability for profit. We believe power sweeping across the LRS in that. They really aren’t service market. LRS marketing mutually exclusive—you can LRS CORE PRINCIPLE OF SUSTAINABLE OPERATION and sales team are be profitable and do the right thing for the world.” All the LRS management team fully familiar with LRS has been recognized for members we spoke with, or from whom we’ve featured comments customer needs and its world-class technology, applied in the interest of from previous interviews, here were highly focused on how the company meets sustainability. Handley is quoted in a 2019 article as sustainability as the goal that those needs in its various saying, “We’re also continually shapes everything the company does. Brian Grosse commented in divisions... looking for ways to introduce automation.” He is further a joint interview for ALW and NAS quoted in the article as saying magazines, “Sustainability is part of our core, and it’s that LRS views the matter of long-term sustainability what sets us apart from our competitors. Everything as a question of affordability, which he translates as we do is a sustainability initiative. It’s really why I think a need “to reduce the cost of recycling going in and we’ve been very successful over the last six years or so.” reducing the labor associated with it.” He offered multiple examples of processes the LRS MARKETING AND SALES company uses in its facilities to reconstitute various Meaghan Johnson explains that the LRS marketing waste products and “give it a second life” either in and sales team are fully familiar with customer needs the form of mulch or other valuable materials, to and how the company meets those needs in its various reintroduce it into the world as a reusable product. divisions, including portable restrooms, recycling, CEO Alan Handley carried the message even further power sweeping, dumpster services, etc. in his 2019 interview with Recycling Today, “We are The Lakeshore sales team is extraordinarily versatile, as very different in the market from pretty much anybody Johnson reflects, “We’re very nimble in making sure our
previously mentioned interview that there are three priorities that define the LRS company culture: 1. People — Alan explained, “We’ve spent a lot of time and focus effort and energy into really developing our people. I think it’s key to the future.” He went on to say, “It’s hard to find good, qualified talent. When we do find them, we want to make sure they have a good, meaningful career with us and that we provide an opportunity for them to grow with our company.” (2019) Brian Grosse told ALW, “We want to make sure all our employees have the tools and resources they need to succeed, and that they’re learning about the industry, sales team can cross-sell all services. For example, if a and are up to speed. Meaghan Johnson reflected, “This construction company needs power sweeping services, year (2020) has, of course, been a little different for all portable restrooms, roll-offs, those are all things we can of us (in terms of events the company normally holds take care of for them.” to express appreciation for employees and to celebrate She goes on to clarify, “So, individual achievements).” Then, whether a construction site needs something temporarily, ...the company was she went emphasized what the whole management team makes or a private homeowner wants listed among the clear is the key message of LRS’s to have a contract for routine service, or a municipality wants Best and Brightest leadership philosophy, “What makes Lakeshore succeed is to talk about street sweeping, Companies to Work For® helping the employees succeed.” all our sales employees can help them get services in place as well as receiving the 2. Safety — No matter who you speak to on the LRS C-team, to meet their needs.” Meaghan BBB’s award for ethics safety always appears to be also mentioned that the LRS Customer Service team is just as in the marketplace... top of mind. Management staff clearly sees focus on safety remarkably adroit as the sales as the company’s deepest team. core commitment. Meaghan emphasized in the joint COMPANY CULTURE AT LAKESHORE interview, “Everyone needs to know best practices, There’s much to be learned by newcomers to the safety protocols, practices, and industry standards.” portable restroom rental services industry from a study Brian Grosse reinforces that message, “We’re very of the LRS internal culture. In 2016, the company was much safety and maintenance focused. The newest listed among the Best and Brightest Companies to Work focus has been on upgrading equipment and materials, For® as well as receiving the BBB’s award for ethics in to make it safer for drivers and technicians. He reflected, the marketplace (2018). Alan Handley expressed in the “From PPE to material handling, to replacement pumps,
to changing hoses, to switching out schedules, we’re good at our preemptive maintenance. We’re more about being proactive than reactive with maintenance.” In 2017, LRS received the award for the Biggest Safety Improvement, from the Solid Waste Association of North America. 3. Innovation — In his October 2019 interview with Recycling Today, Alan Handley expounded on the LRS “culture we’ve developed of trying to be as innovative as possible, embracing new technologies, listening to our customers, and making sure that you don’t just do things the old traditional way. Our entire corporate DNA and everything we talk about is how we keep material from going to the landfill. I’m pushing to try to find end products for about everything we possibly can.” From LRS VP of Portable Services, Brian Grosse, Chicago IL Brian Grosse, “We’re a company that has grown organically and through acquisitions. With each acquisition comes new dynamics that you’re trying to put together. We do tend to blend and learn from newcomers in new collaborative efforts.” To how LRS has parlayed the synergies gained from the mutual sharing and learning between existing LRS departments and newly acquired companies merging into the Lakeshore operational system, Brian looks back, “I learned when I built my own business that anybody can go out and buy porta-potties and start a company in Chicago or Madison Wisconsin, for example. But, it’s about the level of service, the constant working goal is that people have a uniform quality of work that is expected wherever they are. It’s that our quality of service is consistent anywhere across our system that people are working. Though we’re never quite going to get that goal, the point is always to hold it as ours, and keep striving for it.”
COMMENTS ON LAKESHORE RECYCLING SERVICES
Between its portable restroom rental revenue channel, other provisioning of portables, and recycling, Lakeshore Recycling Services provides
waste management services to many thousands and partnering with organizations like the Lupus of municipal, industrial, construction, commercial, Society, and others.” and private residential customers, including the 642 The LRS company’s executive team share a deep locations in the enormous Chicago Public School devotion to the organization’s grounding beliefs in system. the above list of commitments. What also stands out As the LRS enterprise continues its steady and in talking with multiple members of this exemplary successful march to greater leadership team is a unified expansion through acquisition, message and insistence on a the organization certainly It’s truly too difficult supremely efficient and agile appears to be on track to to imagine any extent approach to everything they meet Alan Handley expressed do. Undoubtedly, this rarified goal, “to be a progressive, to which the team’s combination of exceptional recycling-first, diversion-first, efficiencies and its will and skill are to be credited customer-focused independent for the brand’s outstanding recycling and waste company, genuine and contagious reputation with the many and then be a dominant player sense of caring for people authorities on quality in the in the markets in the greater industry that has honored LRS Midwest.” and the environment could with awards for excellence Brian Grosse paints a good not reach and function in every facet of business picture of how the company operations and ethics. is achieving that, “We are an with ideal effectiveness. Based on all these factors, example of a snowball effect: it does seem that the top Brand awareness occurs when leadership of LRS is right to people are seeing one of our recycling or other units be confident in its ongoing drive to further scale on a block, and people think, “They must be doing the enterprise. It’s truly too difficult to imagine any a good job because the neighbor keeps using their extent to which the team’s efficiencies and its genuine service. Then, maybe soon they’re seeing two or three and contagious sense of caring for people and the of our units on the block, and the number can keep environment could not reach and function with ideal growing.” effectiveness. In addition to its core commitments to employee development, safety, innovation, customer experience, and its over-arching principle of sustainability, it For information about Lakeshore Recycling Services, appears fair to say that another defining quality of call (630) 377-7000 or go to the LRS website at https:// the LRS corporate culture appears to be the social www.lrsrecycles.com/. impact. As Meaghan expressed, “We’re very vocal in the community. We always love to give back as much as possible, through sponsorships,
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