With steady growth, community involvement, multiple recycling programs and facing challenges head on, the Gallegos Sanitation team works together to continue the company鈥檚 tradition of quality and customer service.
Created in 1959 as a way to help out the community of Fort Collins, CO, Edward Gallegos and his sons introduced a resourceful process for collecting the ashes from the trash residents burned鈥攚hich was the norm for waste disposal in those days鈥攁nd seized an opportunity for recycling and reuse by removing the metal and cardboard from the waste stream whenever possible. With this endeavor, Gallegos & Sons Sanitation was born. After a few years, they realized that there was an opportunity to make the collection process more efficient by purchasing the area鈥檚 first semi-automatic front-load trash truck. This came about thanks to a big snowstorm that left the community riddled with branches and debris. It was the hauling of this debris that gave Edward and his sons (Jerry, Art and Rudy) the chance to earn the funds necessary to purchase their first heavy-duty truck and dumpster containers for local businesses and restaurants.
In 1975, Edward and his sons took the next step by realizing that many businesses were filling their dumpsters with a valuable commodity鈥攃ardboard (OCC). So, they built a cardboard baling system, fed it the OCC and hauled it to Denver where they could receive payment for their efforts. In 1984, Gallegos & Sons Sanitation sold their business to Waste Management and transitioned to the existing company today, Gallegos Sanitation Incorporated (GSI) (Fort Collins, CO).
Currently, the company has more than 160 employees, 95 fleet trucks and a recycling facility for cardboard and industrial plastics plus hauling services for electronic waste, wood, yard waste, food waste, brewery grains, concrete, tires, cardboard, drywall, batteries and toner cartridges. GSI鈥檚 service area includes two of the largest (square mile) counties in Colorado – Larimer and Weld counties (approximately 580,000 population jointly), which include the towns of Ft. Collins, Loveland, Wellington, Berthoud, Mead, Firestone/Frederick, Johnstown/Milliken, Greeley, Eaton, Ault, Windsor, Read Feather Lakes, and Laporte, plus the Gallegos family also has operations in both Laramie and Cheyenne, WY.
Experiencing a Steady Growth
According Rudy Gallegos, Owner and Treasurer/Secretary, the state of the Northern Colorado (NoCo) economy has been good. 鈥淐olorado has one of the strongest economies in the country and Weld county is #1 in economic growth in Colorado. We鈥檝e benefited from the surge in construction (infrastructure, commercial and residential) and overall business growth. There are also many companies relocating to NoCo鈥攁mong these are Woodward Governor鈥檚 world headquarters, which we have secured as the contracted hauler for their new 100 acre campus.鈥�
GSI has seen that with a growing economy there comes the need to stay ahead of the innovation curve. The company supports sustainability and innovation to the community in a number of ways. One way is through their programs for Leaders in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Materials and Resources credits, as well as the Northern Colorado鈥檚 Green Building community, and by offering landfill diversion options for construction materials. Currently, there are two LEED Green Associates on staff, with four others working toward earning their accreditation. 鈥淭his LEED accreditation has provided GSI with a deeper understanding of material and resource management.听 GSI Green Building Services include recycling of materials such a metal, cardboard, wood, concrete, tempered glass, drywall; salvaging building material for reuse; and providing hard to recycle options for appliances, electronic waste and other bulk materials. We provide personalized construction waste management plans, train builders on the work site, and provide a coveted, custom waste diversion and recycle report,鈥� says GSI Sustainability Coordinator Becca Walkinshaw.
In 1996 the City of Fort Collins passed an ordinance to stimulate residential recycling by mandating haulers to 鈥渂undle鈥� trash and recycling services鈥攑roviding both services at one price (giving the fa莽ade that recycling is 鈥渇ree鈥�). This launched the culture of recycling that has become a part of the community. Yet, GSI has advanced further by creating additional recycling programs for yard waste, electronics, appliances, food waste, construction sites, community cleanups as well as enacted outreach programs, paperless billing, onboard routing systems鈥攁ll which enables the community to 鈥淐are For the Earth鈥�.听 Walkinshaw explains the reason behind these actions by noting, 鈥淲e are personally vested in the vibrancy and sustainability of our community. Our services are a convenient way for our customers to participate in environmentally and socially responsible actions.鈥�
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Internal Support Systems and Community Involvement
GSI provides internal training programs such as wellness, sustainability, safety and work-life balance. For the past five years the company has had the 鈥淕SI Walk Softly鈥� Wellness program focused on educating employees about the benefits of physical health through diet and exercise, along with improving personal wellness through seminars and challenges. Employee challenges are also held to encourage staff to operate more sustainably. The most recent challenge involved the operational staff participating in an 鈥淚nspect My Ride鈥� program that focused on optimizing efficiency through driver awareness by reducing unnecessary idle times and being consciousness of tire pressures, while the administrative and shop employees participated in the 鈥淕SI Unplugged鈥� energy reduction challenge that focused on unplugging unused electronics, installing power strips,听and turning off lights, power strips and computers when leaving. 听To ensure a culture of safety, monthly trainings are听held for all departments to teach risk management skills. GSI鈥檚 employee retention program is in collaboration with WorkLife Partnership. WorkLife is a non-profit organization that assists employees with problems they face at home by offering free and confidential resources. This helps to stabilize the workers鈥� families, build a path toward job enhancement opportunities and increase employee self-sufficiency.
The Gallegos team has also increased their level of community involvement by offering sustainability education to local schools, businesses and at large special events. Since NoCo has a very philanthropic culture, GSI created the Think Pink Cancer Awareness Program in 2011 to give customers the opportunity of donating funds to a local cancer foundation by using GSI pink carts (residentially), dumpsters and roll-offs (commercially) and portable toilets (special events). To date, the Think Pink program has donated over $13,000 to local foundations who assist local citizens with general and breast cancer issues.
Taking on Industry Challenges
Over the years GSI has always tried to meet the needs of the customers and community. Because they鈥檝e seen the area grow consistently for the past 55 years (even when the national economy was low, NoCo was steady), the company has always needed to keep the equipment and fleet in top running form. 鈥淲e鈥檝e had dedicated and hard-working employees who have stuck by us (owners) and helped to build a strong company culture,鈥� says Jerry Gallegos, GSI Owner and President.
However, he does point out that one of their greatest challenges of the past few years has been staffing, especially in the area of mechanics and drivers. 鈥淲ith the gas and oil industry growth (in Colorado and neighboring states) we have experienced a hiring void. In order to attract skilled employees we have raised our hourly compensation plans and increased our benefits packages, which has brought in some valuable personnel. We do continue to grow so every month we are looking to hire quality people.鈥� Even though most small/medium size businesses owners are experiencing the congestive hold of affordable benefits, GSI strongly believes that people are the most valuable asset and wants to provide the best they can offer in benefits packages for team members and family.
GSI also has had to deal with the industry challenges of unstable recycle markets that subsequently affect the ability to efficiently haul waste and offer sustainable service options. 鈥淲e鈥檝e seen changes to the price of cardboard for the past few years that greatly affect our efficiency and profitability. We鈥檝e seen other recycle facilities close and we can鈥檛 keep our recycle center running in the red. Customers want to recycle their cardboard so we鈥檝e tried to densify our routes along with subsequent increases to our pricing model in order to make this system work,鈥� says Walkinshaw.
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Art Gallegos, GSI Vice President, says that the challenges are worth it because in a recent survey, 66 percent of the local NoCo population felt that Gallegos Sanitation was the hauler of choice for it鈥檚 quality of service, recycling options and efforts and community involvement鈥攁nd he plans on keeping that tradition going. 鈥淭here are a lot of reasons our business has been successful and it has a lot to do with our kids working with us because they are able to take that extra step and continue to grow our business. Most of our kids starting working here at a young age; the girls were more involved inside the office, while the boys were often involved with washing trucks and the mechanical side of the business, cleaning dumpsters, etc. The future is really going to be in their hands and as they get older, educated and have families. We are so happy to see a number of family members, third-generation employees, transitioning into leadership roles within the company.鈥�
Jerry agrees, 鈥淲hen my dad started in 1959, he and I were the first ones to run the business; then my brothers joined the team. As our families got to be bigger, the company had to support us and our children. My father had the impression that the business was for all of the family and it has grown. As our kids grew up they began to take an interest and now they keep working and making things better for themselves. They have contributed a lot to this company. For example, one of my sons takes care of the computers. My other son takes care of the guys that run the trucks and the trash pickup. My third son maintains trucks. The grandkids coming up now are excited about doing this too. They get involved a lot. They are so happy to be watching what is going on. They have the privilege of being here someday and they think about doing it.鈥�
Rudy adds, 鈥淲e inherited this from our father. Even though he had a limited education, he wanted something for his children. It is like roots of a tree that are cultivated鈥攚e have our children working hard with us here and we all have an assignment in our company. When you think about the importance of keeping the company, it is extremely important because it is the future for our children and grandchildren. In addition, keeping the company in the family really keeps a loyal customer base for us because people prefer dealing with a local, family-owned company. It instills confidence in our customers because they feel they are getting a better product service because it鈥檚 local and its family owned. We have some customers that are still on our route that have been with us for 55 years.鈥�
Looking to the Future
GSI is currently looking at the potential for growth of their company and facilities. 鈥淲e鈥檝e expanded into Cheyenne, WY. We have a transfer station there and we are working on developing a recycling program as well as putting a transfer station in the Laramie area. We also purchased a route in Parker, CO, just south of Denver. Our plans are being fulfilled as far as expanding outside the area and we continuing to look at new markets. We are very proud of what has been accomplished. If my dad were still alive he鈥檇 be so happy and so proud of his whole family. We look forward to moving ahead.鈥� says Rudy.
Says Jerry, 鈥淭he future is going to be good. All of our children are going to have to be a part of this company to make it run because we are a pretty large company now. We take care of our family and employees, keeping them happy and working together as a unit and everyone does such a good job for us. All of our people are happy to work here and they would do anything to keep us going.鈥�
鈥淚t鈥檚 been 55 years since the company took its first truckload of ashes to the landfill. We are still caring for Northern Colorado by innovating better ways to be a steward of our community,鈥� says Art. 鈥淪ingle-stream recycling, special event waste services, construction recycling and a multitude of services for homes and businesses are just a few of the reasons that Gallegos is the go-to company for the 鈥榖est value鈥� in waste collection services. Caring for the earth, the community and the people. That鈥檚 what we stand for at GSI.鈥�
For more information, contact Kari Gallegos-Doering, GSI鈥檚 Marketing Department Coordinator, at (970) 484-5556 or e-mail [email protected].
Sidebar
Meet Team GSI
Gerald Gallegos, Owner and President
Jerry is the eldest of the Gallegos brothers and together they have owned and operated GSI for the past 50 years. Jerry hopes to one day write a book to relay some of the many stories about the beginnings of this business. At GSI Jerry has held the position of Route Driver, Welder and Mechanic. Jerry took the office of Company President in 1994, yet despite his duties as President he has continued to keep watch over the truck, paint and container shops.
The values of听hard-work, responsibility and excellence in customer service听are the product of modeled leadership from the three owners at GSI. Jerry has been instrumental in GSI achieving varied accolades both locally and nationally.
Arthur Gallegos, Owner and Vice President
Art is the second eldest of the Gallegos brothers. He has possessed an entrepreneurial spirit since his youth when he worked selling newspapers, setting bowling pins, loading pop trucks, and mowing lawns which lead to hauling debris. Art watched his father Edward Gallegos became a part the fabric of the Fort Collins community. Edward provided personalized waste and yard removal service creating an enterprise focused on taking care of the customer and environment. Art took his father’s initiatives and extended these values when he worked with the U.S. Forrest Service. As a tree feller, Art learned more than how to cut trees, he learned invaluable information about environmental preservation. Currently Art deals with all financial aspects of the business for GSI and Wyoming Disposal.
Art is the epitome of a true businessman at GSI. His vision for Gallegos Sanitation is to be at the environmental forefront by expanding its interests in the areas of recycling, composting, fuel technologies and providing a sustainable work environment for his employees. He views the waste industry as more than a means of providing jobs in the community and producing economic growth –听he sees it as an opportunity to positively impact the Fort Collins community for generations to come.
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Rudolph Gallegos, Owner and Treasurer/Secretary
Rudy is the youngest brother and owner of Gallegos Sanitation. For the past 40 years Rudy has worked as GSI’s Operations Manager, Sales Manager and General Manager. He also worked at Western Disposal in Boulder, Colorado where he was a Sales Associate. His experience at Western helped him to hone his organizational and sales skills.
Rudy oversees the daily operations in all facets and departments at GSI. He is a leader by example while simultaneously promoting excellence in customer service. Rudy’s expectation of excellence transfers to all employees as he听requests genuine professionalism from everyone at GSI. Rudy has emphasized integrity as a feature aspect that has set GSI apart from their competitors.
