Community Profile: Family business rolling along
by Janine Giordano |
Some of Mike Wheelock’s best childhood memories are of times spent with his dad, Ward, riding shotgun in his dad’s truck Saturday mornings. “I worked with him as a kid,” Wheelock recalled. “I’d ride with him in his garbage truck instead of staying home watching Saturday morning cartoons. It impressed me when I finally got a raise to $2 a day.” Throughout the last seven years, it was these heaps of childhood memories on which Wheelock and his wife, Sharlene, built their family business. Despite increasingly stringent regulations and guidelines regarding solid waste management, the Wheelocks have managed with their team of 14 employees to grow the business. “And grow, and grow and grow,” he added. Today, they service about 4,200 customers in an area that spans three counties, Herkimer, Otsego and Oneida. The residents, commercial businesses and institutions they serve are located as far north as Westmoreland, as far south as Edmeston, and from as far east as Cherry Valley to Winfield further west along Route 20. That’s a far cry from the 700 customers they handled in just 25 hours a week when they first started. In the last 35 years, Wheelock has gone from riding in his father’s only truck to owning a fleet of 14 garbage vehicles. He went from collecting trash with his dad to managing a business that must deal with environmental issues, changing regulations, increasing costs and fees and lots of politics. He has taken his father’s dream and turned it into a solid reality. In addition to providing a disposal service for any non-hazardous wastes, Wheelock also collects recyclables and provides a roll off service. The carts, his wife explained, can be used for residential or commercial clean ups, and vary in size from 10 to 30 yards. This is the second time Wheelock has owned a disposal business, after taking a break for a few years. In 2000, after working for others in the business, Wheelock decided to start up the family business again. In addition to Wheelock, his wife and their friend, Mel Gazzilla, their son also works part time for the company. “Word of mouth has helped us build the business back up again,” he said. They also bought some residential stops from their competition. And growth is a vision for the future. “I don’t see us doubling in the near future, but I do see us expanding over the next 10 years,” he said. Times have changed since his dad sat behind the wheel, Wheelock said. In those days, recycling was not an issue, and today he estimated that 75 percent of his customers recycle. Back in the ‘70s, landfill space was not a high commodity. Today, carters can spend up to $100 a ton to drop off collected refuse. He sees challenges up ahead, but some of the obstacles are unavoidable, like rising gas prices. Increasingly strict Department of Transportation guidelines regarding the trucks and drivers keep Wheelock alert. Recently, Herkimer and Oneida opened a new landfill, which reduced carter fees, which helped stabilize fees in the Herkimer/Oneida area. With this in mind, Wheelock looked hopeful. “If they do that again, we can look at a possible fee decrease next year. We have to stay competitive with our prices.”
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