Having grown out of a roofing company over 10 years ago, Empire Disposal has established itself as one of the leading construction waste haulers in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex.

 

Sandra and Ronnie McGlothlin didn’t exactly plan to get into the waste hauling business. It just became a natural extension of a very successful roofing business. After getting their start in the family roofing business, Sandra and Ronnie decided that they wanted to do things their own way, and opened Empire Roofing in 1982. Starting with a group of eight employees working closely together, teamwork was key in the company from the very beginning with each person contributing to each project. Building upon the customer-focused principles used by the nation’s successful retailers, Empire Roofing completed job after job on time and on budget. Empire Roofing owes its growth to hard work and word-of-mouth promotion. As satisfied commercial and industrial customers spread the word, the business grew along with its reputation for quality. Since that time the McGlothlin’s have grown their business from eight employees and $137,000 in sales to more than 500 employees with $100 million in sales by serving industrial and commercial customers’ roofing needs. Empire has five locations in Texas including Dallas/Fort Worth, San Antonio, Houston, Austin, El Paso with additional locations in Tennessee, Florida and Mexico.

 

The Empire Roofing credo is: combine the finest products with the highest level of customer service, and do everything right the first time. “The quality of our work is superior as a result of our employee’s commitment to the company and to Sandra and I as owners. While a co-owner does a final inspection of every job site, we rely daily on each Empire Roofing employee to make the right decisions for our customers. We place great importance on professionalism and emphasize quality as well as safety in all our operations,” says Ronnie . With both of the McGlothlin’s children active in the business on a full-time basis, Empire is a multi-generational company that intends to provide exceptional service for many years to come.

 

From Roofing to Hauling

With the tremendous success Empire Roofing has experienced, Sandra McGlothlin, President of Empire Disposal and Secretary/Treasurer for Empire Roofing, quickly found that most waste haulers could not adequately service jobsites like theirs that generated such large volumes of construction debris. Empire’s commercial roofing jobs would often require a dedicated truck for as much as a month at a time to handle the volume of particularly large jobs. So they did what any good entrepreneur would do and launched a business to address an unmet need.  Empire hired drivers and purchased its own trucks and roll-off containers to handle construction debris cleanup.

 

As a result, Empire Disposal was started 11 years ago in the Dallas/Fort Worth area to handle their own construction debris removal needs as well as those of other roofing contractors that had asked them to handle waste hauling. Today, Empire Disposal is M.W.B.E. and H.U.B. certified and serves more than 6 million people; the company specializes in commercial and industrial waste removal for their own construction jobs as well as hauling jobs for other roofing contractors that require service. Large haulers can perform waste hauling more competitively, but they cannot offer the level of service that Empire Disposal can, including the highest quality and personalized service, instant dispatching for same day service, and after hour service or 24-hour service for fire, water or storm damage.  Despite the sensitive nature of doing business with competitors, Sandra is quick to point out that “Empire has been able to establish an ethical and moral separation of roofing and disposal. We get jobs based on our ability to service customers.  It’s not just about who submits the lowest bid.” Empire Disposal is also sure to take care of their recycling material at job sites, setting out several dumpsters for wood, metal, paper and taking the recyclables to the appropriate local recycling facilities.

 

 

Challenges

Like many successful entrepreneurs, Sandra and Ronnie do not have formal business training.  “We learned a great deal through working in the family business and through subcontracting work prior to starting Empire Roofing.  We watched how others ran their businesses and ultimately learned a lot by just doing it,” Sandra admits. Fortunately, when the economy hit a hard time, Empire Disposal was not much affected by the changes. Although, the slow economy did affect the new construction and anything Empire Disposal did for general contractors, the company managed to keep a steady workload, even getting busier with rehab work. “We especially focus on maintaining our relationships with the roofing contractors in this area and, as a result, we do a lot of their trash with re-roofing jobs, so we stay really busy with that type of a contractor,” says Sandra.

 

However, that does not mean that Empire Disposal is free of challenges. The big one that they constantly face is to get quality CDL drivers. Sandra points out that even though you can get drivers, sometimes they are just not as conscientious about their driving, safety and taking care of Empire’s equipment. “We have a supervisor that sits with new drivers for a long period of time and does some training. You can tell pretty quickly whether or not these new drivers are going to do things the Empire way, such as keeping within the speed limit. We have tracking systems on our trucks so we know how fast they are going.” Other things we look at are their commitment to the job and if they like being at our company. We want them to happy with their place of employment,” says Sandra.

 

Another challenge includes complying with the changing regulations on a continual basis. As a result of more government agencies and bureaucracy, it takes time to get everything right. However, Empire works closely with their insurance company, follows the trade magazines and Web sites, as well as leans on vendors to help keep them informed of what is required in the industry.

 

Keys to Success

According to Sandra, one of the keys to success is working with knowledgeable people that can provide guidance in areas like finance and legal matters. Additionally, hiring the right people and treating them well is also important. “We’re here for the relationships and for the long-term,” Sandra said. This includes giving a Rolex to every 10-year employee.  So far, she estimates, they have given out about 80 watches throughout the whole company. One person in particular she wants to recognize is Wayne Wooten. “He has been with Empire Disposal for 11 years, starting as a driver and now he does all the sales and manages the drivers.  People like Wayne really take care of our businesses; we could not do it without him.

 

Learning from the pros such as having a knowledgeable equipment manufacturers’ sale representative or dealer can really help. For example, Empire Disposal uses Galbreath Hoists  and Freightliner Trucks. “We look for vendors that provide the best products and services. When we need something repaired, it has to be done quickly because we cannot afford to be down for long. To have a relationship like that with vendors that provide quality product and quality service is huge. We don’t take it lightly,” said Sandra. “In addition, we hire people that have true knowledge, that are educated and that have done things in the industry that I haven’t—they help me run these businesses.”

 

One of these great resources that Empire Disposal uses on a frequent basis is a third-party company to do in-house training. “We have used ESE to handle training for about 10 to 15 years. They check our sites, they follow our drivers, they give weekly training, keep up with employee and equipment certification, and make sure we are always doing what we need to do. ESE is really important to us because they bring this safety and training to our company, therefore, giving everyone access to the information. They are always available. They show up and they do great training. Our guys have come to trust ESE and like them, and our people reach out to them to run problems past them to handle situations. ESE goes to the job sites as needed, talks to the clients if needed and we’ve found that even our clients appreciate that even more,” says Sandra.

 

Another key to a successful business, according to Sandra, is to become actively involved in industry associations. Sandra has been the president of several state and local organizations, including serving as the only female chairperson of the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Through this and other organizations, Sandra has established a number of relationships that have proved critical to the success of Empire Roofing. “We do a lot for the community. Currently, we are hauling trash and debris for a new facility of Lena Hope Home. They provide prevention, early intervention, counseling and education services to meet the behavioral health needs of children and families. Republic Landfill is providing the landfill charges for this project—which will be approximately 60 loads. We are proud of our relationship with our vendors, they are always eager to partner with us on these types of projects.We also set out bins for any event or organization that focuses on women or children, churches, private schools, etc. We’ll do whatever we can to help with our community.”

 

Empire Disposal has even participated in an episode of Extreme Home Makeover in January 2006, working with a crew from start to finish to complete the Marshall Family home in one week. “It was fast and furious, just like you see on the show. People are working 24/7 and there is a lot of planning involved. We had one of our employees there the whole time helping where he could, moving the dumpster where needed, dumping when needed, etc. It was a very neat project and well worth it. For all of those involved, I think it made a difference in their life. It was a great experience for myself and for my company,” says Sandra.

 

Looking Ahead

As Sandra looks towards Empire Disposal’s future, she is happy with where things stand now and she plans on doing exactly what the company has done for the past 30 years—maintain quality customer service and perform quality work. With regards to the company’s growth, she stresses that it depends on how the economy goes and how busy they get. “We are always updating our equipment and making sure that we have some of the best out there. However, if we get busier, we will absolutely think about adding more equipment. At this point, between Empire Roofing and Empire Disposal we are close to 500 employees, so 500 families depend on Empire to keep on selling quality service and doing quality work.”

 

For more information, contact Sandra McGlothlin, Empire Roofing and Empire Disposal at (817) 572-2250 or via e-mail at Sandra@empireroofing or [email protected].

 

Charities and Awards

 

Charities

Boys & Girls Club

Cowtown Brush Up

Fort Worth Parade of Lights

Habitat for Humanity

Historic Handley Street Festival

Latin Fest

Mainstreet Art Festival

The Marshall Family Extreme Makeover Home Edition

MúsicArte de Fort Worth

Women’s Center

 

Awards

2006: Golden Hammer Award

Presented by KPost Company In Recognition of Empire Disposal’s Participation in the Outstanding Commercial Roofing Project – The Recoating of Texas Stadium

 

2004: A Rising Star Small Business of the Year

Presented by Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce In Recognition of Empire Disposal’s Outstanding Small business Practices

 

2004: Clear Channel Outdoor Excellence in Business Award

Presented by Clear Channel Outdoor In Recognition of Empire Disposal’s Achievements & Success

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