Goldman Recycling

Randy Pierce, president and CEO of Goldman Recycling, said he and his staff aren’t afraid to get their hands dirty in service to their customers.

“We try to be very hands on with our customers and with our staff,” Pierce said. “We wanted to make sure that we understood what we were doing first so that we could explain it to the customer. Our staff knows that we’re not afraid to dive into Dumpsters, so to speak, to do a waste analysis to see what a potential customer has.”

He and Matthew Adams, executive VP and COO, bought Goldman & Co., founded in 1921, in 2007.

Pierce’s proudest achievement is “to grow our relationship with our customers and to add new customers.”

Previously, Goldman recycled only paper products. Now, Goldman Recycling provides full-service recycling, analyzing clients’ waste stream and recycling items such as plastics, pallets and electronics, “providing a complete turnkey recycling solution for our customers.”

The service can save customers thousands of dollars that otherwise would have been spent on landfill fees.

The company’s biggest challenge is helping clients understand that recycling is not free. Costs include trucks, fuel and labor. “Recycling is good and it’s great for the environment, but there is also a cost associated with it,” Pierce said. “That cost is less than what you’re paying for a landfill, so you’re doing good, but there is a cost.”
Goldman is not Pierce and Adams’ first joint venture. They started
ShredSmart in 2004, which provides on-site document destruction. Goldman recycles what ShredSmart shreds.

Since Pierce and Adams bought Goldman, the company’s revenue has soared, rising 75 percent in 2008 compared with 2007.
As for the future: “We’re the largest Arkansas-owned and -operated recycling company in the state. I just see us getting bigger.”

Previous Honorees