Born: I was born June 17, 1962, in Fort Worth, Texas.
Education: I earned a diploma from Richland High School in Richland Hills, Texas. I then attended community college for part of a semester, but most of my education has been in the school of hard knocks.
Family: My wife Sydney and I have been married for 28 years, and we have three adult children—Lauren, Kayse, and Jake.
When and how did you enter the recycling industry? In 1984, I was working for my dad in the hazardous waste business in Texas, and he wanted to buy a shredder to process 55-gallon drums. He contacted Granutech Saturn Systems, and the salesman said, “If you buy a shredder, you need to get into the tire recycling business.” My dad's business partners didn’t want to be in the tire recycling business, so they bought him out, and he found other investors who were interested in tire recycling. He sent me to California to work for a tire recycler there to see if I wanted to join him in the business or not. My dad ended up buying a shredding system from that recycler, and we drove the system back to Texas and started a tire recycling business in Fort Worth named Texas Tire Disposal. For our first operation, we connected with Arnold Gachman and rented a warehouse on the site of his Gachman Metals & Recycling Co. scrapyard in Fort Worth. My wife Sydney and I established Colt Inc. in 1994 and set up our recycling operations in Scott, La. At that time, Louisiana was about to start its new scrap tire program in 1995, and we saw opportunity there.
What was it about the industry that prompted you to build a career in it? It was interesting, and it seemed similar to what we were doing in the hazardous waste business—taking material from somebody and trying to deal with it on the other side. I knew nothing about tire sizes or anything when I entered the tire recycling business, but it seemed simpler than the hazardous waste business—you’re just dealing with a tire, not 20 different chemicals. But that didn’t turn out to be true!
What have been your most rewarding professional achievements? I’m proud to be one of only a handful of people who have been in this business for so long. Tire recycling is a tough business that has had a lot of turnover. I also have found it rewarding to work with my family—my dad, my wife, my brother, and most recently my nephew. We’ve been through a lot together.
What are you passionate about? I love speed on the water in go-fast boats. My record is going 170 miles an hour in a Super Cat. Since 2020, I’ve been restoring a Super Cat that’s 50 feet long by 12 feet wide, and I’ll be taking it on the water soon. It has two helicopter turbine engines and should be able to reach 150 miles an hour.
If you could improve anything about yourself, what would it be? I have to think about that one for a minute. There’s so much I can’t narrow it down! I guess I’d say I’m a perfectionist, and that can hinder me sometimes in terms of micromanaging the business.
What do you like to do in your free time? I like to travel, especially road trips. I also like to fish and spend time with family. I have four grandkids ranging in age from 7 to 11, with another one due this year. I don’t get to spend as much time with them as I’d like.
When and why did your company decide to join ISRI and the Gulf Coast Region? My dad was always an association person. In the 1998, Colt Inc. and Emanuel Tire Co. in Baltimore formed an association—the National Association of Scrap Tire Processors—which became part of ISRI in 2001.
What ISRI and GCR leadership positions have you held so far? I’ve been president of ISRI’s Scrap Tire Processors Chapter and chair of its Tire & Rubber Division. I’ve also been a director-at-large on the ISRI national board of directors as well as a member of ISRI’s finance committee, SREA committee, and REREF committee. And I’ve served on the board for the RIOS program. I just started serving as a Gulf Coast Region leader last year when I was appointed to the GCR board as a tire recycling member.
What benefits have you received from your GCR involvement? I’ve enjoyed the business connections and friendships I’ve made, and I’ve learned a lot about many different issues. It’s interesting how the different commodities share many of the same issues, and being involved in those issues has helped our company tremendously—from the government relations issues to the safety side.
What are the major challenges facing your company and the overall recycling industry today? Markets are our biggest battle. We’ve lost a tremendous number of markets in recent years due to all the government red tape and regulatory challenges. We’ve started going backward to markets we haven’t used in many, many years. We’re having to revert to civil engineering and, for some, landfilling. We’re having to find markets for material. Other big challenges now include insurance and labor. It’s difficult to find good employees to work in our operations. We made changes to our pay and benefits for our truck drivers, so that part of the business has been more stable, but it’s still difficult to find good yard workers.
