Some business stories are more than growth. They’re about roots, family, and coming full circle. That’s exactly what the Marshall location means to Sweetman Sanitation.
Early Roots in Waste Management
Ray, co-owner and president of Sweetman Sanitation, was only 13 when he got his start with Curry Sanitation. Back then, recycling looked a little different, customers set out laundry baskets, and Ray rode the recycling truck and trailer to collect them. He also washed trucks, learned how to change oil, and even practiced welding dumpsters.
It wasn’t just work. Ray remembers the camaraderie: riding on the back of trucks with the crew, playing cribbage after work, and eating popcorn together. Even in high school, Ray’s path was clear, when others decorated tractors for homecoming parades, he decorated a garbage truck.
Marshall Then and Now
By 2001, Ray was working the Marshall site with Curry Sanitation several days a week. When Curry won the recycling contract in Lyon County, Ray was part of the crew helping route those new stops. Marshall grew quickly, adding service areas like Lynd, Hendricks, and Cottonwood.
Not long after, Waste Management purchased Curry Sanitation. For Ray, the memory of those routes never left. Nearly 20 years later, when Sweetman Sanitation purchased the Marshall operation from Waste Management, it wasn’t just another expansion. It was personal.
From Waste Management Back to Family-Owned
Purchasing the Marshall location from Waste Management brought Ray’s journey full circle. “It was almost 20 years on the dot from when I first helped route those same stops as a kid,” Ray recalls. The acquisition made strong business sense, too, many of the Marshall stops overlapped Sweetman’s, increasing efficiency and sustainability.
But on a personal level, it was deeply meaningful. The route where Ray first learned the ropes now belongs to the family-owned company he and his team built from scratch.
Building a Legacy with Sweetman Sanitation
Ray always knew this industry was his calling, but he didn’t do it alone. Starting Sweetman Sanitation took trust, faith, and family. From buying used dumpsters and fixing them up to landing major municipal contracts, Sweetman Sanitation has grown one step, and one customer, at a time.
The Marshall route acquisition is more than business growth. It’s proof that persistence, community focus, and a love for the trade can carry you from riding the back of a recycling truck at 13 to running a successful family-owned company decades later.
