RECORD OF SUCCESS LEADS BOSTON PAIR TO NEWEST OF THREE TRANSFER STATION OPERATIONS - Automobiles Repair Manuals, Workshop Manuals, Special Tools

Reliable Komatsu equipment and top service

It takes at least two things to start a business and make it a success. One is opportunity, the other is desire. Of course, there are other aspects, such as knowledge, financing and good help that you need as well, but if you have the opportunity and desire, you can usually acquire the rest. That’s how it’s worked for Ken Connolly and Steve DiFava, owners of three waste transfer companies in the metro Boston area.

Connolly grew up in the waste collection business. His grandfather started MJ Connolly back in 1918. His father, uncle and brother all ran the family business at various times, as did Ken, until he sold it to Waste Management in 1997. Steve DiFava worked for MJ Connolly as an operations manager. After the sale, both men worked for Waste Management before joining together in 1999 to start their own company, Waste Support Services.

“Two things went into the decision to go into business for ourselves,” Connolly recalled. “First, the opportunity presented itself. BFI needed someone to take over operation of a waste transfer station in Peabody, Mass., (current owner is Allied Waste) and I was asked if I’d be interested. I approached Steve and we decided to do it because we felt it suited our personalities better. We’d both grown up in a small, family-business environment and we preferred that to the big corporate structure. Although our background was more in roll-off pickup and commercial collection, we were confident we could do transfer work, so we just decided to take the chance.”

“Starting out in 1999, it was kind of a leap of faith,” noted DiFava. “I had a good job and young children, so I was a little hesitant. We hoped we would be able to grow and expand, but you never know if that’s going to happen. On the plus side, we’d both been in the business for a while so we had some contacts — especially Ken. We also believed we knew what we were doing. After getting the first opportunity, it was a matter of doing a good job for our customers and building a good reputation for our company. Fortunately, we were able to do that.”

In 2001, Connolly and DiFava’s success with Waste Support Services led to another opportunity — this time to run a transfer station in Lynn, Mass., for Covanta Energy. The company they formed for that job was called CD Transfer Station Management. Then, in 2010, the pair won a bid to operate a transfer station for Waste Management in Somerville, Mass. That was the start of their third company — Commonwealth Waste Transportation.

“All the facilities are fairly similar,” said Connolly. “They all run from 500 to 800 tons a day. We primarily handle municipal solid waste (MSW) and some construction and demolition debris (C&D). Companies bring the waste into our facilities and we reload it onto trucks to take to its final destination. Most of the waste that comes to us goes back out to ‘waste-to-energy’ facilities, which burn the material to generate power.”

Employees are key

Today, Connolly and DiFava’s three companies employ more than 30 people. About half of them work at the transfer stations. The other half are Class A truck drivers.

“We have great employees and they are certainly one of the key reasons for our success,” said Connolly. “Our people are very loyal. Turnover hasn’t been an issue for us and neither has absenteeism. Our employees come to work every day.”

Steve DiFava’s wife, Michele, runs the office, his son Eric is an operator and another son, Vic, is a mechanic. Other key employees include Mechanic Dan Desmond and General Manager of Commonwealth Waste Transportation, Bob Langlais. “Bob came on board with an existing crew when we assumed the contract for the Somerville operation and has made it a seamless transition,” said Connolly.

Hands-on ownership

Connolly and DiFava are equal partners in the businesses. Both hold the title of Managing Partner. Both are active in the day-to-day operation of the companies.

“We’re hands-on owners,” said DiFava. “We’re out in the field making sure everything runs smoothly. We don’t operate equipment or fix machines much anymore, but we can if we have to. I think that’s the attitude we bring to the job, and it’s why having our own business suited us better than working for a large company.”

“We’re on the job every day,” added Connolly. “If customers have any concerns, they know where to find us and they can call us directly. We’re easy to reach, so customers don’t have to go through a list of people to get an answer.”

Reliable equipment and top service

Connolly and DiFava turn to C.N. Wood almost exclusively, primarily for Komatsu equipment, to run their operations. Their Komatsu machines include two hydraulic excavators (a PC300HD and a PC270) and five wheel loaders (two WA500s, two WA450s and a WA470). They also have three Elgin sweepers from C.N. Wood.

“The best things about Komatsu machines for us are reliability, longevity and low owning and operating costs,” explained DiFava. “Compared to a contractor, we use the heck out of our equipment. It’s not unusual for us to put 5,000 hours or more on a machine in a year. With that kind of usage, we need equipment we can count on and equipment that will hold up. Our Komatsu units do that.”

“Komatsu also keeps improving its machines for our application,” said Connolly. “For example, it now has waste-handling packages installed on the units at the factory. We used to work with C.N. Wood to reconfigure the machines’ air conditioning and radiator to lessen the negative impact of our dusty environment. Now, our Komatsu excavators and wheel loaders come from the factory as industry-specific machines.”

In addition to the performance they get from Komatsu, the support they get from C.N. Wood is at least as important to DiFava and Connolly.

“Pretty much whatever we need, if C.N. Wood sells it, that’s where we’re going to go to buy it,” said DiFava. “They give us great service. They give us machines to demo. They lend us machines. They see that we get the right machine that will do the best job for us in a particular environment and application. They take care of any issues promptly. Because of all the hours we run, we buy extended warranties on our engines, but honestly, dealing with C.N. Wood is like an extended warranty all by itself.”

“Bottom line — we trust them to do what’s right by us,” added Connolly. “C.N. Wood Chairman Bob Benard sold equipment to my dad 50 years ago. It’s been a great relationship.”

Optimistic about the future

Like the rest of the economy, there’s not as much activity at transfer stations the past couple of years compared with pre-recession. “C&D debris is way down because of the lack of home construction, but overall volume is also down as collection companies themselves deliver more frequently to the end disposal site,” said Connolly. “Transfer stations are always needed to some extent, but they’re more of a necessity when waste volume is high.”

Despite the slowdown, both Connolly and DiFava are optimistic about the future.

“We’ve been fortunate to grow a lot by acquiring new businesses and we think there will be future opportunities to continue doing that,” predicted DiFava. “There aren’t a great number of people who do what we do. We have a good fleet of equipment and trucks. We’ve been in the industry for a while and have a good track record of providing services to our clients.”

“Despite the fact that we’ve grown and hope to grow more, we remain the same, small, family-business type of operation that we were 10 years ago,” added Connolly. “We’re a local company. We work metro Boston and transport waste throughout New England. We know the area and we know the industry. If there’s an issue, we know how to solve it, or we know who to contact to help us solve it. As when we started, we’re always looking for new opportunities. If you’re a company that needs waste transfer services, we’d like to talk with you to show what we have to offer.”