In the News
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Business picking up for Suburban Waste in Eden Prairie By Paul Wahl - Sun Newspapers Paul Rosland has been talking trash with a number of Eden Prairie residents over the past couple weeks. On Dec. 3, he will launch Suburban Waste Services, a residential garbage pickup company. Rosland, who operates the company out of his home with the help of his wife, Katie, was busy Friday unloading trash containers stamped with the company's logo on the side. Rosland is not a newcomer to the field, having worked with one of the large national haulers for 19 years in operations and sales. He resigned in March 2006 and worked in Rochester prior to opening SWS. "I always wanted to get out on my own," Rosland said. "There's a place for a small, local hauler." To convince his neighbors, he's taken to doorknocking, much like a politician. His platform? Fair rates, great service and a live person to pick up the phone if you need to call for any reason. Plus the company plans to give money earned from recycling efforts to environmental causes in the area. None of the trash SWS picks up will be landfilled; instead, it will be processed into energy at a resource recovery facility in Minneapolis. Hennepin County generates about a million tons of garbage in a year, according to county solid waste division statistics. About a third of it goes to a burner built in the 1980s for $129 million at the edge of downtown Minneapolis. Rosland said his business has a lot to offer. "We'll also be cheaper than a lot of services out there because we don't have a lot of overhead," Rosland said. Rosland is aware his two-truck operation will compete directly with two of the largest haulers in the United States, but he's convinced the venture will be successful. "It's a lot of work, yes, but you're working for yourself instead of making dollars for a huge corporation and their stockholders," Rosland said. The company has already begun endearing itself to the community by making donations to the Forest Hills PTO and the Eden Prairie Hockey Association. Besides Rosland and his wife, the firm employs one person in its pickup division. Rosland said he has plans for additional trucks and employees but wasn't sure how quickly that would happen. For information, visit the company's Web site www.suburbanwastemn.com. Comment on this story at our website, www.mnsun.com.
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