Rubicon Global names Best Garbageman in America

The trash business smells a little sweeter to Liz Dodd this month. Dodd, who along with her husband Dave, owns Dodd’s Trash and Recycling, found out this month their business has been voted the Best Garbageman in America.

The contest, organized by Rubicon Global, a nationwide trash and recycling operation, asked people around the country to vote for their favorite trash company, and Dodd’s was the winner.

Liz Dodd said the award was a testament to the hard work that her family and her employees have put into the business over the years.

“We’ve been in the business more than 50 years, we pride ourselves on our effective service,” Dodd said. “It takes everyone who works here working together or we would have never even been a contender.”

The business was started by Dodd’s father-in-law. Lloyd Dodd started small, with just a single pickup truck gathering trash throughout the town. Hard work and dedication helped grow the business, which today handles trash service, recycling and roll-off service throughout Jasper county.

“Once we start something we don’t quit,” Dodd said.

A sea of changes have swept over the garbage business in the last 50 years, and the biggest change has been the Dodd’s early adoption of recycling. After Liz’s husband Dave watched a 20th anniversary special on Earth Day in 1990, he told his wife he knew he had an opportunity to make a difference, and one way or another, they had to start recycling. Dodd’s recycling has made a tangible impact on their lives, as well as the lives of their neighbors.

“Recycling everything that doesn’t go in the landfill means something,” Dodd said. “We’re making a difference, we’re more than just garbage men.”

Making customers a priority has been important to the Dodd family since the business started, and Dodd said that’s what sets her business apart from the competition. When she got the invitation to enter the contest, it was her customers who urged her to submit the forms to enter.

Luke Archer has worked for the Dodd’s for nearly two years, but he noticed right away there was something different about their operation. At Dodd’s, he feels like part of the family, instead of just an employee.

“Liz and Dave have been amazing to work for, they’re some of the best people I’ve ever met,” Archer said.

Archer, a resident of Kellogg, said he wasn’t surprised to find out the Dodd’s were voted Best Garbageman in America. Their enthusiasm and work ethic have trickled down through their employees as well.

“We’re always willing to do the extra small things to make sure a customer is happy,” Archer said. “When I drop a roll-off I’ll do anything I can to get that roll-off where they want it without tearing up our equipment, I want to make sure they’re happy when I leave.”

It’s not just the customers that are happy with the Dodds, their employees love their jobs as well. Archer loves being outside no matter what the weather, and he’s happy to get home every night, something that never happened in his old job.