From his earliest days, Mack Long remembers his father, Kevin, saying that he wasn’t building Piedmont Disposal and Recycling for himself — he was supporting a family, providing good employment for his workers, and offering a growing number of services for customers in the Winston-Salem, North Carolina, area.

His father passed away from ALS – also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease – in 2019 at 52 years old, thrusting his son into a leadership role at the company at age 22. But four words from his father – “It’s not about me” – have continued to guide Long and inform the company’s success.

Kevin founded Piedmont Disposal with 30 roll-off containers in 1999.

“At the time, there was no such thing as same-day service in our area,” Long says. “My father’s main focus was to provide clean, efficient and friendly service to the construction industry. His vision positioned Piedmont for growth.” 

STARTING YOUNG

Long’s earliest recollections of the business were posing for photos in his dad’s roll-off containers and riding shotgun on deliveries.

“My grandmother wanted me to have a traditional Catholic name, so my name is Joseph Mackenzie,” says Long. “But that was my father’s way of naming me after a truck. I didn’t really stand a chance of choosing any other industry.”

In 2007, the business added 100 portable restrooms and a vacuum truck, a value-added service aligned with the needs of the construction industry. In the following years, Piedmont also extended its services to offer waste solutions, including compactors and preconsumer paper recycling.

“My first summer work experience in the business was working in the paper recycling warehouse, sorting material, placing it on conveyor belts and feeding it into balers,” Long recalls.

After he finished high school, his father offered him the “opportunity of a lifetime” — a raise in pay for taking on the portable restroom service route for the summer. With the growth of that division, the company fielded roughly 200 units and handled up to 50 daily service stops.

“This was my first exposure to portable sanitation,” Long recalls.  “Being the only route driver, I knew that I had to put my best foot forward and provide a level of service that not only my father would approve of, but more importantly, Piedmont customers. That summer taught me the importance of service, and of developing personal relationships with clients.”

BAD NEWS COMES

In 2016, Long headed to Western Carolina University to study business administration and law. Although he had considered an eventual return to Piedmont, he had no clear career path.

That changed during his 2017 fall break.

“I came in excited and ready to work and my father sits me down and he says: ‘Son, I’ve got bad news.’ He told me that he had ALS. I thought it was some kind of joke, but he was serious.”

ALS is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A rare neurological condition, the disease disrupts the ability of the brain to send signals to muscles that control voluntary movement. ALS is progressive, devastating and always fatal.

“We needed to appreciate the limited time that we still had together as a family,” Long says. “But after that initial shock, I also realized that this wasn’t about me. It was about my father, the legacy he created with Piedmont Disposal, its employees and the relationships we had built with customers.”

Kevin continued to lead Piedmont, even as he began to negotiate work each day in a motorized wheelchair.

“At times he would be so tired, he would find a corner in the recycling warehouse, lean his wheelchair back and take a nap,” says Long. “A half-hour later he would be back at it, wheeling around and running over people with his chair.”

Long knew he would soon be required to lead the company, and expedited his studies in the hopes that his father could attend his graduation. However, Kevin stopped working in May 2019 and passed away a month later. He exercised his famous sense of humor one last time by arriving at the funeral in a customized coffin designed to look like a Piedmont dumpster.

“The following Monday, I was in dad’s office organizing and cleaning things out, which was tough,” Long says. “But I stepped in and started making my face better known.”

TAKING THE REINS

Long graduated in December 2019 and started working full time as president and CEO of Piedmont on Jan. 2, 2020. At that point, the company employed 18 people and the portable restroom division still had an inventory of about 200 units, serviced by a single truck.

In the following 18 months, Long counted on the dedication and expertise of the employee team to carry the company as he learned the ropes. The COVID-19 pandemic added challenges, but the business survived.

“At this point, I was hungry to promote a growth mindset,” Long says. “We’re the only supplier in Winston-Salem that provides both dumpsters and restrooms to the construction industry, but we were stymied as to how to grow the restroom division.”

The answer came in the form of Jeff Rule, a seasoned professional who understood the value of consistent, quality service and impeccable cleanliness. Piedmont hired him as a route driver, then extended his duties to division manager. Long credits his hard work and professionalism with the division’s growth.

QUALITY EQUIPMENT

Quickly adding restrooms to the inventory, Piedmont currently offers about 550 Satellite Industries restrooms, including four ADA-compliant units. Long says he orders standard units of the same model, the Global, and green color because it makes his brand stand out. Deodorizers are supplied by J&J Portable Sanitation Products.

Piedmont also offers 70 TJ-Junior hand-wash stations from T.S.F. Company, 70 Handistand hand sanitizer stations from Satellite and 70 250-gallon holding tanks from Satellite. The company also offers 40 275-gallon freshwater totes from IBC Tanks to provide water to office trailers — Piedmont staff outfit them with pumps in-house.

The company fields three vacuum trucks, all with 1,500-gallon (1,000 waste/500 fresh) steel tanks and Masport pumps. The first is a 2013 Hino, the second is a 2022 Freightliner M2-106 built out by Amthor International and the third is a 2023 Freightliner M2-106 built out by Integrity Tank.

A 2000 GMC stake body performs double duty, delivering up to 10 restrooms, or delivering water totes. The 2022 Freightliner also has room to deliver up to eight portable restrooms. For large events, portable restrooms are delivered using a 2008 Peterbilt 389 tractor hauling a 53-foot enclosed trailer with 28-unit capacity from Great Dane Trailers.

Trash containers are from FleetGenius and Rudco Products.

DEDICATED CREW

Piedmont employs 25 people, with three dedicated to the portable restroom division. An in-house welder and a mechanic work in the company’s 35,000-square-foot warehouse to keep equipment in top shape.

Large construction contractors represent about 98% of the portable restroom clientele, although referrals from construction clients and Google ads are generating more event work, such as weddings, church events and meetings.

“We recently bought our first trailer, a Satellite Selfie, featuring two private stations,” Long says. “It’s getting some traction. In the next year, we could see ourselves buying another one.”

Piedmont staff routinely attend trade shows, although this is the first year they’ve sent staff to both the Water & Wastewater Equipment, Treatment & Transport Show and the Portable Sanitation Association International Annual Convention and Trade Show.

“It keeps us up to date with important issues as well as new equipment,” Long says. “But simply being there and meeting other contractors helps promote a sense of professionalism.”

Long continues to lead the company on to further opportunities, seeking to dominate his existing territory, while gradually expanding Piedmont’s territory. In a way, his father is still by his side.

“What he taught me was more valuable than any college degree,” Long says. “He taught me how to lead from behind and treat employees and customers with dignity and respect.”