A View From The C-Suite: Bruce Boykin Aughtry of Eppley Waste

Bruce Boykin Aughtry

President

Eppley Waste

Best advice you’ve ever received:

Put the Lord first and make the most of each and every day. You can’t grow inside of your comfort zone, so take calculated risks to improve.

Best advice you can give:

Don’t sweat the small things (they’re all small things) and just do your best — everything else often falls into place. Mistakes are OK and required to grow as long as you learn from them.

Stiffest challenge in your industry:

The pandemic taught us that trash services are essential (and people with nowhere to go love their wine!). This period ultimately led to explosive Upstate growth but also created the challenge of increased competition. “Work smarter, not harder” is an unofficial motto we’ve adopted to find ways to beat out the big guys.

Fact about company:

When Eppley Waste was bought out in 2017, my journey began with roughly 800 accounts and three old trucks. Since then, we’ve purchased six new trucks and are now approaching 3,000 accounts.

First Job:

Temporary driver to ease workload while learning service areas and finding potential growth opportunities.

Your Role:

Oversee company growth and expand service ranges while handling daily operations, customer relations, logistics, drivers and routing along with other day-to-day issues.

What does your company do:

Residential garbage collection with an emphasis on customer service. Our niche is delivering reliable service where others can’t — remote or mountainous areas and communities not served by larger municipal trucks.