LRS, headquartered in Morton Grove, Illinois, has acquired Johnson County Refuse, North Liberty, Iowa, and two portable toilet suppliers, Port ‘O’ Jonny in Hiawatha, Iowa, and Action Services Inc. in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. . The purchases increase LRS’s footprint in the Midwest on major Cedar Rapids and Iowa City.
The three acquisitions are effective immediately. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 1982, North Liberty-based Johnson County Refuse provides waste collection, recycling and rolling container services in North Liberty and surrounding areas. Based on this acquisition, LRS begins providing waste management and recycling services to nearly 20 Johnson County municipalities and more than 3,600 commercial customers. The company also welcomes 50 employees into the LRS family, including Steve Smith, owner of Johnson County Refuse.
“Across the Midwest, LRS has demonstrated vision and leadership in providing sustainable and circular waste diversion and recycling services to help reduce the carbon footprint and assure customers that their waste is disposed of reliably and responsible, ”Smith said. “After more than 35 years of building a business on the principles of sustainability and customer service, we couldn’t be more proud to partner with LRS, to streamline operations, expand services and double down to deliver the best possible experience to our customers. . “
The combination of Hiawatha-based Port ‘O’ Jonny, founded in 1986, and Cedar Rapids-based Action Services, founded in 1991, will create a regional portable services hub led by Action Services owner Jay Kremer, according to LRS.
“We were drawn to LRS for several reasons as an independent company, namely the company’s unwavering commitment to grow organically and through the acquisition of historic family businesses in the waste industry.” , said Action Services’ Kremer. “We look forward to seeing the legacy of our businesses flourish under the LRS banner and to maintain a commitment to our valued customers who have helped us reach this milestone. ”
LRS CEO Alan T. Handley said, “We are delighted to welcome Steve, Jay, all employees and thousands of customers from each of these exceptional companies to our LRS family. , the ability to scale and introduce new services and the ability to consolidate operational redundancies to produce an even better customer experience.
Its purchase of Johnson County Refuse adds more than 50 garbage, recycling and transportation trucks to the LRS fleet, while the purchases of Port ‘O’ Jonny and Action Services add 25 portable service trucks.
Waste and recycling continue to be disposed of at the Johnson County-operated Iowa City landfill.
LRS first entered the Iowa market in 2019, providing commercial rolling container services to Davenport and throughout Scott County.
In mid-December, LRS made 18 strategic acquisitions, largely vertically integrated, of independent family businesses in waste management, recycling and portable services.