The National Waste & Recycling Association (NWRA) announced its Hall of Fame inductees for the Class of 2024, including Tod Holmes who was instrumental in Republic Services growth throughout his long career. Tod and two other inductees will be recognized at WasteExpo 2024.
Tod joined Republic Industries in January 1998 prior to the formation of Republic Services later that year. He was a champion for transparency in financial reporting and was named to Institutional Investors’ list of the Best CFOs in America eight times between 2002 and 2010. During his time at Republic, the company grew from $1 billion to $8 billion in annual revenues and completed the highly successful merger with Allied Waste Industries.
In advance of his induction, we had the opportunity to visit with Tod to learn more about his career and his experience at Republic Services.
Q. Throughout your career, you helped drive significant change and growth in the industry. What aspects of this change are you most proud having helped create?
A. I think the most significant change I helped lead was back in July of 1999, there was some turmoil in the industry which created a big opportunity. Republic was a third player at that time. As a leadership team we put our heads together and felt we needed to do two things: 1. Increase the financial disclosures, which is now the standard in the industry. 2. We had to shift our focus from EPS to cash flow. And that’s had a lasting impact, as this industry generates a lot of cash. Those two changes helped investors see the value Republic can create and others in the industry followed.
Q. As part of the leadership team that took Republic Services public in 1998, how did this milestone pave the way for significant growth for the company post-IPO?
A. We had a sunbelt strategy at the time, more of a regional player focused on the Southern half of the U.S. We went public with a lot of liquidity which allowed us to fulfill our acquisition strategy and ultimately expanded our footprint. Our approach was a measured pace, we wanted to make sure we had good returns on what we acquired, we targeted higher growth markets in the South and Southwest which paved the way for consistent growth which still continues today for Republic.
Q. The Republic Services/Allied Waste merger was a big moment in the industry – thinking back to this milestone, what were the keys to success for integrating two companies of such industry importance?
A. There was a tremendous amount of skepticism at the time in the industry. It turned out more successful than we thought it would be. The most fulfilling part is the people. Good group of people at both companies. There was a lot of debate on where the HQ would be, and we decided the best and safest location was Arizona which had more stability. At the end of the day the people of both companies made this successful.
Q. Looking back at your career, what are you most proud of?
A. I am most proud of the team I built. I left BFI, went to Republic and I attracted some great people I worked with in the past. I was able to mentor and coach a great team. I had a boss that told me to hire people smarter than me and let the spotlight shine on them and I always tried to do that.
Q. As you look ahead to the next 10-15 years, what do you see as the biggest opportunities within the industry to continue growing its impact?
A. I think you look at basic delivery services. The opportunity exists in what you do with the materials you collect. The recycling of materials. The more efficient and environmentally sound waste. Ultimately it’s the waste stream and recycling stream becoming much more efficient and therefore and less being “dumped” and more being “reused.” Throughout my career I traveled to Europe and was always impressed with Netherlands and Germany and they are so efficient but the challenge is people have to pay for that. The future is there for continued growth.
Q. For employees newer in their career, what advice would you give?
A. Find a mentor, someone you can rely on to guide you and coach you. Be open to new experiences and ideas. And don’t think you know everything. Here I am in my 70s and retired, though still active, and I’m still learning. Safety for example, I’m really amazed how many vehicles this industry puts out on the road and I’m amazed how safe we are and how far that’s come. We’ve got facilities that are more equipped to handle batteries, technologies are advancing the industry and I am still learning to this day. I still have strong feelings for Republic and the people. So many great people there. A great team. It’s refreshing to see the continued success and development of the company. Republic is the best company in the industry with great leadership.