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Oral History Interview with Lonnie Poole, March 22, 1999. Interview I-0085. Southern Oral History Program Collection (#4007).
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  • Abstract
    Lonnie Poole describes the slow evolution of his waste management company from business plan to publicly traded corporation. Poole believed that he could earn a profit as a private waste manager and spent years trying to convince counties in North Carolina to cede control of their solid waste to him. After a decade of lobbying, his efforts began to pay off, and Poole found his organization growing. Poole describes the elements that made meeting his goals difficult, the eventual success of his company, and some of the complicating factors—like environmentalism—that pose continued challenges.
    Excerpts
  • Poole founds waste management company in North Carolina
  • States reluctant to privatize
  • Raising capital to start a business
  • Failing venture starts to succeed
  • Failing venture starts to succeed
  • Carving out a niche for private enterprise
  • Carving out a niche for private enterprise
  • No political contributions despite frustrations with government interference in business
  • Starting with small clients
  • Environmental concerns spur business growth
  • Environmental concerns spur business growth
  • Banks drive businesspeople more than any other factor
  • Four tenets of business strategy
  • Economic growth changes region but region retains some local color
  • Personal philosophy does not include distribution of wealth
  • Diversity in the workplace
  • Opposition to big government
  • Growth of banking in North Carolina
  • Learn More
  • Finding aid to the Southern Oral History Program Collection
  • Database of all Southern Oral History Program Collection interviews
  • Subjects
  • Poole, Lonnie
  • Waste Industries, Inc.
  • Recycling (Waste, etc.)--North Carolina
  • Refuse disposal industry--North Carolina
  • The Southern Oral History Program transcripts presented here on Documenting the American South undergo an editorial process to remove transcription errors. Texts may differ from the original transcripts held by the Southern Historical Collection.

    Funding from the Institute for Museum and Library Services supported the electronic publication of this title.