Friday, November 25, 2022
Morristown Company Taking Green Innovations to New Heights
Jordan Caldwell, president of Caldwell’s Inc., oversees a 70-employee operation that provides warehousing and organic composting services to companies throughout the Midwest. | photo by ANNA TUNGATE
by ANNA TUNGATE & KRISTIAAN RAWLINGS
Jordan Caldwell might be the fourth generation to preside over an industrial business in the Morristown area, but a visit to the latest iteration reveals few signs of a legacy company. It’s more a start-up, a pull-himself-up-by-the-bootstraps kind of endeavor.
The three sites comprising Caldwell’s Inc. include recycling facilities in the Industrial Park - at the moment of our visit, a truck is leaving for Nestle in Michigan to pick up Gerber baby food - and a composting yard, where you’ll find a mixture of pasta sauce, sugar, pork-and-beans, water, wood waste and various materials, including beer.
“So, during covid, things got slow. The only business that we had at the time was emptying kegs,” Caldwell said.
With restaurants suddenly needing to unload mass quantities of alcohol, the kegs were emptied and returned, a practice that continues as needed. The alcohol creates a foam on top of the pile, evidence of fermentation in action. The natural fertilizer created is then spread over approximately 300 acres that Caldwell farms.
Although business has increased 400 percent this year thanks to partnerships with the likes of Bunge, POET, Kroger, Walmart, Advanced Disposal, Waste Management, Covanta and Rumpke, it’s been a learning curve for the local businessman who literally grew up in the industry.
His family connection to the Industrial Park goes back decades, when his grandfather, Paul Caldwell, partnered with farmer Dave White, Bob Wortman and Carl Bowser to develop the park. (Paul had founded Caldwell Gravel Sales in Morristown in 1952 with his father, Elmer.)
“They wanted development. They wanted jobs,” Jordan Caldwell said.
A partnership with the Town helped provide infrastructure such as sewage to the area.
On the other side of Morristown is the landfill, once owned by the Caldwell family and where Jordan practically grew up. “I could walk outside and throw a rock and hit the landfill,” he said of his childhood home.
The family's old CGS, Inc. ventured into commingled recycling in the 1990s, in which they collected various items tossed into bins by City of Shelbyville residents and other municipalities. After about a decade, the facility caught on fire, ending the service.
“We made the business decision we were going to pivot,” Caldwell said. “It didn’t make any money, and it was a struggle to find help.”
Instead, a baler was installed, and they handled pre-sorted recycling only.
In 2017, the Caldwells sold the entire company to Advanced Disposal, but Jordan’s father, Dana, purchased the Industrial Park land back. Part of the deal included a family member staying on board for two years to help with the transition.
“I was that lucky guy,” Caldwell said, laughing.
At the end of the term, he was offered a chance to extend his non-compete clause, but Jordan had other ideas.
“I had always told my dad when we were in the landfill business that I was competing against compost facilities. Many companies would pay more to go to compost. I thought, ‘Man, I want to be in that business.’”
The day he left Waste Management, by then the owners of the old CGS, he filed for an industrial compost permit with the State. He also made a deal with Waste Management to haul semi-truck loads for them.
Caldwell rented facilities from his father, got to work diversifying his business and built a new recycling facility in 2019, which has now grown to 70 employees who cover 20-plus trucking stops in Shelbyville and many more throughout the region, in addition to depackaging and composting duties.
”I want to create vertical integration: I get to truck it, I get to depackage it, I get to compost it, and then I get to spread it on my fields,” he said. “I’m recycling and I’m reducing the use of synthetic fertilizer. I’m using organics and lowering the carbon footprint.”
He’s still perfecting the fertilizer product, which for now is only used on his own fields. With limited products to compost the first year, he learned methods of improving the craft, which involves a 90-day process of products sitting on a pad, staging and curing before being spread.
“The more mix, the better fertilizer,” Caldwell said.
By the second year, his soybean soil tester was so impressed with the quality and Caldwell’s 10 to 20 percent yield increase, that he asked for the secret.
“I’m not selling it yet,” Caldwell replied.
As he looks to expand, Caldwell is also working with Knauf Insulation on a glass recycling program. Caldwell’s goes around every two weeks picking up glass toters from Shelbyville and eventually transports them to Hartford City to a processing facility.
Chris Mahin, Vice President of Sustainability at Knauf Insulation, said nine establishments are participating in the glass recycling program, including containers offered to the public through the Shelby County Recycling District.
It’s a complex web of people and products, and Caldwell knows the secret of success is strong relationships.
He recently made a deal with a manufacturer who was carting wood chip waste to a landfill. Even though Caldwell knew he could simply undercut the price, he instead offered to accept the material free, charging only for transportation. After all, the finished product would go on his farm, Caldwell reasoned. The businessman accepted the deal, which is saving him maybe $250,000 annually and benefitting both companies.
“What I’ve learned is, it’s not about getting rich. It’s about the big picture, making sure everybody is winning, and we’re helping the environment and we’re having fun doing it,” Caldwell said.
BELOW: A Caldwell’s, Inc. employee works with composting items. | photo by ANNA TUNGATE
‘The Helbing’
“The Helbing” - an unofficial name given by columnist Kris Meltzer to this sculpture by artist and Shelbyville native Mike Helbing, actually named “Blue River Wind, Rain and Water” - shines at night in a monochrome photo. | photo by JOHN WALKER
NOTEBOOK:
The MainStreet Shelbyville Facebook page includes numerous posts with local Small Business Saturday deals for tomorrow.
HOOSIER NEWS: Indiana’s unemployment rate increased slightly to 3 percent in October, according to new Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates. Each BLS release provides a preliminary number that is revised the month after. It’s the first month to hit the 3 percent threshold since September 2021. However, the rate is still low compared to the nation and Indiana's historic rates. “Historically, labor markets are astonishingly healthy now,” said Michael Hicks, an economist at Ball State University, noting that wages are up in many industries. “Which is just a really good place for low-wage workers, in particular, to be right now.” For example, the average retail wage in Indiana was almost $18 an hour in October 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s significantly higher than pre-pandemic average wages, which peaked at $15.69 an hour in November 2019. (Indiana Public Media)
This Week in Shelby County" works by George L. Stubbs Sr. are owned by the Shelby County Historical Society (Grover Center) and used with permission.
THIS DAY IN SHELBY COUNTY HISTORY
News around Shelbyville and the surrounding area as reported on or about this date in history. Selections are curated from the Shelby County Public Library Genealogy Department.
20 YEARS AGO: 2002
Tony Sipes, a veteran of the Shelbyville Fire Department, announced he was running for mayor. Sipes, a Republican, had served on the Shelbyville Common Council from 1991 to 1998 and from 2000 to 2002. A lieutenant, Sipes had logged more than 21 years with the Shelbyville Fire Department. He was president of the Shelbyville Rotary Club and a director of Leadership Shelby County. Sipes had served in the U.S. Army from 1970 to 1976. He and his wife Ann Kay (Walton) Sipes had two sons, Josh and Jake.
The Shelbyville Police Department was recognized as the Central Region Champion at the Governor’s Council annual traffic safety banquet. Chief Kehrt Etherton accepted the plaque on behalf of the department.
30 YEARS AGO: 1992
Shelbyville Middle School students collected 6,847 cans for donation to the Salvation Army. Teacher Fred McGriff, acting on behalf of the eighth graders who had collected the most cans, did the honors of giving Principal Mike Osha a pie to the face.
Shoney’s Restaurant offered an all-you-can-eat Thanksgiving Day meal for $5.29. “We’ll do the turkey & dressing. You do the stuffing,” the ad read.
40 YEARS AGO: 1982
An Ohio man - apparently a sound sleeper - survived a wild ride without injury as he slept in the open rear of a friend’s pickup truck which rolled at least six times on State Road 9 about 10 miles south of Shelbyville. The man, who was asleep in a sleeping bag, was not thrown out of the rear of the truck as it rolled for 260 feet before coming to rest on its wheels. “It’s miraculous,” Deputy Dennis Alyea said. “He must have been held in the rear of the truck by centrifugal force. It’s one for the Guiness Book of World Records.” The driver of the truck, who was charged with driving under the influence of intoxicants, received slight injuries. The truck had gone off the road for 351 feet, hit a campaign sign, traveled another 125 feet, slid back onto the road sideways, hit a utility pole guy wire and rolled at least six times. The passenger said he only remembered being asleep and then waking up once the truck had settled on its wheels in a field. The men were en route from Fort Knox, Ky., where they were stationed with the U.S. Army.
50 YEARS AGO: 1972
Shelbyville’s Walter Bender, 25, had recorded two 300 games within the past week and a half, after rolling a 299 a month prior. It was his first and second perfect games, and first to occur in 14 years at Blue River Lanes.
60 YEARS AGO: 1962
Southwestern placed nine first division winners in a district baton and flag twirling contest. The first placers were Linda Thurston, Nancy Stroup, Sue Main, Nancy Main, Joyce Duckworth, Lou Ann McVey, Pam Parker, Shirley Treon and Millie Baker.
A newspaper photo showed Robert Wade, Southwestern principal, and John Donnelly, a vice-principal, checking a dosimeter, a device that measured the level of radiation in the air. The devices had been sent to the school by the federal government.
70 YEARS AGO: 1952
Over 200 attended a victory dinner at the local Elks Club. The event had been organized by Mayor Philip Banawitz and Mrs. Pell. Ralph Adams was master of ceremonies. Musical entertainment had been provided by Martin Schulz and the Shelbyville High School Singing Stars.
The Owens-Lloyd Super Circus was in town. Proceeds would be used to build the Boys Club and “for buying recreational equipment as an aid to combat juvenile delinquency,” The Shelbyville News said.
80 YEARS AGO: 1942
Local church officials announced bells would toll at 11:55 a.m. on Dec. 7 to mark the first anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor. All citizens were requested to stop and face west for one minute at 11:55 a.m. - lunch hour for most schools, factories and businesses - rather than the actual time of 1:25 p.m. in order to avoid interference with the state’s “around-the-clock” war working program.
90 YEARS AGO: 1932
A dinner for the needy at the Red Men Hall attracted over 600 locals. Home Aid League members assisted with the meal, which included 41 chickens, 35 pounds of beef, 14 gallons of milk and other supplies. Rev. Elmer Brooks gave a prayer, and violin and guitar selections were played by two local men during the meal.
A drunk man asleep on an outside window sill of the Sunlit Motor Sales building on East Broadway was taken to jail. Patrolman William Fiscus said the man didn’t want to wake up, so they would get his name once he was awake in his cell.
100 YEARS AGO: 1922
All classes at Greensburg High School were dismissed until noon while the pupils and teachers of the school were engaged in untangling a mess of books, papers and other school room equipment that had been stacked at the front of the assembly room, The Shelbyville Republican reported. School officials said they expected several students to be suspended over the incident.
OBITUARIES
None today
We really enjoyed today’s Special Edition! Well done, as usual! Jim & Judy Apple