Wednesday, August 7, 2019 ~ LANGFORD [Updated August 8, 2019 at 12 noon]
by Mary P Brooke ~ West Shore Voice News
In its 35th year, Alpine Group has sold aspects of the massive disposal pickup trucking division of its multi-faceted company to Toronto-based GFL Environmental Inc.
Alpine Group founder and co-owner Stew Young says it’s a win-win for everyone. All employees were able to keep their jobs and retain seniority. Partners who wanted to retire are now able to do so. Young himself is about to turn 59 years old, but is still raising a young family. He’s eyeing 64 for retirement.
“The trucking has been merged, making for efficiencies in both of our companies,” said Stew Young about GFL. Young already knew the owner of GFL through the environmental management business, and they eventually struck a deal.
Alpine customers around the west shore and Greater Victoria area will begin to see some migration of logos and colours on trucks in the fleet that travel around west shore and regional neighbourhoods. The current 100-truck fleet will expand, and the service footprint — which for Alpine on south Vancouver Island has been to Nanaimo — will extend now to Campbell River.
“We merged certain parts of trucking where it made sense for efficiency. It’s a very complicated process and takes lots of time to adjust all the parts,” says Stew Young. “But now we can service the whole island.”
On the mainland Alpine is not merging any service areas with GFL. The merger is only on Vancouver Island toward providing better service to customers. “No other areas of BC are part of the deal, they remain Alpine,” said Young.
He explains that GFL offers environmental services that Alpine wasn’t doing, and that “we can combine routes and now provide service to customers that we were not in certain areas but GFL was, and vice versa.”
For Young it’s an exciting expansion: “We can service our customers commercially or residentially anywhere on the island now for just about any environmental service. Our Alpine employees have up to 30 years experience on the island and do a great job. All employees are staying with Alpine/GFL, so it will be business as usual with no interruptions but with more services available to all our customers. A one-stop shop!”
The long-time disposal management entrepreneur speaks highly of his new business partnership. “GFL is a great Canadian success story itself and has been very professional dealing with Alpine and the transition — treating our employees great and supporting our valued customers. The only change people will notice is more services to choose from all over Vancouver Island, but with the same great employees.”
The Alpine Group logo name is well known as dark green and yellow on white (or dark green on deep yellow). The GFL theme colour is a solid bright neon green with black wording.
In the works for a while, the deal was officially transacted on August 1, 2019. Dollar amounts have not been disclosed.
The Alpine company name is almost omnipresent in the Langford business and community landscape. Their trucks and bins are seen all around town.
The Alpine company logo is widely seen in sports sponsorships and other activities in the community. And that won’t change. Stew Young says that the Alpine/GFL business strength will allow Alpine to “continue on with our company’s many charity works and youth sports sponsorships that we have been promoting in our community for 35 years … another good part of the merger!”
Stew Young is the Mayor of the City of Langford, a town that has grown quickly especially in recent years — to over 40,000 people, under the pro-development stance of Mayor and Council.