Ready for growth

In thinking back on the last 6 months, I’m reminded of a quote attributed to 20th century Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that I heard when the pandemic first shut down the country in late March:

“There are decades where nothing happens, and there are weeks where decades happen.”

While this year has had more twists and turns, starts and stops, than a freshly disinfected Disneyland ride, life—and business—has continued, albeit in a different way for many Americans.

Waste Today’s Corporate Growth Conference taking place Oct. 14 will reflect these changes in both execution and session topics.

Now in our third year, we’ve made the decision to transition our annual event from in-person sessions to a broadcast-style format that reimagines the virtual conference experience.

Our goal is to make our conference more engaging, interactive and polished than what you might be used to in order to offer a better show experience.

The good news is that there is no shortage of topics to cover.

From Waste Management EVP and chief legal officer Charles Boettcher discussing how the company is working to chart the future of waste, to Fifth Third Bank Chief Investment Strategist Jeff Korzenik sharing his economic outlook for 2021 and beyond, to GFL CEO Patrick Dovigi and Veolia North America CEO and President Brian Clarke assessing where the waste market is post-corona, we’ve worked to assemble a who’s who of the waste industry to share insights executives can leverage to grow their businesses.

Additionally, fervent year-to-date M&A activity highlighted by Waste Management’s acquisition of Advanced Disposal (and GFL’s subsequent acquisition of assets from the divestiture of the deal) and GFL’s acquisition of WCA, among a number of smaller deals, will help serve as fodder for a “State of Mergers and Acquisitions” panel discussion hosted by Houlihan Lokey Managing Director Scott Sergeant that will cover assessing valuations, pipelines and where capital markets and overall industry activity stand today.

A lot has transpired this year, but as Andy Schwartz, managing director and co-head of the waste and environmental services practice of Raymond James, shares in “M&A activity keeps pace,” “Many of the operators [in the market today] have reached an age or stage in their career where it makes sense to explore liquidity and exit alternatives. We’ve seen a continued environment where players in the space have a real desire to put their capital to work in M&A.”

Deals continue to get done, business activity is back up and new opportunities are on the horizon for waste operators.

We hope you’ll join us on Oct. 14 as we discuss where we’ve been this last year, but more importantly, how the waste industry is poised for a new chapter moving forward.

For more information on this year’s Corporate Growth Conference, visit WasteTodayEvents.com.