Metro Green’s Kobelco SK210 LC-9 increased the company’s production and efficiency.
Cousins Vito Secchiano and Angelo Maiorano each had their own construction background from growing up working with their fathers during their summers. Maiorano worked with his father Alfredo before and during college at his paving company, Community Paving Corp., and then as a project engineer after college for Civetta Cousins JV LLC, a major New York City excavation and foundation contractor; Secchiano also had grown up working in his father Gino's construction business, MVM Construction LLC in Mount Vernon, N.Y.
Both men also had an entrepreneurial spirit; over the years, they had discussed starting a business together. In June 2009, when a piece of property in Mount Vernon became available, they did so and founded Metro Green LLC.
The Perfect Location
“One fundamental of business that we were fully aware of was the adage 'location, location, location,' and this property is located perfectly for us to start our construction material recycling facility,” said Secchiano.
The property, located at 100A Oak St Mount Vernon NY 10550, is immediately off of the Bronx River Parkway and is in proximity to many local truck routes such as I-87, I-95, I-287 and Yonkers Avenue.
“We conferred with the contacts we have in the industry and they agreed that no one was currently serving this part of Mount Vernon and the surrounding area with a facility that would accept construction demolition materials and produce a clean reusable product available for resale,” added Maiorano.
Spreading the Word
One of the first challenges for Metro Green was getting the word out to area contractors that a new company was ready to receive their materials. Secchiano and Maiorano worked closely with their fathers who had contacts through their 30 plus years in business. Over the years, their fathers had developed a working relationship with many of the contractors in the area.
A Relationship Business
From the very beginning, Metro Green has understood the importance of relationships in the construction industry.
“Metro Green is structured so that every customer feels important and is able to establish a personalized relationship direct with the owners, not just the employees,” said Maiorano. “No job is too big or small. Since the inception of our company, we have been able to expand our client base and continuously update our fleet of equipment to ensure the consistency and quality of our products.”
Metro Green accepts clean construction debris including soil, rock and concrete. The material is then processed through screening and crushing plants which create various gravel and soil final products. These products are almost always sold back to the same contractors who initially brought in the raw materials.
A convenient aspect of Metro Green for contractors is that they can safely dispose of construction waste and pick up soil, gravel or mason supplies all at the same location.
Making Use of Tight Quarters
Metro Green's site is relatively small and all of this work must be done with a heavy emphasis on space management. The crushers and screening plants are fed by excavators and the finished materials are moved and stockpiled with a wheel loaders.
For excavating, Metro Green purchased a Kobelco SK210 LC-9; for a wheel loader, the company purchased a Hyundai 757-9 with a 3.7-yard bucket. Both were purchased from All Island Equipment in Babylon, N.Y.
“We purchased these specific machines from All Island Equipment for a variety of reasons,” said Secchiano. “Space is absolutely critical to us and Gary Wade [president of All Island Equipment] was able to demonstrate to us that the Hyundai loader gave us a comparatively narrow machine with a higher payload capacity than anything else in that machine's size category.
“Also, we are still a young business and price is always a factor with our significant purchases,” he added. “All Island Equipment was able to give us an extremely competitive price on the Hyundai loader and one of the most comprehensive warranties we have seen on this type of equipment. It basically eliminated our maintenance costs, which effectively offset any value that we would have gained by purchasing a used machine.”
The Kobelco excavator also has allowed Metro Green to increase its capacity; it moves 200 to 500 yards of materials each day.
“That's largely because Gary took the time to convince us that we needed to move up in size with the excavator and that we would see the return in increased volume, and he was absolutely right,” said Maiorano.
Shared Values
Metro Green built its customer base on relationships and the ability for customers to deal directly with ownership, whenever needed. Those same values have been reflected in their relationship with All Island Equipment.
“We were able to deal direct with Gary Wade, the owner of All Island Equipment, throughout the entire process,” said Secchiano. “He worked with us to spec out the right machines for our needs and he was there for training when the machines were delivered. If we are not dealing with Gary, then we are dealing with his brother, Darrel, the service manager at All Island Equipment.
“Our loader runs all day, every day. Reliability is critical and the Hyundai [as well as the Kobelco excavator] has absolutely met expectations.”
Equipment is Metro Green's single biggest investment.
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