It's a big dream, but an inspiring one. From the start, founder Rodney Christian stressed the importance of paying a fair wage. Even during the pandemic, the goal was to pay workers $15 an hour, a figure that shows workers they are respected and valued.
Another goal is to provide good jobs for those who lack the skills to qualify for jobs at many businesses. CEO Kimberly Mann said Recycledelphia management knew some of their prospective employees likely were involved in questionable activities.
But that did not disqualify them from finding work at the fledgling firm. Mann said Christian looked to bring in these young people, train and educate them, and teach them about the dignity of work.
"It's easy to say that someone doesn't have the skill set or the high school education or doesn't have this or doesn't have that. Let's look at what they do have," the CEO said.
Recycledelphia's mission includes creating the best work environment. They know there's nothing exciting about collecting tires and delivering them to another location for recycling. So they try to encourage a family work environment, a place where people will wake up in the morning and look forward to coming to work.
Christian has worked at places where he made good money. But at the end of the day, he realized that wasn't fulfilling—and definitely not the type of workplace at which he wanted to spend his career. That is why he wants Recycledelphia to be something much more to its staff.
By doing this, the company's leaders—Kimberly Dempsey-Miller, this year's chair of the ACS Rubber Division, is one of the company's principals—believe they can help change the landscape of Philadelphia.
And if they are successful in their mission, they will do that, one person at a time.
