WM has acquired Countrywide Sanitation, a woman-owned, North Dakota-based hauler on the border of Minnesota. The deal closed Sept. 1.
Countrywide, which started in 2008, provides residential and commercial waste and recycling pickup services, as well as waste container and roll-off rentals and a storage rental service. The company has a landfill, recycling process facility and a fleet of around 22 vehicles, according to federal documents. The landfill, built in 2020, does not accept municipal solid waste but can take construction debris, yard waste and other materials.
The company serves Grand Forks, North Dakota; East Grand Forks, Minnesota; and surrounding areas.
As part of the deal, WM will take over Countrywide’s residential hauling contract in East Grand Forks, Valley News Live reported. That contract is set to go through 2029. WM and Countrywide expect to use the same trucks and employees through the length of the contract.
Rachel Gornowicz, president of Countrywide Sanitation, will continue to run the landfill operations and storage container business, she told the East Forks City Council during a July 22 meeting approving the contract changeover.
WM already has a presence in the footprint where Countrywide operated, as well as other towns on the Minnesota/North Dakota border such as Fargo, North Dakota. WM also operates other landfills in the state.
WM expects to spend about $500 million total on acquisitions this year. In the first six months of the year, it reported spending $366 million on deals.
