RJM Lures Venture Capitalists to Back New Plant

Lynn Schenkman

Easley, S.C. -- RJM Waste Equipment Co. has closed an expansion capital investment transaction that will enable the company to open a plant in Phoenix and serve the Southwest market with its line of solid waste containers and compactors. The funding comes from Frontier Capital, a Charlotte, N.C.-based private investment firm.

According to RJM President and CEO Ron McCracken, this transaction represents the re-introduction of venture capital to the waste-equipment market, a scene largely ignored by high-dollar, private profit seekers. McCracken has been in the waste equipment industry since 1988 and launched RJM in 2002. "We’re an old, old team in a brand new business," he said. "Frontier is betting on our management team, which has historically enjoyed success, and they also see that the timing is right to expand in the marketplace." McCracken added that the investment could be a harbinger of positive turns in the fiscal future of the waste-equipment business.