Waste Connections Moving Headquarters to Texas

Waste Connections Inc. is moving its corporate headquarters to The Woodlands, Texas, from Folsom, Calif., a move that has been hinted at for some time.

The company said that it expects to begin the relocation before the end of the year and complete it by September 2012.

"Our expanding geographic reach and expected continuing growth required us to make an objective assessment of the appropriate location for our corporate headquarters,” said Ron Mittelstaedt, Waste Connections chairman and CEO, in a news release. “The Woodlands offers our employees an attractive, lower cost and more centrally located community well serviced by two major airports.“

Mittelstaedt said the company offered every employee the opportunity to relocate, and almost all are expected to move. The move affects about 100 employees at the headquarters, said Worthing Jackman, executive vice president and chief financial officer, in an e-mail.

Waste Connections expects to incur an estimated $15 million of costs during 2012 because of personnel and office relocation expenses. The company also may incur a loss in 2012 on its existing corporate office lease.

In September the Sacramento Business Journal reported that Waste Connections had gotten proposals to move from Texas and Nevada.

Mittelstaedt told the publication that California has become too difficult of a state in which to operate because of a legislative and regulatory climate unfriendly to business. The company does business in 31 states.

“For good or for bad, we see how 30 other states treat businesses, and California is so far below 30 you can’t even see 30 from here,” he said.

In the article Mittelstaedt said the California legislature “is bought and paid for by labor interests and environmental groups.”

A California native, he said he would prefer to keep Waste Connections based in his home state.

 Jackman, as the company spokesman, declined to comment on the story at the time.

The Woodlands is a planned community of slightly less than 100,000, north of Houston.

Waste Connections was No. 8 on the Waste Age 100 with 2010 revenue of  $1.32 billion and about 6,000 employees. The company was founded in 1997 in Folsom.

Mittelstaedt added in the current statement, "We will be forever grateful to our many friends and supporters across California, and we remain committed to continuing our corporate and employee-led philanthropic support within the local communities where we operate."