With this year鈥檚 theme focusing on 鈥淟a Buena Vida鈥濃�擳he Good Life鈥攖he 13th Annual Garbageman鈥檚 Invitational has consistently been the premier event to attend in the waste and recycling industry. Developed in 2010 by Ray Burke (Clean Energy) and Kerry Holmes (CONFAB), the Garbageman鈥檚 Invitational is held at the Journey Golf Course at the Pechanga Casino Hotel and Resort in Temecula, CA. It continues to be a social platform where C-level executives, CEOs, owners, presidents, and other important decision makers from public and private hauling companies (both large and independent) can network in a relaxed environment without the pressure of formality. After taking some time off due to the pandemic, the event surged back in 2021 and 2022, and this year, it sold out within a week of opening registration, with more than 300 registered for the opening party and a full golf tournament. In addition, according to Ray, when the event started, 90 percent of attendees came from California, with 10 percent across the rest of the country. Now, attendees travel from all over the country, with 50 percent of people coming from the Western U.S. and 50 percent from the rest of the U.S. 鈥淲e have people coming from Hawaii to Florida to New York and all other parts of the country. The event sold out within a week. The demand to get into the Garbageman鈥檚 Invitational is huge and everybody knows that if they don鈥檛 jump on it right away, they won鈥檛 get to participate in the golf tournament.鈥�
Golf Tournament: Enjoying the Course
The golf tournament is the part of the event that everyone looks forward to the most. Ray said it is so popular that they have not only added another day to the golf outing, but they have also had to eliminate some of the sponsors from playinggolf, so that just the customers/attendees could take advantage of the tournament. 鈥淓ach hole has a sponsor at it where they give out a prize or a gift. Sponsors used to be able to play with some of their customers but since we鈥檝e gotten so busy, only the attendees play golf on the first day. However, on day two, we do allow them to go out and play with their customers.鈥�
Kerry agrees, 鈥淲e limited the golf tournament participants to 130 max because any more than that, it becomes too time-consuming to get through the course and we want people to enjoy the experience and not be out on the course too long.鈥�
Starting out in 2010 with eight sponsors, the event has grown to include 18 sponsors this year with one at every hole giving out different items. 鈥淓ach vendor tries to stay within the theme, 鈥楲a Buena Vida鈥�. Some of the sponsor giveaways this year will include bottles of whiskey, Clean Energy is handing out custom cigars and lighters with their logo on them, another vendor is doing fedoras with their logos, and CONFAB is doing custom cigars and t-shirts with their logo on it,鈥� says Kerry. 鈥淓ven the Environmental Research & Education Foundation (EREF) puts a group of their staff out on a golf hole and passes out hats, etc. It gives them the opportunity to talk to everybody about the organization and the scholarship and the money that鈥檚 raised. In addition, each one of the sponsors have a game at their holes where the winners can earn great prizes like iPads, Apple watches, and gift cards.鈥�
鈥淭he participants feel like it鈥檚 Christmas because they can鈥檛 wait to get to the next hole to get a gift. When they are done, their golf carts are stacked with shirts, hats, golf clubs, speakers, sunglasses, etc. It鈥檚 a fun event,鈥� says Ray.
Party at the Blackwater Saloon
Not only does the Garbageman鈥檚 Invitational offer a great venue for the golf tournament, but the opening party is at the Blackwater saloon鈥擟ole Burr鈥檚 80-acre ranch that is seven minutes from the golf course and hotel. As CEO of Burrtec, he is happy to donate his venue that includes food and drink for the opening party. He even has a magician come out from Las Vegas who walks around performing incredible tricks and hires a cigar roller to work there every year. He also sets up golf carts so everybody can tour his ranch and see the horse stables and the other animals that he owns. In addition, he has a candy store next door to the saloon that is completely supplied with candy and ice cream. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unbelievable. It is one of the things that draws a lot of the companies together. Cole has been in the business his whole life, and this is his way of supporting the event,鈥� says Kerry. 鈥淲e shuttle people back-and-forth from the casino to his ranch every 15 minutes so you can come and go as you please on opening night.鈥�
Ray points out that their goal is to get everybody to come to the awards party, because not everybody that attends plays golf, and they also have a lot of raffle prizes that others can win, as well as a silent auction to raise money for EREF. Two of the major auction items this year are a Tahiti trip for two donated by AO NUI Adventures and a fishing trip out of Newport Beach, CA donated by Clean Energy. 鈥淚t is the CEO鈥檚 50-foot Viking commercial fishing yacht that goes out on the ocean. It鈥檚 incredible. That usually goes for about $7,000 or $8,000,鈥� says Ray.
鈥淭his year鈥檚 focus is 鈥楲a Buena Vida鈥�, which means the good life, so with that theme, we will have a gaming casino, theme cocktails, etc. Winners this year鈥檚 tournament will receive custom poker sets with the event logo on all the chips, and every single golfer is going to get a custom deck of cards with the logo on it. It will be great,鈥� says Kerry.
Giving Back: The EREF Scholarship
Part of the Garbageman鈥檚 Invitational goal is to give back to the industry by raising money for the Environmental Research & Education Foundation. In 2011, the event partnered with the organization to raise $6,500 for a scholar. Between 2021 and 2022, more than $50,000 was raised鈥攊n large part due to adding some additional trips to auction off. This year Kerry has implemented a donation upon registration policy that has tripled the EREF donor base from the attendees and the event is still about a month away. 鈥淲e鈥檙e already at over $30,000 which is much more than what we had going into the event last year so it鈥檚 an exciting place to be,鈥� says Kyle Kusterer, Vice President of Development at EREF.
鈥淏ased on when we started the partnership with this event in 2011 and with Ray and Kerry naming EREF as the charity to support, it has really increased in order of magnitude. I want to thank them for supporting us because they are creating 鈥榓 good life鈥� for those scholars that receive the money raised from this event, helping them get through all their school. It鈥檚 awesome,鈥� stresses Bryan Staley, EREF鈥檚 President and CEO. 鈥淚 just can鈥檛 express how much we appreciate it for several different reasons鈥攆rom establishing the scholarship to supporting the graduate students who are really advancing the circular economy, better waste management, and sustainable waste management practices. It鈥檚 been a great partnership, and extraordinarily beneficial to EREF. In addition, by Garbageman鈥檚 Invitational offering support to EREF as part of this event, it has allowed our mission to grow to the west coast where we were not as well known before. Through these relationships, we have worked with a lot of great people out there and this has given us the support that we greatly appreciate.鈥�
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Since 2021, Elisabeth Van Roijen has been the GMI scholar. Bryan explains, 鈥淥ne thing that is unique about this scholarship is that once the scholar is funded, they will continue to be a Garbageman鈥檚 Invitational scholar until they graduate, so sometimes they are the scholar for a couple of years. In this respect, the scholarship is extraordinarily generous because most others are one shot and done. This event not only raises funds for one year, but also until they have completed their degree. This is extraordinarily useful for a scholar that may be struggling to get by and for them to be able to continue to get funded until graduation assures that not only do they graduate and have an impact on the future, but they finish their project that they鈥檙e working on. Elizabeth will be a Garbageman鈥檚 Invitational scholar in 2023 and is expected to graduate in 2024. Then, we will be on the hunt to look for another student.鈥�
Kyle agrees, 鈥淓very scholar that we award the funding to focuses on sustainable, solid waste management. However, for every scholar, we know that there is at least one or more that do not receive funding because we don鈥檛 have the capacity to fund more scholarships based on the endowment. So, this is a great example of Kerry and Ray using their event to not only thank their customers, but to also fund additional scholars over this decade-long partnership.鈥�
A PhD student at University of California at Davis, Van Roijen鈥檚 recent research efforts have been focused on decarbonizing industries which includes shifting from petroleum based to bio-based plastics. Although the bio-based plastic market remains small, it鈥檚 projected to grow rapidly in the coming decades. To fully use the carbon capture potential of these materials, proper end-of-life strategies need to be identified. She states, 鈥淪ince receiving the EREF GMI scholarship, I鈥檝e been able to help close this research gap by investigating the environmental impacts of bio-based plastics at end-of-life. I鈥檓 currently working on scaling up my model to examine what these impacts might look like on a global scale. This research will help policymakers and waste management industries best prepare for a bio-based plastic economy. I am very grateful to the GMI donors for enabling me to focus on this pertinent research and not have to worry about funding. With this funding, I will also be able to attend conferences where I can collaborate with experts in the field and help to generate solutions to the plastic waste problem.鈥�
A Valued Event
Many of the event sponsors have told Kerry and Ray that they really value this event in the industry because Garbageman鈥檚 Invitational brings in people that they want to connect and build relationships with. 鈥�Back in the day when Kerry and I got together, we agreed that we wanted to make the event very special鈥攕omething where you don鈥檛 just show up. You need to be invited,鈥� explains Ray. 鈥淲e went with that concept and selected those sponsors that we thought were important in the industry as well as attendees who were the owners of major hauling companies. As we went on to get more sponsorships, we had people call us constantly to try to get in as a sponsor, but our motto is no competitive sponsors. We have one company representing truck bodies, containers, insurance, engines, etc. This is what鈥檚 made it unique. In addition, just about everybody that attends are decision makers鈥攖he true buyers and the elite of the industry.鈥�
Kerry says, 鈥淭he fact that our event has non-competing vendors is where our sponsors see the value鈥攌nowing that they鈥檙e not going to have a competitor there, knowing that their company will be the sole supplier. They go all out. It is an incredible opportunity to brand their company.鈥�
He also stresses that the Garbageman鈥檚 Invitational is a thank-you to their customers and all the years of business. There is no business agenda at the event and that is one thing that attendees and sponsors view as a real positive. It is just a chance to come out and meet people and have a good time. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an open opportunity for everybody to network without pressure in a relaxed atmosphere. Plus, everybody loves the venue at Pechanga. Not only does it have a fabulous golf course on the property, but the hotel has great restaurants, spa, and pool area. It鈥檚 really spectacular.鈥�
鈥淣ot only are there people networking from across the country, but there are also some of the industry greats there鈥攎any of those who are in the Hall of Fame who make sure that they get out to the reception the night before. It says volumes for the type of event it is, and we are very thankful to be the named charity again this year,鈥� says Kyle.
鈥淭his year, the event is the largest it鈥檚 ever been,鈥� comments Ray. 鈥淲e get a lot of positive feedback from everyone in the industry, and we are glad to do it.鈥�
For more information on the event, visit .
For more information on EREF, visit .
Sponsors
- CONFAB
- Clean Energy Fuel Corp.
- Amrep
- FleetGenius
- AO NUI Adventures
- XL Group
- Cummins
- Hexagon Agility
- S.W.I.M.
- Rush Refuse Systems
- Sloan Vazquez
- CP Group
- Sierra Container Group
- Big Truck Rental
- Cambridge Companies
- Ecology Auto Parts Transportation Services
- MUFG Union Bank, N.A.
- O鈥橞rian Tarping Systems
- Piper Sandler
- ContainerPros
- Burrtec
- Impact Plastics
- 3rd Eye