U-R-G On the Go
An informative podcast for the United Recyclers Group. Each week we will feature an entertaining guest that will share their knowledge and information with you, providing you with tips and tools to help you become a more profitable business.
U-R-G On the Go
From Insurance to Auto Parts: A Recycler's Journey
Casey Cornell never planned to become an auto recycler. Working at State Farm Insurance with a side business in construction, he stepped in temporarily when his father fell ill, thinking he'd manage the small parts yard until his dad returned. Twenty-two years later, Casey has transformed Cornell's Auto Parts from a modest operation with Hollander books and minimal inventory into a powerhouse spanning 65 acres with nearly 50 employees and multiple delivery trucks on the road daily.
What makes Cornell's story particularly compelling is his strategic approach to growth. Unlike many established yards that resisted technological change, Casey embraced computerization from the beginning. "I wanted the computer and I wanted the easy route," he explains, highlighting how his insurance industry background influenced his openness to systems and programs that streamlined operations.
The cornerstone of Cornell's success lies in standardized quality control. Every part—regardless of destination—undergoes identical handling: washing, inspection, photography, documentation, and proper packaging. "Everything gets the same process. That way, you don't mess up," Casey emphasizes. This consistency has built Cornell's reputation across the Northeast recycling community.
Beyond operations, Casey credits industry networking as crucial to his development. Through PRP Northeast involvement, regular management calls, and yard audits, he's continuously refined his approach. His advice for newcomers? "Go see people, listen and learn because there's no sense in reinventing the wheel." This collaborative spirit distinguishes automotive recycling from many other industries, where competitors readily share knowledge and best practices.
As technology continues transforming recycling—from AI-assisted part location to integrated payment systems—Casey remains committed to adaptation while preserving the quality standards that built his business. Join us for this revealing conversation about the unexpected path to success in automotive recycling and the power of industry relationships.
Welcome to URG On the Go Podcast. You are there and we are here for one more great episode of the URG On the Go Podcast. This is the true voice of the automotive recycling industry. It was cracked up for pros that have a need to know that are on the go. I'm DJ Harrington, your co-host, better known as the cardiologist, and the real host of the program is the talented Amanda Morrison, who is director of member-vendor relations for URG. Amanda, how are you this beautiful day, now that I know you're in Canada for this podcast?
Speaker 2:I'm doing good. Yep, I just got to Canada here. I flew into Buffalo, new York, and drove up and I'm in Niagara Falls up here for the Aura show. So it's exciting that we're going to be here for a few days and seeing all the Canadian people that are all the yards that are going to be attending the show. So I'm super, super, super excited about it. How are you doing, dj?
Speaker 1:yeah, I'm doing beautiful. It's 65 degrees in beautiful atlanta. I'm getting ready in a couple weeks to be in beautiful sunny florida where I'm going to bring their suntan lotion to bring all cop with you lotion, to bring the ball cap with you, bring your bathing suit to hang around the pool and be ready for the URG slash Team PRP annual premier conference of the year. That's April 10th through the 12th. But we got a great guest today.
Speaker 2:I know I know this guy well and this will be a good one, amanda, so I agree, even though you're in canada, the only canadian, I know is hey, hey, yeah, yep, that's it different language up here, wonderful people, and I love when they come toG because it's really a great group. It is.
Speaker 1:Now Steve Fletcher and the whole team is just great, great people. Of course Fletcher is one of the finest additions to the industry we ever had, from Canada, that's for sure.
Speaker 2:I agree, yep, and it's his last show this year, so we're excited to see him and see him off this year, so I'm glad that I'm able to attend. It will be awesome.
Speaker 1:Okay, so I'll turn it over to you and you can introduce our great guest for today.
Speaker 2:Thank you, dj. Yes, so we have Casey Cornell from Cornell's Auto Parts in Greenfield Center, new York. Casey, how are you doing today? Thanks for being on, hey, amanda.
Speaker 3:I'm doing great Thanks for having me.
Speaker 2:Awesome. How's the weather over there? Was it snowing earlier today we got a little snow, not today, yesterday, but it's cold and breezy.
Speaker 3:Back to fall, winter weather.
Speaker 1:We had a little spring last week.
Speaker 3:It was beautiful.
Speaker 2:Of course it gets cold right whenever I get up here, right yeah yeah awesome. Yep, I actually had to go buy a jacket. I forgot my jacket because it was 80 degrees when I left Texas today, so I went and bought a jacket at TJ Maxx to keep me warm while I'm here. I completely forgot it'd be different weather up here. You sure you just didn't want a new jacket.
Speaker 3:Well, you know, there's always a plus for that DJ Maxx to keep me warm while I'm here.
Speaker 2:I completely forgot it'd be different weather up here, you sure? You just didn't want a new jacket. Well, you know, there's always a plus for that. Never a bad day if I get to shop a little bit, right? Well, dj was telling me that he's been to your yard. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got started and how you started out in the automotive recycling industry?
Speaker 3:Yeah, sure, I started about 22 years ago kind of unexpectedly. I grew up around the business here but never worked in it. I was not an employee of my father's when my father ran it. So my dad, you know he spent his life, started after high school and he went to auto mechanic school and he worked at a dealership for about six months and didn't like working for people. So he ended up starting his own repair shop and grew that over the years. And then he grew, he had a repair shop and a body shop and ran that for over 20 years, 25 years, and always had this little parts yard in the back that he would get parts for his repair shop and body shop. And when he decided he didn't want to deal with having employees and deal with the body shop and the repair shop anymore, he started concentrating on the parts a little bit, but kind of as a side hobby. It was a phasing out retirement type of situation. So I had a job at a state farm insurance.
Speaker 1:Oh cool.
Speaker 3:And I did a lot of construction on the side. I built decks and sided houses and roofing and so kind of that was my thing. I wasn't a car guy, really to say, but my dad got sick unexpectedly and I was fortunate that my state farm job. I made my own schedule and I could kind of come and go as I pleased. So I kind of stepped into his thing to just kind of keep things going while he was gone, thinking that that he was going to come back to work so.
Speaker 3:I managed it for a while with this one employee and we didn't do a lot, but we kept things going and anyway, yeah, my dad never ended up coming back, but I never left. I'm still here 22 years later.
Speaker 2:Okay, and so it went from kind of the repair shop side of things to expand to the recycling side of things whenever you took over.
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, yeah, the repair shop and the body shop were leased out when I took over. Okay, the repair shop and the body shop were leased out when I took over, okay. And the small yard my dad had, with one guy there. They just basically sold to like local people would come in, had a baby and a new wife and I had to set my sights a little higher than that.
Speaker 3:So I jumped right in with all my two feet and said let's build this thing up. And now we're sitting here with close to 50 employees and six to eight trucks on the road every day, and wow creating a real monster, that's incredible.
Speaker 2:How many, how many acres is your, is your spot now?
Speaker 3:we. We own about 65 acres oh, wow um, we only use about half of it, okay. The rest is woods oh, oh, awesome.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, very cool. So what are some of the biggest challenges that you've had? So obviously you've grown it from that one person running the yard to the 50 people. What are some challenges that you've had with hiring and training and getting people to come in and work at the automotive recycling yard you know, come in and work at the automotive recycling yard well, when we started out um we had no computers. We had, uh, you know, hollander books and and we had, uh, I've seen those hollander books, those things are monsters.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, and I didn't even know how to use it, but I figured it out yeah but we had. You know, we didn't have really much inventory that was desirable, it was mostly streetcars and things like that, and you know, and in the beginning I didn't have much money. So I can remember, you know, going to the auction and I'd buy a car and there were still 200 more cars in the auction but I couldn't buy anymore because I already spent all my money.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:But you know there was a lot of challenges with that and I would say back in the beginning the people were easier to come by than they are now.
Speaker 3:That's a big challenge that we're facing today. Yeah, but I was, you know, fortunate that when I came into the company I was used to the insurance company way and we had computers and we used programs and systems and so we kind of I jumped on all those things that a lot of maybe the older yards that been around a long time might say I don't really need that computer. You know, I have my book. I wanted the computer and I wanted the easy route and I wanted all the stuff.
Speaker 3:So I think that was very helpful as far as growing, taking advantage of the technology that's there for you. Yep.
Speaker 2:Yep, Yep, Definitely. And so for for your hiring processes, what do you do? What's your main avenue for hiring people? Now you said it's a little bit harder to find people. Do you have kind of good avenues that you go to for trying to hire or do you have quite a few loyal employees that are at the yard?
Speaker 3:I mean we have a pretty good crew right now, but really we try to we get our best people from the people that are already here. So we try to. You know we use Facebook and that at least gets it out there. But then maybe our guy that works in a different department sees we're looking for somebody and then he says, hey, did you see that they're looking for somebody? And then he talks to that guy. That guy talks to us. I mean Facebook really has done better for us than any Indeed or any of that other stuff on the market that costs a lot more money.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's a good little tip. That's awesome. And so Dede was telling me about your kind of state of the art shipping and freight processing and what you guys do. Can you elaborate a little bit on what you guys are doing at the yard?
Speaker 3:well, dj was talking it up. I don't know how state-of-the-art it is, but you know hey, dj thought firsthand I did it we put everything through, you know, a process. We're in the prp northeast and we all hold each other to standards.
Speaker 3:So I mean we have a washing bay that we wash all the parts, everything. Everything gets inspected, quality control inspected, checked for you know, say, if it's a headlight checked for broken tabs or anything like that, it gets wiped down, buffed, cleaned, whatever it needs. And nowadays, with EZQC, everything gets photographed and documented. Everything gets photographed and documented, and you know. And then it's packaged with bubble wrap or whatever it needs and boxed and taped and labeled, and so every part goes through the process. Doesn't matter who it's for. If it's for a local customer or PRP yard or a yard in Texas, everything goes through the same process and goes out the other side.
Speaker 2:Kind of have a QC process that goes through. I think that's one of the things that a lot of these yards can learn from, you know is just making sure that they're producing the same quality throughout. You know selling to their you know main customers at the yard, or if it's an insurance quality part, or however their orders are coming through, they're not, you know, discriminating against the part that's coming through. You know they're making sure that every single part is being taken care of the way it's supposed to be.
Speaker 3:Go ahead. Sorry, but we had some guys in the early days. We go oh, this is for so-and-so, we don't need to clean it. I'm like no, no, everything gets the same process. That way, you don't mess up. And oh, I thought it was for him but I didn't clean it. But it was actually for him, no, Every part the same, it doesn't matter, they all go the same Makes sense, makes sense.
Speaker 2:All right, dj, is it time for our first break.
Speaker 1:Let's take a commercial break and folks will be right back with the great Casey and he knows what he's talking about.
Speaker 2:So hang tight.
Speaker 1:Grab a pen paper and get ready for some learning. We'll be right back.
Speaker 4:URG can help you streamline your business for maximum efficiency and increased profits. Access powerful software and unique tools. Receive top-level training with industry experts. Network with hundreds of recyclers. Employ e-commerce solutions to boost business. Receive support, resources and discounts Starting at just $150 a month. It's the smartest investment you will make for your business this year. Go to u-r-gcom and click on become a member. Your path to a profitable future is just a click away. That's u-r-gcom.
Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. You know you're listening to the number one podcast in the automotive recycling industry. You are G on the go podcast, DJ Harrington, Amanda Morrison and we have a great guest, Casey Cornell. By all means, I want to remind all of you every week you get an opportunity to listen to this podcast, Please. We're available on Spotify, iTunes, Andorra, Stitcher, iHeartMedia, Andorra, Stitcher, iHeartMedia, Amazon or wherever you get your podcasts and I cannot thank over 9,000 listeners every week. Tune into this podcast and I want to say thank you, and I know Amanda and everyone at URG and Team PRP are really appreciative. So, without further ado, Amanda, I'll pass it over to you and I love the Facebook tip.
Speaker 2:I thought it was a great idea. Yes, we're getting lots of tips from Casey Cornell at Cornell's Auto Parts, and thank you again for coming on today, Casey. I wanted to kind of touch base on what you were saying, the quality control and kind of getting your employees to a certain spot. What are your? You know, whenever you do hire someone, what's the training look like for them? Are they shadowing someone or how do they go about with the training and getting ready for their position?
Speaker 3:Well, if we hire somebody for QC, they'll train alongside one or two guys on the shipping table. There's a team of guys out there there's about between six and eight guys normally, so they'll train with one or two of them, not maybe like in a team, or they'll train with this guy one day and then train with this guy another day to see kind of different ways of how guys do things. We also have a training manual that we put out in our group, prp Northeast group. We made a training manual. So there's a spiral guidelines 30 pager or whatever and it kind of goes through each part and what you should do with it, how to clean it, how to pack it, and there's a test. We have a test that they have to take. That's awesome.
Speaker 2:Okay, so how long do they work until they take that test?
Speaker 3:Some of them are still working until they pass the test. I love it.
Speaker 2:So you give them a little bit of leeway and just make sure that they're trained up properly and then kind of let them go right.
Speaker 3:Yeah, and you know, if you're not familiar with EasyQC, that's a pretty good training tool also because it walks you through the steps of the part. When you're finalizing the part, it asks you is the right part? Is it this correct side? Is it cleaned properly? Is anything broken? So that helps a lot too in training. If you set that up right, it's. If you set that up right, it's, it's step-by-step, your job every day.
Speaker 2:That was. That was there for you guys. That's a great opportunity for people to learn from. That's awesome. So how do you see the automotive recycling industry evolving in the next, you know, five to 10 years, I know. Obviously AI and technology is evolving quickly. What do you think is kind of coming up for the automotive recycling industry as a whole?
Speaker 3:Well, I've seen, as far as the technology side you're asking. Yeah, I mean, it's changed so much since I've started this that it's almost hard to think, geez, it's going to do as many changes again. I don't know how it could, but I'm sure that there will be some changes in how things are done and streamline some things. Hard for me to fathom what it's going to look like in 10 years, but I'm sure it'll be different.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was looking on the Professional Savage Forum the other day and it was looking like I think Michael Miske from Butler was posting that AI is now a part of Google and so if you Google a part, it'll kind of give you some more information and drill it down a little bit further. That was pretty cool, yeah.
Speaker 4:I did see that too.
Speaker 2:Did you see that? Yeah, it was very interesting. So it seems like things are becoming more and more you know, with AI just kind of being a know-all, be-all, having it be so easily accessible for your employees, I'm sure it's going to be a lot easier for you in the future.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it should help. It should definitely help our people. I know that our yard guys are constantly Googling a part or a part number to try to even find out where it is in the car, and they'll just Google it. And yeah, it says it's under the left seat or whatever. So I mean that's things you couldn't do 10 years ago.
Speaker 2:Right, yep, yep, it's kind of crazy where it's going towards. So you guys are. Are you guys heading to the conference here in April, april 10th or the 12th?
Speaker 3:Yeah, we have a few guys going.
Speaker 2:Awesome. Who are you bringing? Is it salespeople or?
Speaker 3:I think we have two salespeople going and the GM and I have a kind of have a conflict, but I think I'm gonna get a day or two in there awesome.
Speaker 2:Okay, what, what? What are some of your favorite parts about the conferences in general? You know you are G or any of the conferences that you go to what. What are some of your favorite parts about going to them?
Speaker 3:well I they've changed for me over the years. I mean, I started to go, started out in the early days going to Albany to like our New York show. I think I got a flyer in the mail and said, oh, what's this? I'll go see it, you know. And when I first started to go it was like, oh my God, I didn't know they had this tool or I didn't know that I could buy this or sign up for URG. I probably didn't know what URG?
Speaker 2:was when.
Speaker 3:I first saw it right. So in the beginning of that it was great to fill my shop full of tools in that. And then, excuse me, the networking and meeting people was kind of the second part, right. And like I said to DJ before, I would have to take my wife with me. She'd do all the talking because I was a little bit shy, and then, you know, she would do the talk and then I'd get a couple beers in me and then I'd be good to go and mingle and meet people.
Speaker 2:Yep, yep.
Speaker 3:Got to get those courage beers. Yes, yes, but after 20 years now. I know a lot of people so I don't have that problem anymore and I like to go back to the shows now. Just to you know, see people I haven't seen and you know you always pick up a tip or two. You're going to learn something If you don't. You didn't, you didn't pay attention, right.
Speaker 2:Mm, hmm, yeah, yeah, and I think I think having those actionable items, you know, going from the conference and kind of coming from it and really evaluating what you've learned, is kind of the key thing right. Going back and like, okay, what did I take away from this, you know it wasn't just talking to people and doing your thing but just having the list of actionable items to bring back and actually be able to implement is huge, yep.
Speaker 3:And it makes your place better and makes your makes yourself better over the years.
Speaker 2:Agreed, Agreed. I know, DJ, DJ. Did you want to ask any questions? I know you. You've been talking him up on these breaks that we've had.
Speaker 1:Well, I want to tell all our listeners I amanda ahead of time. When amanda says we have casey cornell from cornell's and I thought, oh, you could not have picked a better person. He is excellent, his whole family is excellent. But I met him at prp in new york and then ron matthews brought me down and what I wanted to ask? Ron Matthews is a dear friend of the industry. I met Ron Matthews when he was solely the car part representative for the Northeast and that was his position. Then he got into doing cameras inside recycling centers. So as you got bigger, you used his camera system and then now he's doing Axe Pavement. Of course he's going to be at URG at a booth heading up Axe Pavement. So what I wanted to ask Casey I understand now how the thing has grown because he was a carpenter and a roofer and you know it's like a subcontractor at a time. So, casey, can I ask you what do you think about Ron Matthews, and did the camera system at your place help out?
Speaker 3:well, I knew Ron from way back in the beginning, way before camera systems, ron. Ron helped me out a ton In the early days. Like I said, I had that Hollander book and then I ordered a Hollander ebook or something I thought was oh, this is so great, I can just type in here and it tells me all the. It prints me out the page of the book instead of flipping through the whole book, right? So I thought that was the greatest thing ever.
Speaker 3:And then I don't know exactly how I figured out what checkmate was, but I I found out what checkmate was and that was our, our next stepping stone. I had signed up for checkmate and had it for a year or two. I actually had a guy that came to work for me who knew Checkmate, so we never got any training on it or anything. We just installed it over the phone, I think, and started using it. So I used it for a year or two and I was like I don't know, I don't really like this Checkmate thing. I'm going to probably try Hollander. So I called Checkmate and said what do I have to do to turn this off? And I think it was probably at 10 o'clock in the morning and by 1.30 in the afternoon, ron Matthews was sitting in my office saying hey, what do you mean? You want to turn this off? So that's how I met Ron. He came with his wife and his mother-in-law and his father-in-law.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Speaker 3:Showed up to try to talk me out of it and we ended up becoming very good friends and we hang out, our families hang out together and we vacation together and we've done trade shows together and Ron's a great guy, a great advocate for the industry.
Speaker 1:Yes, he is, I think, the same of him, amanda. I'm going to say that. But what do you think? Ron Matthews has done a lot for the industry.
Speaker 2:He does, he does Yep. And what he's doing with Axe is incredible. And we have an integration on our websites where you can have Axe payments on your websites to take payment as well. And you know he's just such a great advocate for the industry as a whole and he's been in it and you know works with recyclers and doesn't do just you know the one job He'll he'll. If you need something, he'll he'll. You know, break down walls to help you.
Speaker 1:So he does. It does a fabulous job for sure. Yeah, and Casey, ron Matthews has always bragged about you, your family, your daughter. I mean just has bragged about the whole relationship. And when I see guys like Ron in the industry, ron Matthews to me is just a go-giver. I mean he wants to help anybody in this industry. Don't get bitter, get better. And Ron Matthews is that person. So I'm glad you said that. So now that we said all the nice things about Ron Matthews.
Speaker 2:Yes, and we're, we. We love to have all the vendors at the conferences, right, that's. That's one of the things that I think that you know people can sometimes overlook because you know they're excited about the session, but the vendors are the reason why we're there. You know they're the ones that sponsor and pay the money to go there and being able to see them and kind of and talk with them, just like you were saying, casey, and bringing it, bring back that technology to your yard and really utilize it and help your day-to-day processes, right.
Speaker 3:Right, 100%. I mean you can't. There would be no sense of having a show without the vendors, obviously. Yeah, I mean I guess we could all stand at the bar and drink all day.
Speaker 2:Just sessions and drinks, yeah, no. Well, and I think that's the fun part too, is that these vendors, you know, will go to the after-hours events and go and mingle and talk with everyone too, and I think that's a huge thing for the industry. Everyone's best friends, you know, we're all good friends and we all love to see each other and it's like a big family reunion when we get together sure is lots of fun.
Speaker 1:Yeah, man, I want not, as you brought that up, I wanted people to know. I call the vendors the isle of assistance because 18 prp and on april 10th through the 12th, it's the people, like brian collins, from commercial forms, that go out of their way. If he if you have you knew that you have a need for something that he doesn't carry, he ends up attaining it so that you will have it. So it's. It's those kind of people you know when you talk about car parts car parts going to be there. Hollander is going to be there. All of these good key people with software, if you want to know, the very best. Vinmatch Pro is going to be there. There's so many good people that are part of URG Team PRP Premier Conference that we need to be there and we need to be the sponsors and be there in the position where go by and learn, because these people at the exhibitor area will really help you grow your business exactly, exactly, all right.
Speaker 2:Is it time for one more break?
Speaker 1:yeah, let's take one more break and we'll come back and do the wrap-up with a great guest, jason Cornell. All right, folks, hang tight, we'll be right back.
Speaker 4:The URG Scholarship Foundation was founded in 2014 in honor of individuals who give their talent, time and, very often, their own finances, to ensure the growth and success of the automotive recycling industry. We understand college is not for everyone, so each year the Foundation offers substantial financial scholarships to auto recycling employees and the children of employees that are attending four-year and technical or trade schools, to assist with their education. Don't leave money on the table. If you have a child or if you're interested in attending continuing education, this money is available to you. Go to u-r-gcom and click on the Scholarship Foundation tab. Urg keeping our industry strong through education.
Speaker 1:Welcome back listeners. This is URG on the go podcast and this has been a great one with Casey Cornell. But I want to remind all of you if you'd like to hear another industry expert like Casey, by all means we have a hotline number right here at the URG podcast center. The number at the center is 706-409-5603. If you want to hear an industry expert like a Rob Rainwater, a Mike Conco, a Ryan Falco, by all means let Amanda know and we'll do our best. That's how we got Casey Cornell on. Somebody called in and said, hey, how about listening to Casey Cornell? So we had a Dan Snyder. That's how we got Dan Snyder on. So dial 706-409-5603 and we will do our best to do just that. All right, Amanda, bring it back to you. This is the last segment of a great podcast.
Speaker 2:Thank you, dj. All right, yes, we've got Casey Cornell from Cornell's Auto Parts here in New York. I'm actually very close by. I looked up how far you were from where I'm at and I think it's about a four-hour drive. Otherwise I'd be trying to come over and see you. But maybe we'll do a yard tour here one of these days with christy and kristen and try to come see your yard. It sounds like a a pretty epic place. Um, so you guys started 22. Yeah, yeah, we would love to come out there. But, um, you guys started 22 years ago. Obviously you were saying that you had done that. Um, I just wanted to kind of go back to a little bit more of of where you kind of came up through the ranks. Obviously, you started out doing more of the automotive recycling side when you guys started hiring more people. Were you still CEO at that point?
Speaker 3:I mean, I've done it all here, I started at the beginning. I mean I've done it all here. I started in the beginning.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:In the beginning I did the towing and I did the dismantling and you know, I kind of worked back end a lot longer until I would say until around COVID. I had a bunch of good sales guys here. I had Rob Rainwater here for a few years.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I was actually going to ask that. Did he start out there then, or was he kind of how did that fit in? Okay?
Speaker 3:I mean, he's local here, he lives closer now than he did before, but he, um, you know he was a JVAP guy before Phoenix and all that. And then, um, he spent some time working remote, kind of remotely, in Connecticut for bishops, which you know that has its own challenges. And and then, uh, when him and I got together, um, you know, it was nice that he was able to be able to come to work every day, 20 minutes away and, you know, be back on site.
Speaker 2:And.
Speaker 3:I mean, he taught me a lot. We changed a lot of things we did here and got it pointed in the right direction. And then COVID was a weird time for a lot of people and that's when Rob left here and went into full consulting mode, mode which has been great for him yeah and kind of worked out because I was able to, you know, step into the um, you know the, the, the in charge seat, and not pull parts and do anything like that.
Speaker 3:But um, you know, run the company, so there you go anything like that, but run the company, so it's been great and we've continued to grow from there Very cool Kind of had his consulting before he was consulting right.
Speaker 2:Yeah a little bit. That's awesome. That's very cool. So obviously your processes have changed over the years. What would you recommend to someone that was coming into the industry as a new recycler? What are some tips that you would give to them?
Speaker 3:Well, the best thing that you can do is to go on yard tours. Go see people, listen and learn, because there's no sense of reinventing the wheel. People have figured this out. I mean, a lot of things that I do here is because I copied them from somebody else. You know, that's your best and fastest way to learn on how to do things is to make friends and see what they do, and kind of networking at these conferences as well.
Speaker 2:Right, you know taking advantage of the conferences in your area, whether it be a state conference or URG or ARA conference, right.
Speaker 3:Yep, definitely, you know, meet people you don't know. You know sometimes when you're small and you're starting out you're kind of nervous about oh, that's so and so that's that big place. You know, but you never know you might be a partner with that big place someday. I mean all the PRP Northeast guys back in the old days they were way bigger and stronger and you know you could see them as competition but you shouldn't because nobody's really competition there's plenty of customers for everybody that's selling parts, yeah.
Speaker 2:I think that's kind of one of the unique things about this industry is that you know the big players will give advice to the small players too. You know, if you go to these conferences and you ask the Shannon Nordstroms or ask the, you know even. You know Junior from Bionic. Or you know the PRP Northeast yards the bigger yards that are doing really well they'll sit down andic. Or you know the North PRP Northeast yards the bigger yards that are doing really well They'll sit down and tell you. You know exactly what they're doing and how they got there. So I think that's one of the coolest parts that I've seen being in this industry for six years now. I've not seen that in any other industry that I'm aware of, which I think is just such a cool aspect, and you've learned from a lot of key players. Obviously You've got Rav Rainwater, and who else do you kind of work with in your area? Do you kind of network? Obviously you're with PRP Northeast. Do you network outside of that at all?
Speaker 3:I mean a little bit. I do, but most of my influence has come now out of our PRP Northeast group.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:And it's I mean it's mainly because that's where I spend my time. Right, I'm on that management board for PRP Northeast. We have a manager's call every Tuesday and we have an owner's call once a month. So I mean we do audits.
Speaker 3:I'll be going down to New York City to Alliance and Sawmill next month, and you know we'll all walk around their yards and look around and see what's what and get pointers and give pointers and you know we'll have meals together. And that's really where you learn is, with all those, any of those networking opportunities you can do.
Speaker 2:Yep, 100%. I love that Awesome. Well, obviously we kind of want to talk a little bit about the conference. Are any of your guys golfing at all this year? Do you have any of your?
Speaker 3:people golfing in the golf tournament?
Speaker 2:No, I don't think so. All right, next year you'll have to. Next year we'll be in Denver, and so it should be decent enough to be able to golf. The Scholarship Foundation is great, I know, and have you had anyone that's applied to the Scholarship Foundation, casey, at your yard?
Speaker 3:I think my daughter did.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, yep, so that's Did she? No, she can't can she.
Speaker 3:I don yeah, ok, yeah, so that's, she knows she can't, can she?
Speaker 2:I don't think she can yeah. So, essentially maybe someone else at the yard.
Speaker 3:I think some of our, some of our.
Speaker 2:I think I've seen some yeah.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:That's awesome, yeah, so it's a great cause. I know you've donated to the cause before and you know getting people to you know participate in that has been just great. Having these scholarships go out to these people that are in need of some funds for scholarships for, you know, going to either a trade school or college in general, it's just a great way to kind of pay back the industry that we're a part of right. Yeah definitely Awesome. All right, dj. Do you have any other questions for Casey?
Speaker 1:No, except Casey. I am so honored to know you that this has been a great podcast and I want to remind, before I turn back over to you, amanda, if you have an item that we could put up for auction for the URG Scholarship Foundation, to enhance the scholarships of all our young people and for some of our fellow employees, by all means bring it with you to the conference. I'm bringing a humidor. I actually have a car book I have, as Shannon Nordstrom teased me about, michael Vick signed a football and of course Shannon Nordstrom had to give about Michael Vick signed a football and of course Shannon Nordstrom had to give me a hard time over it. Who's going to want a Michael Vick signed autograph? And I said, well, you never know, never know.
Speaker 1:Never know. He's a quarterback from Atlanta that went to Philadelphia.
Speaker 2:Yep.
Speaker 1:Now he's going to be a new coach of a college team. But if you have an item that we could do for the auction, raise funds for this URG Scholarship Foundation. So any of those would be very much needed. Awesome. And, of course, if there's anybody has questions, just go to u-r-gcom and learn all the information. Or Jennifer McPherson's hotline number goes right to her desk, 512-677-6202. And you can ask Jennifer if there's anything you'd like to sponsor, Maybe sponsoring the golf cart. You know the hospitality golf cart there. You know, for the golf course, that could be something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, awesome. Well, we hope to see everyone there at April 10th through the 12th in Orlando. It's going to be a great conference and, casey, we just want to thank you so much for being on today. It was great learning about your yard and how you guys got started and getting some good tips and tricks for these automotive recyclers listening. So thank you again for coming on.
Speaker 3:Well, thanks for having me. It's a great time.
Speaker 2:All right, dj. I think we're good to go.
Speaker 1:You got it and Casey, tell your family. I said hi and to all of our listeners, I'll see you in Florida on April 10th through the 12th. See you then.