国产麻豆

With a philosophy of work smart, work hard, Camo Crew鈥檚 core values focus on being hungry for professional growth, dependability, and comraderie. The company stays ahead of the competition with consistency, customer service, and emphasizing their roots.

Camo Crew鈥檚 Andy Weins鈥 journey into the waste and recycling industry started when he was a young boy, and his dad used to take him around the nice neighborhoods the day before trash day to go 鈥渢reasure hunting鈥. Andy鈥檚 job was to be the copilot, so he would look for anything of value as they slowly rode past all the trash. They would pick up skateboards, bikes, as well as faucets and door handles, appliances, light fixtures, and anything else his dad could scrap. 鈥淭hat was my normal,鈥 said Andy.

Owner, Andy Weins. Camo Crew serves southeast Wisconsin with 2,000 commercial clients and 8,000 residential clients using 14 pieces of equipment. Photos courtesy of Camo Crew

As he got older, he joined the military and in 2006 he was deployed to Iraq. When he came home in 2007, he was homeless for a year, then started a relationship, which led to getting a house, a dog, and a job. However, he was laid off in 2008 due to the recession, so in 2009, he went back to his roots and started driving around Milwaukee, picking up appliances along the side of the road. 鈥淲hile I was doing that, I also started working in construction and junk removal as a side hustle on the weekends. On one job, I was doing a house cleanup on the south side of Milwaukee when I met this guy who was there to take care of the hazardous waste. He had just gotten a job at WM to run an autoclave at a waste treatment facility, and he recruited me to come work for him. When that facility shut down, I became a route manager and then before my next deployment, I quit and vowed to start my own environmental consulting company when I came home from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba because I didn鈥檛 want to work for anybody else,鈥 Andy explains. During this time, he was going to college and after finishing his bachelor鈥檚 degree when he came back from Guantanamo Bay, he realized as he was writing his capstone paper, it was basically his business plan, so he worked on developing those processes and buying into a junk removal franchise. 鈥淭he third month in business we were the number one franchise in the country and within two and a half years, I had 10 locations across the country with a venture capitalist. Unfortunately, we had a difference in values, and I got out of the brand, and I had to wait until my noncompete was over to start anything. So, I recruited my friend to buy out my franchise for $1 and rebrand it to Camo Crew Junk Removal. My goal was to have him run it for two years and then come back and run the commercial line. The week that my non-compete went away, I bought what was remnants of my old company, rebuilt it as it was failing, and started my podcast. It took a whole year of rebuilding the company since it was over reliant on one client, who was 50 percent of the business. My friend had also put no investment in the long-term over the years. In the end, the client told us they didn鈥檛 need our services and I鈥檓 glad we don鈥檛 have that account anymore. We鈥檙e better for it; we鈥檙e more well-rounded and diversified and not totally dependent on one company. Now, Camo Crew will have been in business for five years in March, and we have been going hard ever since.鈥 Andy鈥檚 goal is to remain independent. 鈥淚 believe strongly in the independent hauler and the ability to tell their unique story. I believe in local entrepreneurship as I have come from a long line of independent professionals.鈥

 

Camo Crew continues to educate and invest in employee leadership development.

Currently, Camo Crew serves southeast Wisconsin with 2,000 commercial clients and 8,000 residential clients using 14 pieces of equipment. Company drivers go out, collect material, and come back to their 27,000 square foot warehouse where it gets sorted, stored, and shipped. Camo Crew has partnerships with vendors that pick up the material and take it to their respective places.

Weathering the Storm
While 2021 and 2022 were boom years, 2023 evened out, and in 2024 Camo Crew鈥檚 business predictions went month by month because it was an election year, and it was a waiting game. Andy says junk removal searches were down by 30 percent from the previous year throughout the summer and that is a huge indicator for him as it comes down to what is going to happen at the federal level. 鈥淚t is not about the different decisions that the presidential administration is going to make that鈥檚 going to affect our business, it鈥檚 the implication that they make. Our industry is pretty recession resistant because whether a business is growing or expanding, we have a base of work and are there when needed. So, the question becomes: are businesses going to be expanding and making purchases? Are homeowners going to be looking to buy homes and move? No one is going to clean out a house until the next person comes in to pay for the cleanup. We have many commercial spaces here in the Milwaukee area and people are continuing to work remotely. There鈥檚 a gentleman that I know who has 10,000 square feet of space. He had over 50 employees working there, but now less than five come into the office. As a result, in May 2026, he鈥檚 going to be getting rid of all of his space, which includes furniture, and the furniture is going to stay there until somebody wants it or the space, and he鈥檚 not going to pay me, the next person who comes in will,鈥 says Andy.

Camo Crew is a customer-centric business that values relationships.

 

At the end of 2024, Andy says they had a high because the election was over, and people finally knew the results and could move forward, therefore, Camo Crew could plan for any implications. 鈥淚鈥檓 in this consistent juxtaposition of knowing that we need to take care of the environment but not at the expense of progress and moving in the right direction. I hate trash; I hate pollution, and I can be capitalistic, which surprises people. I am in favor of bringing back deregulation so businesses can grow, and yet I鈥檓 all about regulation when it comes to protecting the environment. We need to talk about what鈥檚 actually feasible versus something that you know will not happen. Let鈥檚 not create brownfields; let鈥檚 make sure that if we鈥檙e going to put in pipelines that we have 2nd, 3rd, and 4th measures in case something goes sideways, and we don鈥檛 destroy the water. I鈥檓 all about being cautious, but having over-regulation and over-licensing to make things more difficult so people don鈥檛 want to build in the community, I鈥檓 not on board with.鈥

 

Example of the 5-Phase Recovery system that is used at Camo Crew.
The company repurposes these mattresses through donations.

 

He continues, 鈥淩ight now, I am cautiously optimistic. I would say it is going to be a boom year for business. If interest rates go down, people are going to want to start investing again. There is a low barrier into entering the junk removal business since it鈥檚 a low-cost option. Every winter there are a bunch of companies that fall off, so my prediction is that in Q1 there鈥檚 going to be instability because no one knows what the incoming administration is going to do. Then, come April 1st, it鈥檚 going to be boom or bust,鈥 he comments. 鈥淔or me, when the phone is ringing, I鈥檓 out working and when it鈥檚 not, I鈥檓 out marketing. If it鈥檚 a boom, I鈥檓 going to ride it, but if it鈥檚 a bust I鈥檓 going to take market share from those that are startups.鈥

Work smart; work hard. This is how Camo Crew stays ahead of the competition鈥攖he goal is to become the only choice in the market. While some of the startups may take jobs away temporarily, Andy weathers the storm with consistency, customer service, and emphasizing his roots. 鈥淣o one else can tell my story鈥攇etting laid off, starting a new business, picking up appliances on the side of the road, which was the same road my great grandfather would have worked on. These little guys who come in can siphon off a job or two, but we are still here after. One of the companies that came into the market took jobs from me for two years and I bought him out in May 2024 and now he鈥檚 my business partner. After two years of junk hauling, he was debating on whether he wanted to continue doing it as a side hustle or he wanted to get serious. He called and asked me for advice on how to do a job and it turned into me offering him a job. These guys come and go, but I鈥檓 here to stay.鈥

 

Andrew Crum, Integrator, and Casey Crangle, Service Team Manager, on the job.

 

In fact, in 2019, Andy cashed out his 401K to make payroll at his previous company, and now he is in a comfortable position with Camo Crew. He predicts that they will spend money in Q1 and look at it as an investment because he knows what the next nine months will look like as well as what the next three to five years will bring. 鈥淔or the first couple of years, I was in survival mode, now I鈥檓 on a three to five, to 10-year projection where my company is going, and I have the finances and the pedigree to get it there. I am a big believer in work smart, work hard.鈥

Tackling Sustainability
Andy believes that sustainable solutions have three parts: they must be environmentally sound, socially desirable, and economically viable鈥攖hose three points are what he thrives on. 鈥淭he challenge is that everyone wants two out of three points鈥攖hey want the social aspect and then either go extreme on the environment or on the economic.鈥 So, one of Andy鈥檚 goals is to get away from the word 鈥渏unk鈥 in the industry. In 2024, he updated the company name to Camo Crew Responsible Junk Removal. While consulting as a CFO, something he does fractionally for other business, he came across Chuck-It Removal Services. A junk removal company without the word junk in the name, proving that junk does not have to be part of the marketing. He points out that we need to reword and transition perceptions in it the industry, stressing, 鈥淗ow do we bring a level of professionalism to an industry that goes into people鈥檚 houses and businesses and removes unwanted items responsibly. What does that word responsibly mean and what is that commitment? What do you need to put into place? What are the logistics? Yes, I have a 27,000 square foot warehouse but recycling clothes is a whole different issue. You must have infrastructure in order for that to happen. I would love to turn my warehouse into a community recycling facility that is cash flow positive instead of living off grants or small budgets because a lot of the people in our society can鈥檛 go to a landfill because there鈥檚 not one for them anymore. They are unable to drop material off themselves.鈥

Much of the material that is collected is put in gaylords or palletized, so they ship out clothes, electronics, loose items like mattresses, furniture, appliances, etc. Camo Crew鈥檚 partners, such as Habitat for Humanity and Goodwill, pick up the material or Camo Crew delivers items to them. However, he doesn鈥檛 deny that a small percentage of material does end up going to landfill, especially if it is food waste or items are soiled, or contaminated with moisture or smoke, such as mattresses, furniture, or clothes. 鈥淥ur recovery rate on mattresses is about 95 percent, couches are up to 30 percent, dressers and wooden furniture are at about a 50 percent recovery rate, 90 percent of clothes get recovered, while appliances are 100 percent recoverable, repurposed, or recycled. Different product lines have a higher chance of recovery than others,鈥 says Andy.

Camo Crew works with 40 to 50 vendors to keep the material out of the landfill. Some are regional that pickup and the company will go about 250 miles for delivery. The farthest partner they use consistently is a mattress vendor who is in Illinois because they have subsidies that will offset the cost. Their electronic vendor is in Illinois as well鈥攁bout 150 miles away. 鈥淲e are in Milwaukee, which is one of the top 50 cities in the country, so we have a lot of resources here, most within 20 miles. In fact, a guy from Toronto recently called and wants to broker my textiles, so that鈥檚 a possibility. Furniture is by far the most we pick up consistently because they are things that people replace on a regular basis. We also see a lot of TVs and entertainment centers usually as a relative result of someone moving. We still get a good amount of tube TVs, projection TVs, and flat screens. Electronics doesn鈥檛 slow down for us. It is the greatest need for people to drop off and that is why we became a certified site. We had 19 e-waste events this year because people want to get rid of electronics, but don鈥檛 want to pay the high prices to do so.鈥

 

A junk removal company based in Canada that visited Camo Crew鈥檚 warehouse.

 

Company Culture
Camo Crew currently employs 20 staff members with four tiers of employees:
鈥 Recycling specialists鈥攖he ones on the jobs with the drivers and working in the warehouse.
鈥 Drivers鈥攖he ones who drive the trucks; Camo Crew has three types of trucks: pickups with trailer, 26′ box trucks, and dump trucks.
鈥 Crew chiefs鈥攖he ones running the jobs, overseeing the employees and the customers.
鈥 Team leads鈥攖hey do everything a Crew Chief does, plus will do estimates and take on large projects where there are multiple crews; they also train new employees and put them through the six-week mentorship program.

Andy says that everyone essentially starts in the warehouse and are trained as to where things go. It is because they have this end state knowledge in mind when they are on the jobs, they can start presorting and looking for opportunities. 鈥淲e have four values here: hungry, dependability, camaraderie, and esprit de corps. To be hungry it means you want to grow personally and professionally. With dependability: see what you do and do what you say. Camaraderie means you want to work with people and people want to work with you. Esprit de corps means a shared pride, loyalty, and commitment to Camo Crew and the community. At Camo Crew, we keep it simple. There鈥檚 no mission statement, but we have posters throughout the building that reinforce these values. Every coaching conversation we have whether it is up or out, it goes back to those four values. Culture comes down to: this is what we鈥檙e looking for鈥攚hen you hit it great, and if you don鈥檛, there is a problem. We are learning to hire slow, fire fast. We don鈥檛 want to limp guys along until something egregious happens that doesn鈥檛 align with our value or culture. Every quarter, we audit our guys and let go of the ones who don鈥檛 align with our values,鈥 says Andy.

Every Tuesday morning, the company holds one hour of training and every day they have a five-minute stand down where the group spends time not talking about the business, but rather about company culture, safety, any incidents that may have happened, near misses, etc.鈥攅verything that leads back to the company fundamentals and their values. On January 1, Camo Crew rolled out their new six-week onboarding program with six weeks of evaluation. This way, management will know within 90 days if the employee is the right fit for the company. 鈥淲e believe in our fundamentals. We have 10-minute daily huddles to go over all of the jobs. We also do daily end of day reports, so every guy comes in and does a write-up of jobs they did, the size, how many cubic yards were covered, how many cubic yards went to the landfill, how much recycling was brought back, and what was the dollars per hour. They are responsible for their numbers every day on their trucks,鈥 explains Andy.

Not only does Camo Crew work hard, but they also take the time to appreciate the work people do. Once a month, the whole company gathers after work for family dinner at the facility and everyone sits with each other, Andy鈥檚 mother cooks, and they have dinner and conversation. In addition, they give all their employees Christmas gifts and every quarter, Camo Crew focuses on three things with their leadership team鈥攓uarterly strategic planning, training day, and MWR, which is Moral/Welfare/Recreation. This is when everyone goes out together and does a team building exercise. Explains Andy, 鈥淲e did paintball in October, and then in Q1, we will most likely do go carts or something similar, but it must be team building focused, and I get to see strengths and weaknesses from the guys. Recently, I took one of the guys who鈥檚 been with us for seven years to a Packers game, and by me doing that, it shows my employees what we do within our culture. We also honor an employee of the week as nominated by our employees. We鈥檒l take up to three nominations and then we鈥檒l all vote based on what the employee did and how the employee who nominated the person articulated it. This goes back to recognizing people for doing the right thing.鈥

Andy says that people want to come and work for the company now. They see his content on LinkedIn and listen to his podcast. 鈥淩ecently, we had a guy who reached out to us. I used to work for him, and he鈥檚 been following my career, and he wants to come work for us. What we鈥檙e seeing is the consistent content I鈥檓 putting out. I want to share our employee culture with the world. My goal is to have a stack of applicants every time one job opens and we鈥檙e already getting to that point. For three years we struggled, but about July of 2024 it started to change. The industry was starting to slow down, but we were still up year over year and expanding and giving guys hours. People from other junk hauling services spotted our trucks at the gas station, talked to our employees, and saw that we are taking care of people. Every day we have someone reach out saying they want to come work for us,鈥 Andy says proudly. Last year, Camo Crew started recruiting from other companies through an HR company. 鈥淓veryone that we have starting now has industry experience, whereas before there were a lot that were new to the industry, so that鈥檚 a significant shift.鈥

Giving Back
Camo Crew is proud to be a part of their community and participate in several local events, including community parades. They are also one of the main sponsors of the local chapter of Operation Finally 国产麻豆, a national nonprofit that focuses on building mortgage free homes for disabled veterans every year. Camo Crew goes to a dozen of their events annually, from their 5K runs to golf outings, concert series, to house dedications. They also held 19 free e-waste events this year for the community, and partnered with other realtors and organizations to use their parking lots for collection. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really involved in the business community,鈥 says Andy. 鈥淲hen it comes to networking events, we host about 12 to 15 at our facility every year. We also hold open house luncheon tours to teach people about recycling. I have taught professional career programs at University of Wisconsin at Madison, Carroll University and at the high school level. I鈥檓 also involved in a launch program that teaches high school students alternate avenues other than traditional college. I鈥檝e taught kids about creating marketing materials, collateral, brand standards, capitalization, grammar, professionalism, etc. I recently spoke to some 7th and 8th graders at a career fair where there was also a pilot and a police officer. I was the small business owner and, of course, the kids were asking how much money can you make? I told them that you鈥檙e going to spend more money than you make at first; you have to put in the work. And there was some groaning, but I proposed the question: would you rather invest in yourself or a degree that you might use? It really put things in perspective for them. I went to college at 25 years old for a small business ownership and I had a pretty good idea of what I wanted to do鈥擨 wanted to go to the workforce, then to join the military, go to tech school, and then a four-year college. I took a different path from a 鈥榯raditional鈥 one. I did all these things and now I鈥檓 a success story. When I was talking to the class, they asked me what the required college time is to start a business and I said none, you could start a business right now if you wanted to. This is my community, and these are my potential employees and I鈥檓 investing now so someday I can hire them.鈥

Looking Ahead
Andy says he is looking to grow Camo Crew 25 to 35 percent in 2025 as well as starting to entertain another market and looking to see if it is viable. 鈥淲e might put up a satellite location or a second location to an underserved community as a third-tier market. Our whole goal is to have enough relationships in Milwaukee to transfer to Madison, but we鈥檙e not in a rush so we鈥檙e going to go in there methodically.鈥 He explains that many of the apartment associations and condos get stuck with furniture and electronics and a lot of other non-recyclable material that appears in their underground parking or in the trash corral or hallways, so one thing they have rolled out to those types of residences is cart pickup. Camo Crew delivers two carts to them鈥攐ne for furniture and one for recyclable materials, such as clothes like electronics, etc. and they will service the carts once a month with a one-year subscription. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking at this as a challenge since furniture appears all the time at our facility and the opportunity here is, let鈥檚 offer your residents a way to recycle material in a proactive way versus reactive. We rolled that program out at the end of 2024 and I鈥檓 excited to see what percentage of clients are going to take advantage of that.鈥
Andy is proud of what he has grown over the last several years and plans on continuing to build on the business. 鈥淚鈥檓 constantly giving back. Being actively involved in my community is huge for me. It is not just about monetary donations, but also being involved every day.鈥 | WA


Trash Talk Business Podcast

Live at 4pm CT on Tuesdays, Andy鈥檚 Trash Talk Business Podcast covers everything you need to know to start, grow, and scale a trash and junk removal business … along with a little trash talk here and there.

 


For more information, contact Andy Weins at Green Up Solutions/Camo Crew Responsible Junk Removal at (414) 793-6253, e-mail [email protected] or For more information on Camo Crew Responsible Junk Removal, visit .

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