Rody Taylor never set out to be an entrepreneur. In 2006, the founder of KC Dumpster Company decided to earn a little extra money cleaning up residential construction sites around Lee’s Summit.

Thirteen years later, his one-truck enterprise has turned into one of the region’s largest roll-off dumpster businesses and spawned a second company, Taylor Construction Services.

“I was just a guy with a truck that would sweep the floor, pick up trash and haul it to the dump,” Taylor said. “I never envisioned my small construction cleanup business would grow into what it is today. It’s unbelievable to me.”

With a fleet of nine trucks and an inventory of 300 dumpsters, Taylor’s companies employ more than 40 workers and are on track to hit $5 million in annual revenues in 2019. Clients through the years have included commercial and residential construction firms such as McCownGordon, Fogel-Anderson and Summit Custom Homes.

“I’ve probably stepped into 1,000 new homes here in KC,” he said. “I just kind of grew over the course of time.”

KC Dumpster just landed a two-year contract with the City of Lee’s Summit to operate the city’s Resource Recovery Park, a public disposal area at the site of the recently-closed Lee’s Summit Landfill on Hamblen Road. Residents can drop off approved construction materials at the site, and KC Dumpster will haul the waste to an open landfill outside the Kansas City area.

In 2018, Taylor opened a $1 million office and mechanic facility at 1280 Century Drive in Lee’s Summit, an 8,000-square-foot project that he self-managed from initial land acquisition through the construction process. A 1998 graduate of Lee’s Summit High School, Taylor married his high school sweetheart, Sara, who works for the LSR-7 school district as an instructional specialist. The couple has three children and wouldn’t choose to build their lives and livelihoods anywhere else.

“When I decided to set up shop, I knew I wanted to set it up in Lee’s Summit. My family moved here in the 1800s, so this is home.”