For more than 80 years, the Highiet family and Modesto Junk Co. have provided scrap recycling services to Modesto, Calif., and the surrounding Stanislaus County/San Joaquin Valley region.
Founded by Alex Highiet in 1920, the company has remained at its original downtown location for 85 years, occasionally adding small parcels of adjacent land to grow to its current size of more than two acres. In 1995, the company built a new two-story office structure (replacing the old barn-like structure that was in place since 1920) and compatible warehouse space and redesigned its outdoor area for a more efficient layout.
But any additional land has been more than outpaced by increasing volume growth over the years, meaning the company must always manage its production and shipping processes wisely to prevent bottlenecks.