South Memphis recycling facility expands

Entrepreneur Fred Spikner plans to create five to seven jobs over the next couple of years.
 
His $30,000 redevelopment effort at Park Place Recycling & Logistsics will have a significant impact on the surrounding South Memphis neighborhood.
 
is growing operations at his second business, Park Place Recycling & Logistics at 815 East Georgia Avenue in South Memphis, with $30,000 in renovations underway and plans to hire five to seven people over the next couple of years.
 
The facility at 815 East Georgia Avenue was recently approved for a $20,000 Inner City Economic Development loan from finance committee of the Economic Development Growth Engine for Memphis & Shelby County.
 
Park Place recycles and processes paper and cardboard products from commercial clients within a seven-mile radius of its facility, and it sets up export shipping to foreign buyers.
 
Spikner has helped to revitalize the abandoned building and nearby area, hiring several employees over the years from the neighborhood.
 
It turns out he got into the recycling business through a strange twist of fate. His first business, Spikner Embroidery and Screen Printing, has been in operation in South Memphis for 20 years, and he joined the Memphis Rotary Club through running that business.
 
“The Memphis Rotary led me to go on a clean water trip to Honduras, and while I was there I saw that recycling could be a big asset for them. I really looked forward to going back there and trying some recycling efforts,” Spikner said.
 
When he returned to Memphis, his real estate agent showed him a building that was for sale, and the previous owner had left behind a recycling bailer. He bought the machine and the warehouse and has slowly grown a recycling business from there over the past four years.
 
Today Park Place has a staff of ten, and he expects to grow that number to 17 in the next couple of years.
 
The ICED funds will help with the costs for new lighting and docks doors for the 115,000-square-foot facility, which is surrounded on three sides by residential developments and on one side by commercial activity.
 
Spikner applied for assistance to help improve the appearance to the exterior of the building and screen the operations from neighborhood residences. 
 
“We’re actually getting a fence put up, as well as some security to go with it. We’re just trying to spruce up the area with the loan,” he said. “It’s a real help with what we’re doing. It seems like it came at the right time. It’s been a blessing.”