Pride Disposal – Tigard Named 2021 Tigard Chamber Business of the Year

Pride Disposal, Owned by the Leichner Family, has been selected as the 2021 Tigard Chamber Business of the Year.  This award recognizes a chamber business that has made in-depth contributions to the Tigard community through their business. The winner is active, involved, interested, and enthusiastic about continuing to make Tigard a destination of choice for local business. Nominee must be a current dues paying member.

Pride Disposal is a family-owned and operated business that has served the Sherwood, Tigard, and Washington County areas since 1986. The Leichner family has worked in the solid waste business since 1917. They have been a Tigard Chamber member from the very beginning.

Pride Disposal & Recycling is dedicated to being a good neighbor and an active member of the communities they serve. They have been community event supporters for events such as the Sherwood Robin Hood Festival, the Sherwood Community Services Fair, the Tigard Balloon Festival, Tigard Tualatin Relay for Life sponsors and donors, Christmas tree collection events for regional Boy Scout troops, and many more. They also sponsor several local youth sports teams.

Some other ways Pride Disposal & Recycling has impacted our community is through their significant and generous donation to the Tigard Chamber of Commerce scholarship fund for the last 20 years. They have fully funded at least one scholarship each year.

Pride Disposal hosts an annual holiday drive where they collect donations for a local organization. In November of 2020, the Good Neighbor Center in Tigard was the recipient of the donations that year. In 2018, they collected new and unused socks and pajamas and donated all the items to the Tigard Caring Closet.

Pride Disposal has been a supporter of the Tigard Chamber of Commerce by donating each year to our silent auction. They also were an in-kind donor for the Tigard Chamber building capital campaign in 1999 – 2000 for garbage services.

In addition to their contributions enumerated above, Pride Disposal & Recycling utilizes the most advanced, state-of-the-art equipment available in order to provide customers with service that is reliable, efficient, competitive, and environmentally friendly. These include:

• Digitized Route Integration – Pride owns and maintains a fleet of more than 40 of the most sophisticated trucks on the road today. Each truck is equipped with a Routeware system, which provides electronic routes for their drivers, GPS tracking, and communicates seamlessly with the office computers. This system has allowed them to eliminate paper route sheets from their trucks. As a result, their routes have been paperless for more than 15 years!
• Route Cameras – Each Pride truck has five to six cameras that record the truck’s route. These cameras, which include a camera for backing up, as well as a blind spot camera, are not only paramount for safety but give their company the on-the-job information they need to continually provide excellent customer service.
• Clean Fuels – Beginning in 2010, they have undergone the process of updating their fleet to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) vehicles. The US Department of Energy estimates that CNG reduces particulate matter emissions by 86%, carbon monoxide emissions by 80%, nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 32%, and greenhouse emissions by 25%. That means these vehicles not only keep your air cleaner, but are 50% quieter than diesel trucks.
• High Grade Truck Lubricants – All Pride vehicles stay operational through the use of synthetic Hydrotex Hydrosynthetic fluids and food-grade lubricants that eliminate known carcinogens, substantially reduce harmful exhaust emissions, improve fuel economy, increase the life and performance of their engines, and conserve valuable natural resources.

As you can see, Pride Disposal & Recycling has made their impact felt on our community.  Please join us in congratulating the Leichner family and Pride Disposal with their staff on this well-deserved award.  This award will be formally presented with other Tigard volunteer and business awards at Tigard’s 2021 Shining Stars Community Awards Gala, held on Friday, April 30 from 7-9 p.m. virtually on the Tigard Chamber Facebook page and YouTube channel. Join in on the celebration by pre-ordering dinner from De Angelo’s Catering, get dressed up and join the conversation online while enjoying the award ceremony from the comfort of your home.

For further details about Shining Stars, please contact the Tigard Chamber of Commerce at 503-639-1656 or at jessica@tigardchamber.org  or go to our webpage at www.tigardchamber.org