Rick Spalding grew up in Abilene and got a degree from Baylor University. He was a banker, then a broker, then jumped into the oil business. When the price of crude got down to $10, his dad, Dick Spalding, saw a story in the Wall Street Journal about shredding for profit.

After exploring the idea, Rick bought a box truck, a generator and a shredder so he could shred onsite. That was 1998, millions of pounds of paper, and many expensive trucks ago.