After the sale of SDT, he will consult with national company for at least a year
Sidney Torres IV, who earned the nickname "Trashanova" for turning the dirty work of collecting garbage into a glamorous enterprise complete with celebrity endorsements, built the brand of his company, SDT Waste & Debris Services, on a roll-up-your-sleeves tale of post-hurricane innovation.
View full sizeSidney Torres IV was photographed in March outside the SDT command center bus on Canal Street. "From the beginning, starting with one truck right after Katrina, really getting into the business, you know, I saw a need and I jumped in to help," Torres said Thursday in announcing that he'd sold SDT to IESI Corp., a national company with a strong presence in the local market.
Torres, who also is a real estate developer with hotels in the French Quarter, likened the experience of signing away his trash company to an emotional challenge that many parents must face every fall.
"It's a lot like letting a child go on to college," he said. "I have a 13-year-old boy, and the let-it-go part has been the thing that I've struggled with the most."
As part of the corporate transition, Torres will work as a consultant for at least a year for IESI, with a focus on injecting some of SDT's trademark glitz into the company's marketing strategy.
"Trash is sexy in New Orleans," he said. "We've got to make trash sexy across the United States."
As for the celebrity status that SDT has created for him, including a short-lived stint as star of a trash-themed reality show on cable TV, the businessman said he has no plans to quit cruising the French Quarter in the vehicle he frequently uses to check up on his employees.
"I'll still be riding around on that golf cart," Torres vowed.
Michelle Krupa can be reached at mkrupa@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3312. Bruce Eggler can be reached at beggler@timespicayune.com or 504.826.3320.