Carol Neeley: turning tragedy to profit: woman takes reins of Glennallen business after loss of husband.

• Author: Komancheck, Wendy
• Position: ABM's 2007 TOP WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS - Cover story

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One would describe Carol Neeley as a jack of all trades and a master of all. She's a strong woman, a pioneer of sorts, who had to take over the family business after her husband, Sy, passed away almost three years ago.

Her daughter, Sharon Daniel, is the business manager for Copper Basin Sanitation Service Co., a company that grew out of the Neeley's first business, Copper Valley Construction. Copper Basin Sanitation Service is located in rural Glennallen and serves the surrounding communities of the Copper River Valley, which has 3,700 residents. Daniel says, "Our service area covers 200 square miles--the entire Copper River Valley. We provide services to almost all of (the residents of Copper River Valley) in one form or another."

BUSINESS DREAM COME TRUE

"The Copper Basin Sanitation Service Company was established on April 1, 1990," says Daniel. "We are the service portion of the businesses that the Neeleys started in the early 1960s. We are a sole-proprietorship. The business started with Sy and Carol, and then, was owned solely by Carol since Sy's death. The business has always been Carol's--of the Neeleys, Sy was the dreamer, and Carol was the solid anchor. She has always handled or monitored the administration portion of all the businesses."

Sy's death was a result of a car accident. Carol was severely injured in the accident, which caused her to have multiple injuries and numerous surgeries, even to this day, three years later. Because of this tragedy, Carol has had to pass on her direct management of the business to Daniel, but she stays in the background as a cheerleader and an administrator.

The history of the company was started in the 1960s when the Neeleys opened their first two businesses, Copper Valley Construction Co. and a mobile home park. Daniel explains the evolution of Copper Valley Sanitation Services: "The business had trucks and equipment, plus there was vital need to get rid of the trailer park's garbage. So, we started to haul garbage away to the local dump. Then, other businesses and neighbors asked if we would haul their refuse also. Forty years ago, we started with a Chevrolet flatbed truck. (The company now has three rear-loading garbage trucks, three sewer vacuum pump trucks, two toilet service trucks, one mobile boiler/steamer, and one high-pressure water line cleaner service vehicle, as well as four pickup trucks.) It was a truly kitchen table business. For many years, we operated the...