The right people and the right attitude: that’s what’s behind the success of Lawrence Ambrose and his company, Ambrose Disposal Service.
“My father started Ambrose Disposal Service in 1970 servicing just Mathews County. He was quite a man. Dad brought me into the business when I was just 12 years old. After graduating from high school, I began working fulltime and took over the day-to-day operations in 1996 after Dad was diagnosed with cancer. Today, Ambrose Disposal Service has twenty-two trucks and customers in ten counties throughout the Middle Peninsula, Northern Neck, and James City County,” says Lawrence Ambrose, Jr.
Ambrose credits hard work, great employees and God for the successes he enjoys. “I have seventeen employees — some of the best in the world. You cannot accomplish good things without the right people and God’s help.”
Ambrose Disposal Service offers trash collection to residential customers throughout its ten-county service region. Curbside recycling is also available in Mathews, Gloucester and New Kent County. “People are often too busy working to haul their own garbage, or they can’t manage it any longer because of health issues,” says Ambrose. “We are happy for the business, and do our best to help, whatever the circumstances.”
“We also offer front-end commercial work and rear load dumpster services for businesses,” says Ambrose. “We work with a lot of builders providing commercial roll-off containers for construction cleanup and projects.”
Expansion Plans
“I like to bank locally, and I’ve banked with Chesapeake Bank since they opened a branch in Mathews,” says Ambrose. Although he prefers to operate on a cash basis, he acknowledges there are times when borrowing money for major purchases makes good fiscal sense. “We do most of our truck repairs in-house. I want to expand the shop to accommodate six trucks. Chesapeake Bank will help me make that happen.”
Living in Mathews
Ambrose was born and raised in Mathews County. He still lives there with his wife Vicki, owner of Vicki’s Beauty & Tanning Salon. Their two grown daughters live nearby. The demands of his business don’t leave much time to pursue other interests. What free time he has, Ambrose gives to Locust Grove Methodist Church. “I’ve served as chairman of the administrative council — the business arm of the church — for twenty-five years. Together with my church family, we hold fundraisers for breast cancer research and other local causes. It’s a small church with great potential!” says Ambrose.
“When I’m not working or participating in a church activity, I try to get in a little golfing,” says Ambrose. “I like to fish, too. And since I live on the Piankatank River, I just walk out to my dock and cast off from there.”
Chesapeake Bank is proud to have helped serve the needs of Ambrose Disposal Service and Lawrence Ambrose. As his business keeps growing, we’ll keep feeling fortunate to be a part of his success story.
