Waste management firm Recology honored Tacos Ameca with a Recycler of the Year award at the Gilroy City Council meeting May 20.
Recology resource specialist Julie Alter said when city officials sent the restaurant a letter about Assembly Bill 1826, a 2014 bill signed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown requiring businesses to recycle their organic waste, Tacos Ameca’s owners reached out to Recology to learn how they could meet the new requirements.
“We really appreciate their participation, and they are doing a great job,” she said.
Karina Fajardo owns Tacos Ameca with Juan Diaz.
“My employees are working hard and doing an amazing job, and this (award) is for them,” Fajardo said.
Tacos Ameca has three locations: 7001 Monterey St. and 9335 Monterey Highway in Gilroy, and 15700 Monterey Road, Suite 160 in Morgan Hill. Its roots trace back to 2013, when Diaz started selling tacos from a truck in a parking lot at Farrell Avenue and Monterey Road. A year and a half later, he had a permanent location for Tacos Ameca at one of Gilroy’s busiest intersections off 10th Street.
Recology, based in San Francisco, collects and processes municipal solid waste, reclaiming useful materials that would have otherwise been sent to a landfill.
Mayor honors Noah Concrete
Gilroy Mayor Roland Velasco presented a certificate to Noah Concrete in recognition of its late founder, who died in February at the age of 64.
Don Alvarez Sr. founded Noah Concrete in 1996 in San Jose, then in 2000 moved the company to Gilroy. The concrete pouring business, which does work throughout the Bay Area, consists of nearly 80 employees.
In 2018, the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce honored Noah Concrete with the Large Business of the Year award. Over the years, the business has donated labor and concrete materials for projects such as the FFA barn at Gilroy High School, the K-9 kennels of the Gilroy Police Department and the helicopter pad at St. Louise Medical Center.
“He was passionate about his business, passionate about his family and passionate about his community,” Velasco said of Alvarez. “He constantly gave back to his community. This certificate is in recognition of him and his legacy he left behind.”
Send business news to Erik Chalhoub at ec*******@ne********.com .