The Bunn family has been in business since the early part of the 20th century. Our founder, F. George Bunn, began his entrepreneurship at the age of 19 when he began selling work boots to railroad laborers along the Columbia River in Washington. After several trips transporting his merchandise on horseback, George built a small wooden structure which became Bunn’s Store. Three years later he established the town of Wishram, Washington and over the next several decades built a bustling railroad town. 

In the 1950’s, George’s sons, Dan and Bob, set off to expand the family business beyond Wishram; starting a municipal waste collection company in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. The operation grew over the next two decades, with Waste Control eventually covering every major municipality in Oregon from south Portland to Grants Pass. 

As the business grew, Dan and Bob differentiated their responsibilities: Bob ran Waste Control’s operations while Dan diversified into real estate. During the troughs of the real estate cycle, the steady franchise income from garbage collection could be used to purchase assets at attractive prices; during the peaks of the real estate cycle, assets could be sold and the proceeds used to expand the reach of Waste Control. 

After the sale of Waste Control in 1999, Dan Bunn’s branch of the family formed Rubicon Investments, focusing on real property development and management in the Pacific Northwest.