Jerry Bailey was in the auto body industry for 63 years, and 43 of those years as the owner of Jerry’s Body Shop in Zearing, IA. In 1993, after the industry began to decline, Jerry decided to add on a new business venture and purchased a small sanitation company that had been established by his friend and neighbor, Earl Gray. This was the founding of Jerry’s Sanitation. Starting out with a 1975 C65 Chevy that had a Garwood packer body, Jerry’s Sanitation had a very modest customer base that included the city of Zearing and a few nearby rural customers. He continued to do auto body work up until 2015.

Fast forward to today and Jerry’s Sanitation, now owned and operated by Jerry’s son, Devin Bailey, has a customer base that expands from Story county into Hardin and Marshall counties as well. Jerry’s Sanitation has thrived as a small business over the years due to good old-fashioned honest hard work and the practice of keeping their customers a top priority.