Small Business Finalists: Environmental Works, Inc.

Small Business Finalists

Finalists take the spotlight

Each year the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce honors a local company with the W. Curtis Strube Small Business of the Year Award. There are five finalists for the 2000 honor: Aire-Master of America Inc., Carnahan-White Inc., Environmental Works Inc., Maschino's Home Expressions and PJC Insurance.

Springfield Business Journal is profiling each of these finalists in the issues leading up to the Small Business Week luncheon and awards ceremony, which will be held May 25 at the University Plaza Hotel.

Maintaining the earth ...

Environmental company works with love of nature

by Diane Rarick

SBJ Contributing Writer

Environmental consultant Robin E. Melton was faced with a dilemma while job hunting in 1992: accept a $32,000 a year job offer or strike out on her own. So against the advice of a local attorney, she and Deborah Paulsen put up $3,500 and formed a company called Environmental Works Inc.

Although at the time, Melton was just 26 and had only three years of professional experience, she and her partner took the risk and set out to prove the attorney wrong.

"We moved into a two-room office in Elfindale. We began a small project for Bass Pro Shops, our very first client. Committed to staying out of debt as much as possible, we barely paid ourselves enough to get by that first year (initial pay was $125 per week)," Melton said.

"Our first big purchase was a computer from our neighbor, Service World. We were so pleased they gave us 30-day credit terms," she added.

The company started providing environmental services to a handful of lenders, Realtors and businesses in the Springfield area, then added staff and began serving larger companies and manufacturing facilities in southwest Missouri.

"With the added staff, we began offering additional field and industrial services such as tank cleaning, confined-space entry and limited emergency response. We soon began working for a major railroad carrier, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, which caused the territory we cover to spread across several states," Melton said.

Melton eventually bought out Paulsen's share of the business in 1995 when the two partners began to have different visions for the company. Since its first year, Environmental Works has grown from two to 22 employees and sales have gone from $48,000 in the first year to several million dollars in 1999.

Environmental Works' management team includes Rita Neff, office manager; LeeAnna Herd, controller; and Jeff Davis, technical services manager. Three senior consultants manage many the company's projects: Suzan Gonder, Greg Bischof and David Vaughan. Melton's interest in the environment began in Camp Fire Girls and an eighth-grade science class in Billings.

She graduated fourth in her class at Southwest Missouri State University in 1988 and attended graduate school at the University of Georgia. Environmental Works' goal is to provide friendly yet professional environmental services to its clients.

The company's services include regulatory compliance; solid and hazardous waste management and remediation; due diligence assessments; petroleum storage tank management, compliance and remediation; underground storage tank closure; subsurface investigation, drilling and monitoring; asbestos inspections; stormwater and wastewater compliance, permits and plans; emergency/hazardous materials response and industrial cleaning and field services.

Keeping good employees who can provide these essential services is one of Melton's most vital functions.

"People are the company," she said. At Environmental Works, employees can work flexible hours. A health insurance program provides $10 doctor visits and low-cost prescriptions. A retirement program has been added to attract and retain quality people.

"One of our most popular benefits is a quarterly bonus program that is tied to company profits. Instead of an annual bonus, we do it quarterly, so people look at their performance more often. You see faster rewards for your work and don't have to wait a whole year for recognition," Melton said.

Environmental Works built a 5,000-square-foot office building at 1016 W. Battlefield in 1999. Melton hired Joyce Buxton of Buxton-Werner Interiors to design a working environment that showcased the staff's love of the outdoors.

An article and photos of the office's design appear in the spring 2000 issue of Enviro-Design Journal.

Design elements include a custom-designed vinyl floor featuring colorful leaf and vine patterns.

Wall cutouts open up space between the reception area and back offices. Walls are painted in shades of ferns, hyacinths, toffee and forest green.

Upholstered chairs and workstation walls use a fabric with a leaf motif. The efficient and interesting office design has paid off, according to Melton.

"I thought it would be way too expensive to hire a design team, but it was the best decision I ever made. People feel good about being here. It's a great atmosphere to work in. Office space that stands out shows that we are different," Melton said.

Internal and external e-mail and Internet access for everyone has also helped the staff become more efficient and communicate better both among themselves and with clients.

"Our productivity has doubled in the last year," Melton said. For example, major clients receive periodic e-mail updates on projects that Environmental Works is working on, Melton said.

"They can check our progress at a time when it's convenient for them," she said.

The staff also has designed database programs that monitor client projects and send e-mail reminders of when compliance tasks are due.

"Environmental Works' commitment to quality and excellence keeps us a cut above our competitors. We strive for perfection in our work and in everything we do. The customer's satisfaction is our No. 1 priority," Melton said.