SAVVY BUSINESS


One Stop Environmental
Caring for both the environment and the community.

By Carla Jean Whitley
President and CEO: Shannon Riley What is it? One Stop Environmental concentrates on chemical cleanup and hazardous waste disposal.

History: “I had not planned on working at all after I had kids,” explains Riley, who holds a master’s in chemistry and is now a mother of four. Her previous employer, an environmental cleanup firm, had closed and there was no one else in Alabama handling chemical emergencies. Riley’s husband, Richard, urged her to use her talents, and One Stop Environmental opened in 1999.

A day in the life: Most days are filled with routine work. One Stop performs asbestos and lead abatement, typically during building renovations; soil remediation, which involves removing chemicals, heavy metals and petroleum from the ground; and removing the waste some clients produce as a byproduct of their work. “We don’t like to landfill stuff because all we’re doing is moving the problem from site A to site B,” Riley says.

Instead, One Stop recycles as much as possible, using one company’s waste for another company’s work—which also saves everyone money.

“It’s easier to just go stick it in a landfill, but we really want to be a good environmental steward across the board,” she says. While those tasks fill most days, emergencies also dictate the company’s rhythm. “The phone will ring and it completely changes everything you have set for the business,” Riley says. They average two to three calls daily to clean busted meth labs, and three to four train or road emergencies per week. Even if a spill is small and a chemical they’ve worked with before, it’s a new challenge because the environment in which it spills changes.

Staff size: 40-plus employees and growing. One Stop spent nearly two years working cleanup in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, and they quickly grew from 12 employees to about 70. Other business also increased during that time.

Working in Woodlawn: Riley’s family has always had ties to Woodlawn; just across the tracks from One Stop sits the company her grandfather founded and passed down through generations. “It was very workable for a young company,” she says. And though inexpensive property was part of her motivation, the neighborhood also engages her heart. One Stop is in a Historically Underutilized Business zone and many of her employees live in the area.

Community impact: Riley keeps a position open so area shelters can refer folks who are out of work but willing to learn. “The beautiful thing about this line of work is it doesn’t require higher education,” Riley explains. A dedicated employee can work his way up to $20 per hour without a high school education. One Stop employees also tutor students from Woodlawn in math and science, and the company offers an intern program to help students develop skills they’ll use after graduation.

What’s ahead: “We are really pursuing federal work,” Riley explains.

They’re in a growth industry, and she doesn’t expect to slow down anytime soon.

the details:
 One Stop Environmental
4924 First Ave. N., Woodlawn
595-8188
onestopenv.com

January Birmingham, Alabama

  

 
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