Environmental Trainers founders believe courses, woman-owned status give them competitive edge.

Fort Worth Business Press
For more information, email blj@envtrainers.com

Johnson, the company's president, has more than 10 years' experience in environmental science consulting and training. Sullivan, who holds the title of vice president, has more than 12 years' experience. Putting their expertise together led them to open their on-site training business for land, air and water issues in June.

Johnson said all environmental consultants must go through training every year to maintain professional certifications and licenses. So she and Sullivan decided to start a company that provides the courses consultants, industries and governmental agencies need to complete to retain their professional status.

Johnson said the company started to take shape when she and Sullivan starting talking about the opportunity to teach and how much both of them enjoy teaching and training others. With all their experience in training, they believed they had winning combination and needed to start their own business.

Johnson and Sullivan received help with their start-up business through the Fort Worth Business Assistance Center.

"They were very helpful on getting things done for us," Johnson said.

Johnson said taking part in the BAC's 2001 Entrepreneur Expo gave them the push they needed to go out on their own. Seeing and listening to all the entrepreneurs there motivated them and convinced them to take the step into the entrepreneurial world. The business was in the works for a total of nine months before launching, but Johnson said they didn't get serious until after the expo.

"The expo was really good. In fact, I have to say that is what convinced me to do this," Johnson said. "It was very inspiring. We were pretty convinced that we were smart enough to do this and we could make it work, and the opportunity certainly was there.

"After I got through with the expo, there was no doubt we were going to do this.

There is enough assistance out there and enough experience and enough other folks that have done it that I know we can make it work."

Johnson said they did research before the expo on other environmental training providers all across the country because there is a large number of such firms. They discovered there weren't very many woman-owned companies in that group.

"In the research we did, we only found four in the entire country, and we did not find any minority-owned firms that were doing the training out there at all."

When doing the research, they also looked at the courses the other firms were providing and compared that to what they knew their clients would need. Johnson said they realized there are many classes out there that companies are searching for but can't find because most training providers don't offer them.

"Other firms will offer classes in environmental regulations, hazwoper (hazardous waste operations and emergency response) and confined space, and that is about it," she said. "Our clients are looking for classes on how to teach someone to do a phase I environmental site assessments or the storm water rules that are coming into effect for all the small and mid-size municipalities. And those municipalities typically don't have environmental staff, and they don't have any way go out and get information on what it is they are going to have to do."

Johnson said she and Sullivan knew they would be able to provide those kinds of classes for their clients. Their clients include people in the environmental consulting industry, municipalities, government agencies as well as industrial clients.

Currently some of Environmental Trainers' clients include: Carter & Burgess Inc., Freese and Nichols Inc., Law Gibb Group, D/FW International Airport, the Fort Worth Transportation Authority (the T) and Trinity Engineering/Kleinfleder.

ETI's training and consulting expertise includes: brownfields redevelopment; compliance audits; confined space; dry cleaners assessments; environmental regulations; hazwoper; hazardous materials management; indoor air quality/mold; phase I environmental site assessments; phase II environmental site assessments; phase II storm water rules; pollution prevention; Section 404 of the Clean Water Act; SPCC/spills; storm water in construction; underground storage tanks; and VCP/IOP/TRRP.

Johnson said the company has landed several certifications vital to its success. They have received woman or disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) certification through the North Central Texas Regional Certification Agency, Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) certification through the General Services Commission, women-owned business and small business certification through the Small Business Administration and pre certifications for TxDOT work.

"We are real excited about having those certifications because I think we bring something to the table that for training that a lot of companies have to do any way," Johnson said. "We are able to provide them an opportunity to use a woman-owned business, and they are able to get that credit through their audits each year for their small, minority-owned participation."

Contact Letsche at aletsche@bizpress.net.
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