Worcester Business Journal

28 Worcester Business Journal | Fact Book 2017 | wbjournal.com F or 32 years, Corporate Environmental Advisors (CEA) has been providing a range of environmental services to its clients. But in recent months the firm has been experiencing a growth spurt. Principal Hydrogeologist and President Joseph S. Campisi offered some insight into CEA's recent expansion activity. What services do you currently provide and who are some of your clients? CEA offers a full spectrum of services, from environmental due diligence and engineering; site assessment and remediation; envi- ronmental health and safety (EH&S); and industrial hygiene, to hazardous building material assessments; emergency response and multi-media sampling; and related field services. When CEA was founded in 1985, the firm was located in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts and later moved to our current location in West Boylston, Massachusetts. In 2016, when I acquired the company, we established additional offices in Westbrook, Maine and Concord, New Hampshire. CEA has con- tinued to work with major petroleum retailers, Fortune 500 firms, private developers, banks, law firms, and state and federal agencies across the Northeast. Can you offer details about your recent acquisition and what it means for CEA? CEA was looking to diversify and enter a different market and service mix. So this past June we acquired Boyle Associates of Maine, a 20-year old firm that conducts environmental work in the Pine Tree State. Boyle Associates' staff includes wetlands and soil scientists who manage environmental permitting and com- pliance, wetlands delineation and natural resource assessment for renewable energy projects, including wind and solar. They also execute more traditional environmental permitting projects for transmission lines, substations and pipelines. Boyle is a sea- sonal company as they primarily do field work from March to November. This has been a complementary acquisition that enables CEA to diversify by providing a wider range of services to our clients. In addition to expanding our current workforce, Boyle's acqui- sition has also enhanced our technological capabilities. You need to produce mapping for natural resource surveys. And when you are doing transmission line surveys, you have to display the information in 2-D on a series of figures. Boyle has GIS special- ists and tools that give us the capability of providing an accurate mapped location. What differentiates CEA from your competitors? First, we have a relatively senior, experienced, credentialed group who can provide solutions based on longevity in the indus- try. They have all done this job before. In a bigger firm, you might find one or two seasoned professionals. With CEA, you get ten to twenty-plus years of experience. We get the job done cor- rectly the first time. Our staff includes professional engineers (PEs); licensed site professionals (LSPs); licensed environmental professionals (LEPs); certified industrial hygienists (CIHs); certified asbestos inspectors; certified wetland scientists; human health risk assessors; EHS compliance specialists; CAD operators; and environmental scientists. And CEA's success relates directly to workforce satisfaction. We understand the importance of establishing a healthy, welcoming work environment. We want to grow the business and an ongoing focus to create and maintain an attractive firm Corporate Environmental Advisors: Growing Its Geographic Footprint Head of Company: Joseph S. Campisi, Principal Hydrogeologist and President Locations: West Boylston, MA; Westbrook, ME; Concord, NH Company Description: Environmental Consulting Firm Year Founded: 1985 Corporate Environmental Advisors that treats its employees right. We have tried to put together an overall benefits and compensation package well above average for the whole program. What tips for success can you give? To experience continuing success – a particularly challenging task in the consulting business – a firm must focus on alignment within the company. By that, I mean the right employee must be doing the right job. You have to make sure that employees are doing the job that makes sense for their background and skill set. Just as important is alignment with the client, who expects and deserves individualized treatment. Consulting is a dynamic business and every client is a little bit different from the next. You have to understand the nuances and how to hit the mark with each client. You have to satisfy the client, which is not always easy to do. The strength and success of a firm relies on its experienced staff, advanced technology and superior management systems, but the most profitable consulting businesses know their clients and keep a finger on the pulse of operations. What do you foresee for the future at CEA? We'd like to continue to broaden our service area throughout the Northeast, but we're also keeping an eye on even greater pas- tures. CEA's long-term objective is to become a national force that provides real advocacy for our clients. We want to enable them to make significant investments that will help support the growth of their businesses and protect environmental resources at the same time. FB S P O N S O R E D S E C T I O N The CEA team delivers the right solutions. C E O I N T E R V I E W

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