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Creation amid destruction
Lecanto company’s industrial shredder brings jobs to county

By Chris van Ormer


As technology grows, so does TCG, a company that specializes in processing electronic equipment for reuse or recycling.

 

As Technology Conservation Group (TCG) grows, so does Citrus County’s economy.

 

“Since last October, we’ve added 17 new jobs,” said Hamilton Rice, president and chief executive officer of TCG. “The company has made significant investment in equipment used in processing materials.”

 

For the past four years, the 13-year-old company has been established in Easy Street, Lecanto. Recently, it bought the offices and warehouses it had been leasing there, and is building a 30,000-square-foot facility for a huge industrial shredder that will soon be installed.

 

“This is our corporate worldwide headquarters,” Rice said.

 

Starting out from a bedroom in a house in Beverly Hills in 1997, TCG now has branches in Portland, Ore., Louisville, Ky., New Hyde Park, N.Y., Brazil, Israel, Monterrey and Guadalajara, Mexico, Bangalore, India, and Birmingham, England.

 

Between the bedroom launch and the current expansion, TCG moved to facilities in Meadowcrest, then to a former Scotty’s store on U.S. 19 before settling in Lecanto, where it has space to expand.

 

Currently, TCG employs 425 staff worldwide, with 270 in the United States and 66 in Lecanto. The industrial shredder will account for about 20 jobs, including recent hires.

 

The job TCG does is to take corporations’ old or outdated electrical and electronic equipment and components and process it for reuse or recycling. This is a “green” business, because it keeps materials out of the landfill.

 

“We recycle computers in environmentally sound ways,” Rice said.

 

What the industrial shredder will do is break down and separate the equipment into seven different commodities, such as aluminum, steel, copper, precious metals, many types of plastic and paper.

 

“This equipment is sent from all over the United States,” Rice said. “The commodities will be resold to smelters and refiners for reuse.”

 

Security is what TCG means to its big corporate customers. Hard drives are either wiped clean for resale or destroyed, depending on what the customer wants. TCG offers complete data destruction for greater security or resale for greater revenue return.

 

TCG declined to reveal how many tons of electronic equipment it recycled last year and contract and revenue information.

 

It may seem unusual for such a global company to be headquartered in Lecanto, but Rice, who is from St. Petersburg, likes the county.

 

“It has a great family atmosphere,” Rice said. The drawback of the location adding to airport travel time was easily overcome by the quality of life, he said.

 

Rice said his partners share his enthusiasm for the county. Donald Andes, vice president of business development, joined in 2001 from Chicago. Bill Stockburger Jr., vice president of operations, went to work for TCG in 1997.

 

The new shredder should be fully functional by June 30. Components for it are arriving from all over the world, Rice said.

“We’ve had good growth during the first 10 years,” Rice said. “We’ve opened nine facilities in 10 years. I think we can open nine more in the next three.”

 

 

National Electronics Week UK promises total industry event

Being held at the Birmingham NEC over May 18th – 19th, National Electronics Week is being heralded as the UK electronics event of 2010. As always, the show is generating plenty of discussion industry-wide, which is why show organizer's recently set the record straight with news of exactly what NEW will offer today’s electronics professionals.

 

NEW Event Director, Claire Saunders, explains: “As the UK’s number one electronics exhibition, NEW has always been a major talking point. The 2010 show is no different, which is why we’re keen to clarify why this year’s event will be better than ever! NEW UK 2010 is a total industry event, providing dedicated support for every electronics sector impacting both nationally and internationally. Visitor and exhibitor feedback is our single most important driver, which is why we’re moving to a new venue and central location requested by the industry. We’re delighted to be supported by a whole host of big names – all taking advantage of the fact that NEW delivers the very best value for marketing budgets.”

 

As an all-encompassing industry event, NEW is providing dedicated support for every market sector, including Components, Design & Development, Embedded, EMS, Photonics & Laser, Production Assembly, Solar & Green Design, Test & Measurement and Wireless. In addition to widespread business opportunities for each sector, NEW UK 2010 is bringing a wealth of new and proven features to the exhibition, including an extensive technical seminar program run by leading trade associations. NEW’s educational line-up includes IPC instructor-level training from Advanced Rework Technology, in addition to shorter IPC courses focusing on topics such as lead-free soldering, crimping and ESD Control.

 

National Electronic Week’s broad market focus is reinforced by its widespread industry support. Confirmed exhibitors include the likes of Agilent, Briton EMS, Contralube, Eurocircuits, Mydata, Nutek, Premier EDA, TCG Recycling, Vicor, Wurth, XJAG and many more. Commenting on the 2010 show format, Claire adds: "The level of interest in the show confirms its place as the only truly relevant dynamic technical marketing platform for the entire electronics industry. This year, the show will be particularly relevant, since we’ll be helping the UK’s electronics professionals capitalise on renewed market confidence and investment. To anyone thinking of visiting us or exhibiting at the show, I’d say expect abundant business, networking and educational opportunities; you won’t be disappointed!"

 


http://www.nationalelectronicsweek.co.uk/

 

 

KOM Partners with Dell to Feed One Million Hungry Children by Recycling Obsolete Storage Hardware

 

Ottawa, Canada  December 15, 2009  KOM Networks, a world leading provider of storage management solutions for secure archiving compliant data protection and retention, today announced the Junk-A-Juke program - a unique program that will collect and recycle obsolete and legacy storage equipment and donate all the money generated from raw materials to Feed The Children. In exchange for the older equipment, KOM offers a new Dell Powered KOMpliance Archive with equal capacity and superior performance, a fully compliant enterprise class server and archive solution, free-of-charge with a three- year maintenance agreement. KOM's goal is to collect and recycle enough hardware to feed one million children!

 

Working jointly with Dell's OEM division, KOM developed their custom storage solution on the Dell PowerVault NX3000 NAS. "Dell OEM is a strategic supplier to KOM providing the platform of choice for the KOMpliance archive server and storage and at the same time delivering a global service coverage that few can match in this global economy," said Taher Shaath, CEO at KOM Networks. "Teaming up with Dell OEM is a great benefit with the varying financial services that are available to help offset any costs associated with this program and minimize the impact on the customer's bottom line."

 

"We are proud to work with KOM Networks to help make this program a reality. The level of commitment and ambitious goals of this initiative are very commendable. Our mutual customers will benefit, the earth will benefit, and most importantly, the proceeds benefit a good cause," said Rick Froehlich, vice president and general manager of Dell OEM Solutions.

 

The first system has already been donated from aptly named Angel Medical Center in Franklin, NC. "We already had plans to upgrade our current system and were impressed with KOM's ability to help us easily migrate our data and meet our HIPAA compliance standards," said Gary Hanold, director of information systems at Angel Medical. "Being able to bring in this highly regarded solution without additional cost and guarantee that our end-of-life jukebox doesn't end up in a landfill is valuable. Feeding kids in a time when many families are struggling is invaluable."

 

KOMpliance is a plug-and-play archive solution that is a platform and application agnostic to easily integrate into any existing infrastructure. More than 10,000 of the world's leading organizations use KOM solutions to protect, access and manage their data and meet their compliance standards. With this innovative program, not only is KOM making it effortless to responsibly discard obsolete hardware and help feed many of the twelve million American children who are today at risk of going hungry, but it is also lowering all financial barriers and making it easy and affordable to upgrade old data archive and storage technology to get compliant.

 

"Gartner's market research indicates a healthy demand for active archiving solutions, and file-based archiving solutions are a fast growing segment of this market," said Sheila Childs, Research Director with Gartner. "While file archiving technologies enable better management of storage growth and cost, an organization's requirement to retain information for long periods of time often necessitates continued replacement of inefficient, antiquated and obsolete hardware to preserve data in readable formats." 

 

"When times are tough, businesses need to be more responsible in helping out where they can, so we tried to think about ways we could help. There are still large numbers of obsolete archive and storage devices being used," said Kamel Shaath, CTO of KOM Networks. "Our free storage upgrade to KOMpliance will increase efficiency, protect data, and lower liability, risk and TCO; but the opportunity to protect our planet for future generations and feed hungry children today is our motivation. KOM will match the funds generated by the recycled hardware to help Feed The Children."

 

KOM has partnered with Technology Conservation Group (TCG) to pick up and track each piece of equipment through destruction to ensure that nothing ends up in a landfill. TCG is an ISO registered recycler of electronic scrap and a member of NAID, the National Association for Information Destruction, a trade association providing the standards and ethics for the information destruction industry to ensure total compliant destruction of functional drives. "As a partner, we are excited to play an active role in this fantastic campaign and are pleased to announce that we have committed to reduce the processing costs by 25% to increase the value of the proceeds that will be donated to Feed The Children," said Hamilton Rice, president of Technology Conservation Group, Inc.

All trademarks and registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.


 

Technology Conservation Group Inc. joins KY EXCEL

 

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Dec. 18, 2008) -- Technology Conservation Group Inc. of Louisville has joined the Kentucky Department for Environmental Protection's (DEP) environmental leadership program KY EXCEL as a master member, the program's highest level. KY EXCEL recognizes public, corporate and private sector organizations that act to improve Kentucky's diverse and unique environment through environmental leadership.

 

"We want to welcome Technology Conservation Group Inc. to KY EXCEL and commend the organization for its efforts to recycle electronics and technological products," said Aaron Keatley, director of DEP's Division of Compliance Assistance. "The company is to be commended for its dedication to increasing its efforts, above and beyond the industry's environmental requirements, to create a healthier and safer Kentucky."

 

Technology Conservation Group Inc. (TCG) is a total recycler of electronic scrap, by-products and other components related to the manufacturing of technological products. TCG processes electronics equipment or components for reuse or recycling. If recycling through resale is not a viable option, destruction initiatives can be formulated. TCG works with its customers to tailor an avenue that meets a company's needs and allows for a greater revenue return.

 

"Kentucky EXCEL membership proves that we are proactive, rather than merely reactive, when it comes to the potential environmental impacts of waste electronics," said Don Andes, vice president of Business Development. "As the production and use of electronics products continue to increase dramatically throughout both the business and public sectors, the challenges of disposal and recovery of materials are becoming significant.

 

"The commercial sector has been recycling electronics for more than 20 years and has been the driving force in creating and growing the electronics recycling industry. Up until recently, the major sources of electronics products for recycling have been manufacturers and large users. Consumers also own vast quantities of electronics products in which many have been disposed of in landfills or left unused in storage.

 

"The number of TVs and personal computers becoming obsolete or replaced has been increasing significantly and is creating a need for community education and opportunities for consumers to recycle their obsolete electronics."

 

TCG's five identified environmental goals are to:

 

  • Host two separate Take-back Electronics Days, where the public could bring CPUs, flat-panel displays, fax machines, servers, keyboards, monitors/CRTs, cabling, laptop computers, scanners, hardware, copiers, mainframes and populated/unpopulated printed circuit boards. Hazardous waste, refrigerators, microwaves or any devices containing liquids and gasses would not be accepted.

 

  • Replace office, workstation and high-bay lighting bulbs with more energy efficient ones.

 

  • Purchase more environmentally friendly products, including sealed air bags, to replace packing peanuts and green cleaning products.
  • Recycle plastic and bubble wrap, as well as wood debris and intact used pallets. Research ways of recycling or reusing foam (densifiers).

 

Launched by DEP in 2006, KY EXCEL is a voluntary program open to any individual, organization, community or business to improve and protect Kentucky's environment above and beyond the state's environmental requirements. To learn more, visit www.KYEXCEL.ky.gov or call the Division of Compliance Assistance toll-free at 800-926-8111.