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A Positive Impact
By Jennifer McGuiggan, Communications Coordinator
Angie Singer Keating, Vice-president of Administration and co-founder of Reclamere, Inc., believes that business "is probably the most significant way to contribute meaningfully to a community and its economy."
Reclamere, based in Tyrone, PA, contributes by providing computer recycling, certified data destruction, and computer brokering services. Keating explains her company's services: "Each computer contains lead, cadmium, mercury, and other toxic and hazardous wastes. There are environmental laws that a business must follow when disposing of old electronic equipment. By providing a recycling solution, we help businesses eliminate environmental liability when getting rid of computers. Not all equipment needs to be immediately recycled, though. Most newer equipment can be brokered, with Reclamere returning revenue back to the customer."
And it's not just hardware that requires special handling. "There are new laws that govern how information is kept about patients, employees, customer, etc.," says Keating. "Reclamere's data destruction services help a business stay in compliance with privacy laws very easily and cost-effectively."
Where did Keating, whose background includes everything from working with the US Youth Conservation Corps to working for a railroad axle manufacturer, get the idea for Reclamere? It grew out of a segment that she saw on The Learning Channel about an electronics shedding company in Canada. At the time, she was working at a technology company; there she met one of her future partners, Joe Harford. They began working on Reclamere together with Bob Dornich, their third and final partner. "We worked full-time at our real jobs, and then spent our evenings trying to get Reclamere funded," Keating remembers.
And getting financed, it turns out, was a daunting task. Keating reveals, "The dot-com fallout really made the banks put our business plan under a microscope; sometimes I felt like it might never happen." But in 2001, Reclamere was born. Keating says that she and her partners are extremely grateful to the people and organizations that assisted them in the start-up process, including Central Bank, Southern Alleghenies Planning and Development Commission, Congressman Bill Shuster, State Representative Larry Sather, St. Francis University Small Business Development Center, and Tyrone Mayor Pat Stoner.
Spending her days at one job and her nights at another endeavor was not new to Keating. Long before her venture into entrepreneurship, Keating was well acquainted to perseverance and hard work. She says, "I worked ten years as a land surveyor, all the while, going to college part-time in the evenings. Finally, I decided to go to school full-time and enrolled at Penn State Altoona in Electrical Engineering Technology." Once in school, she flip-flopped her 'day' and 'night' jobs. "While going to school full-time, I worked part-time as a corporate software trainer and also as a CAD draftsperson." Not content to stop there, she says that during this time, "I also managed to give birth to my son." After graduation she worked as a project manager for a web-design/software company and later for a railroad axle manufacturer.
She credits her father as being her greatest source of inspiration. Despite having to wear a brace on his leg due to childhood polio, he was the successful owner-operator of a trucking business. Keating remember him down on his hands and knees unloading an entire trailer of cases of frozen orange juice, as well as down on his hands and knees climbing back up a hill after sledding with his daughter. "In the early days of Reclamere," she recalls, "I had to drive our truck and load and unload tons of heavy computer equipment. Each day that I went home dog-tired and aching in my bones, I thanked God that I had been raised by such an amazing role model. Those experiences gave me a new appreciation for him and for all truck drivers, warehouse workers, and working parents."
In her daily business life, she trusts her partners to help her through moments of frustration. She praises them, saying, "Their expertise in areas where my knowledge is lacking gives me confidence that together we can accomplish anything. I like to joke that together we make one complete business owner!" Keating feels so strongly about the importance of good partners, that when asked what advice she'd give to others in business, she recommends that they "find good partners to help you carry the load."
In addition to working with Reclamere, Keating serves the community in other ways. She is involved with the Blair County Chamber of Commerce, the Tyrone Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Business & Industry for Centre County, National Association of Information Destruction, Professional Recyclers of Pennsylvania. She also sits on the Blair County Solid Waste Advisory Committee and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Blair County Chapter of Pennsylvania CleanWays.
Obviously, Keating has worked and studied in fields traditionally dominated by men. Has this affected her business success at all? In her distinctively optimistic way, she asserts, "I believe that occasionally business associates will treat a woman differently, but that only serves to make me work harder. What obstacles there are only serve to make me a better business person."
Within ten years, Keating sees Reclamere operating several very large locations. "My dream," she says, "is to provide employment to a great many people." This certainly falls in line with her belief that business can have a positive effect on the community and economy.
September 2002 |
