Posts Tagged ‘Bob Vitale’

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Buyer Beware

Posted on November 12th, 2009 in Dust Control, Industry Watchdog, Soil Stabilization by Bob Vitale

I would like to share an interesting story with you. It represents an example of why I believe independent testing of company claims is very important for the purchasers of products from companies within our industry – during the bidding stage, and then again during the delivery stage.

For many years we have been supplying a customer with their requirements for a dust palliative and soil stabilizer. Our multi-year contract just expired and the user has issued a notice of solicitation for current bids to fulfill their requirements. Their solicitation included a detailed performance requirement for the product to pass CBR lab testing for a specific soil type to meet the standards for the customer’s needs. The specification matched our specific product, which they have been using for many years.

In the bidding, a competitor quoted a price approximately 20% below our quoted price. Part of the competitive vendor’s bid information included marketing and test data to prove that their product was equal to the product called for in the specification.

Shortly after the competitor was awarded the new multi-year contract for the delivery and installation of their brand name product, based on being the low bidder, they began communicating with producers of the basic raw materials stating they had just received a multi-year contract and needed to source significant volumes of a non-prime polymer emulsion. Within these communications there was no product chemistry specification that might indicate that what they were trying to source would meet the requirements as called for by the purchaser’s specification.

So here is the issue; since testing and documentation for the specification requirements is typically only required at the bidding stage, and product sampling is NOT required at the delivery stage to assure the exact product specified in the bid is being delivered, the bait and switch can take place and the customer will never know.

It will take due diligence on the part of the customer to catch this bait and switch activity. It will also take significant due diligence to confirm that the environmental soundness of whatever is actually delivered and installed on public roadways is in fact what was represented.

We know that price is an issue and customers need to assure their constituencies that they have done everything possible to obtain the best product solution for the lowest price. We also know customers do not want to “buy price” and close their eyes to product deficiency and possible environmental issues.

This is why it is in the best interest of both the community of users and principled industry leaders to expose such bait and switch activities. This is needed for both the protection of people and the environment in which these products might be used.

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What is an Environmental Service?

Posted on November 10th, 2009 in Uncategorized by Bob Vitale

We are proud to once again be listed among the country’s top privately-owned environmental services companies on the Inc. 5000 released recently. Being in environmental services not only means we focus on doing things that are best for the planet, but we also help sustain life and health. Being in environmental services means contributing to the health and welfare of the communities in which our customers operate.

Below is a press release regarding this honor.

Midwest Moves Up Inc. 5000’s List of Top 100 Privately-Owned

Environmental Services Companies

And What is an Environmental Service Anyway?

Canton, Ohio – October 12, 2009 – Call the products and programs environmental services or call them by what they accomplish – dust suppression, erosion control, ice control – and the fact remains the same:

“Those of us in environmental services focus on doing things that are best for the planet, which in turn helps sustain life and health. It is an area that delivers the unique reward of knowing that the work you do for customers is also contributing to the health and welfare of our whole community,” said Midwest founder Bob Vitale.

Doing so has been the philosophy of Midwest, one of the largest dust control companies in the market, since it was founded 34 years ago when the word green conjured up images of grass and Crayola colors and Kermit the frog, not the environment. It is this commitment, Vitale believes, that helped Midwest land on the Inc. 5000’s list of the Top 100 in Environmental Services, moving up 18 places to 78th from the prior listing in 2007.

Always seeking new ways to serve the needs of its clients and the environment Midwest is currently working:

-With the ERDC U.S. Army Corps  of Engineers to test the performance and safety of two new products

-With the Environmental Protection Agency and their public efforts about its ETV Certification so buyers can be more discerning about choosing products

-On a new conceptual method to evaluate and compare the environmental soundness and safety of products used on roads as dust palliatives

-Implementing  Fines Preservation Programs™ with no eco-toxicological impact across Alaska and Canada, going beyond dust control to bind unpaved surfaces into uniformly strong and durable structures that will not lose gravel, resulting in a life cycle cost reduction of  at least a 50%

-As part of a consortium of university research departments,  the Federal Highway Administration, USDA Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and a handful of other manufacturers to identify current best practices for road dust control and stabilization and their evolution to future improvements

-Participating in community air quality conferences which are particularly valuable forums for community managers to share their road dust issues with industry experts who will in turn share best practices.

“It is not easy to grow and develop as individuals and as a business,” Vitale said “We know that success depends on the choices we make in each of those areas every day. We are proud of Inc.’s recognition because it is a statement that we have chosen well,” Vitale said.

Midwest lives in, manufactures for, and delivers Earth-conscious solutions to clients in the quarry, mining, construction, iron/steel and other industries whose success depends on overcoming dust, erosion, ice, soil stabilization and other operating issues.

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Environmentally Responsible Construction

Posted on November 3rd, 2009 in Soil Stabilization by admin

Last year, our Soil Sement® product was used in the construction of the trailhead to the nation’s largest urban nature preserve, Scottsdale’s Lost Dog Wash Trailhead.  The project’s mission statement for the access areas was “to develop environmentally responsible public access areas that borrow from and blend into the natural desert landforms and landscape of each specific Preserve access location.”  A critical element of achieving their mission was salvaging and stockpiling the top four inches of native soil and native “desert pavement” cobble within the limits of disturbance for later redistribution. This allowed the project’s top-dressing to seamlessly integrate into the adjacent coarse and rugged desert floor. In addition, the parking lot areas and vehicular drives were constructed of Soil Sement stabilized decomposed granite, in lieu of traditional paving materials, to increase percolation and minimize surface runoff and heat gain. The Soil Sement-stabilized granite parking areas and trail surfaces utilized screened site soils to match the adjacent colors and textures of the desert floor.

Cast-in-place concrete seating and stabilized granite surface of the amphitheater

Cast-in-place concrete seating and stabilized granite surface of the amphitheater

This site was recently awarded the top Honor Award by the American Institute of Architects, Western Mountain Region and also honored by the American Society of Landscape Architects.   The Professional Awards Jury 2008 comments capture the achievement of this collaborative effort of the landscape architect, architect and the Preserve staff:

“One of the best examples of environmental stewardship we’ve seen this year. The landscape architect is commended for reusing the plant material. The design is regionally appropriate and moves through the landscape with real restraint.”

Our contribution with Soil Sement was lead by EarthCare Consultants and its managing partner Marty Koether. Marty and EarthCare have lifelong experience in paving and 15 years  in stabilization utilizing native materials and innovative stabilization products.

The Lost Dog Wash Trailhead is a real demonstration of the use of modern technology to support the natural environment which is a vital lifestyle and conservation decision and the protection of fragile desert ecology.

See more details from the project in this article from GreenSource Magazine (this link launches a PDF).

EarthCare Consultants and Midwest add our congratulations to the project resources:

Owner:
City of Scottsdale

Landscape Architect:
Floor Associates, Inc.

FA Project Team:
Christopher Brown, Project Principal
Rick Jones, Senior Project Manager
Mike Faulkner, Alex Howell, Rayka Robrecht

 Architect:
Weddle Gilmore Architects
Philip Weddle, AIA

Civil Engineer:
DMJM

General Contractor:
Valley Rain Construction

Rammed Earth Contractor:
Rammed Earth Solar Homes

Steel Contractors:
Kovak, Inc.
Cave’s Canopies

Photovoltaic:
American Solar Electric

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Landing Armed Services Aircrafts Quickly & Safely

Posted on October 30th, 2009 in Dust Control by Bob Vitale

On Monday, a helicopter crashed in western Afghanistan killing 10 Americans and injuring 26 others.  Thick dust that stirred up at takeoff inhibited the visibility of the crew, causing them to strike a tall structure in the area and crash.

Almost as recently, an article published in Special Operations Technology magazine  discussed this subject and identified much progress that has been achieved. Now is the best time for parties within ERDC, the dust control industry, and manufacturers of helicopters and maintenance retrofitting of helicopters to develop the solution to eliminate the dangers of dust clouds. We have what is needed as a result of the work of ERDC and I am sure that we can come up with an effective and practical method of deploying  what we have in  tactical situations when needed.  ERDC would seem to be  the natural leader and coordinator  for such development work.

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Alternative to Paving Roads

Posted on October 28th, 2009 in Uncategorized by Bob Vitale

I recently read an article in Public Works Online, originally printed in Hernando Today (part of the Tampa Tribune), which described the use Federal stimulus funds allocated to the county to repave roads. Members of the community with massive potholes near their property and poor road conditions were irate with the choice by the county to use these funds to repave roads that they consider to still be in good shape but needing “preventative maintenance.”

There are alternatives to paving for secondary unpaved roads that can deliver high quality roads at 20% of the cost of paved roads. Stabilization products are available that provide new levels of structural performance for silty sand / soil materials.

New road stabilization products can deliver results for residents that live on unpaved roads at a ratio of 3 to 5 miles of dust free, pothole free unpaved secondary roads per mile of paved road.

Given the limited availability of funds for road construction, the enormous demand for road repairs on unpaved residential roads, and maintenance for existing paved roads, this new road stabilization method can deliver great value for federal and taxpayer dollars. 

Construction specifications for these stabilization materials can be widely employed with reasonable confidence in our experience. Below is a picture of an unpaved roadway using one of our soil stabilization products:

Stabilized Unpaved Residential Road

Stabilized Unpaved Residential Road

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