For Scott Hanson, running a longtime environmental firm is as much about assisting the community as it is about continuing to be more profitable each year. Hanson, president and co-owner with Jennifer Beimel of Cardinal Environmental Inc. in Sheboygan, says both his parents and his previous business partner instilled certain values in him that are keys to managing the business.

“We got into the environmental field because we believe in the environment and sustainability,” he says. “We have some tools that aren’t available to the general public so when opportunities arise to use the tools we have to help the public, we will. We spend time explaining as much as we can.”

Cardinal Environmental, which began operations in Sheboygan in 1982 as Yanko Environmental Services, provides an array of consulting and laboratory services such as air quality monitoring, hazardous waste management, environmental assessments, OSHA compliance monitoring, and water and wastewater sampling.

The company, which has achieved three percent to 10 percent growth each of the last five years, brings in between $1 million and $2 million in revenues per year. About 70 percent of the firm’s business involves assisting industry, including many small and mid-sized firms. The rest involves services to schools, municipalities and residences.

The chemists and other employees who work in Cardinal’s laboratory account for more than 60 percent of the company’s overall business.

“We are a niche laboratory,” says Hanson. “We also have a network of subcontractor labs that we use.”

For example, Cardinal is able to render routine, periodic services but also does event-type work such as responding to an air hygiene problem following OSHA complaints.

“Our network of other talented labs can help us with these larger projects,” he says.

Hanson says that he and Jennifer strongly believe in the pay-it-forward philosophy, which starts with each individual doing a favor for someone else without any expectations of being paid back. Staff members at Cardinal are encouraged to be involved in environmental tasks and projects that make a difference.

“We don’t have the funds to make large donations, but we do have the ability to provide great services to the community,” says Hanson.

Cardinal Environmental employees are involved in HUD housing lead risk assessments, the Wisconsin Great Lakes Beach Monitoring Program, the Testing the Waters program with local schools, the Sustainable Sheboygan Task Force and testing toys for lead content.

The latter project began when Cardinal staff member Sue Kaiser saw an opportunity to educate parents about childhood lead poisoning and began holding toy testing events around the state. She also partnered with various organizations, including the Sheboygan County Health Department and the Aurora Health Care system, so parents could have their children’s blood tested for lead.

Cardinal’s community service efforts have not gone unnoticed. Among the awards the company has received are the 2004 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) John E. Brogan Environmental Achievement Award – DNR’s highest environmental award – and a 2008 Business Friend of the Environment Award from the Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce’s Wisconsin Environmental Working Group. The 2008 award recognized Cardinal for its role in spearheading the statewide drive to test for lead paint in toys.

In the future, Hanson expects Cardinal to continue its involvement in many of the newer environmental services, such as ambient air monitoring. Other sustainability issues the company will continue to be involved in include limiting the amount of waste arising from the disposal of motor vehicles at the end of their useful life and reducing the amount of consumer electrical and electronic equipment that winds up in landfills.

Above: Scott Hanson and Jennifer Beimel, president and vice-president of Cardinal Environmental Inc. in Sheboygan, evaluate Scientific Equipment and Furniture Association (SEFA) cabinet surface wood test panels for chemical resistance.

By Barbara Mulhern