Carter Affiliates, Inc. Resources  for the Environment (CARE)

---

 Carter Affiliates: Pair finds
opportunities in hazardous waste

---

Business Profile
Inside Tucson Business (ITB)
November 30, 1998
By Brian Sodoma

 
Corporate America loves a couple like Richard and Lois Carter.

As a matter of fact, when they wanted to start their own environmental consulting company, it was a $50 million corporation that was their biggest proponent.

In the late 80s, Lois Carter was at a point in her life where she was supposed to be relaxing and enjoying her corporate benefits, while eyeing retirement from IBM in about 10 years.

But fate set her and her husband onto a path that would bring them a much more fulfilling next 10 years.

In 1991, she and her husband Richard formed Carter Affiliates Inc. Resources for the Environment (CARE), one of the first environmental consulting agencies of its kind, which offers waste minimization, recycling education and hazardous material management equipment for businesses.

The couple used their many corporate ties to environmental agencies and companies that they had worked for in the past to establish a clientele for the future. They also used a San Francisco-based organization called ResNa (restore Nature), as an employer and client.

"We were in a unique position because we could go out and bid jobs as a small company and hire the company we worked for (if we needed additional resources) and bill them too," Richard Carter said.

CARE goes into a company, big or small, and educates it about how to be environmentally compliant, while saving the company far more money than it spends in consultant fees.

Through the years, the Carters have saved companies hundreds of thousands of dollars that have been skimmed directly from their bottom line, and they are often being told by their clients that they undercharge for their services.

"The joke with  the City of Tucson is "Well, let's hire Richard, he never costs us anything," said Richard Carter.

For the Carters, the interesting challenge in their business is that their job is to go into a company and work their way out of a job, by taking over the environmental aspect of the company, teaching it how to be more self-sufficient with its waste handling techniques and recycling. In a short time they are then forced to look for a new client.

"From the beginning, it's been planned obsolescence," said Carter.

But the Carters have never been starving for clients, with the impressive list of credits that includes companies like Arizona Electric Power Cooperative, Allied Signal, Tucson Electric Power and other large entities in Arizona, Mexico and California.

"We've always attached the big ones, the cities, counties, utilities," he added.

But Carter also sees his service as a benefit for small businesses.

If a small business has to get involved in environmental cleanup as a result of being careless, that could very well sink the operation, he said.

"If you get two speeding tickets, your automobile insurance costs go up significantly. If you get four tickets in a few years, you'll need a priest and a banker to get insurance. It's the same thing in business. You're a risk. If you have a lot of violations, poor housekeeping, poor record keeping, they (banks and lenders) are going to stop at your door," he added.

While the Carters have devoted a healthy chunk of their life to helping businesses clean up their messes and run more efficiently through reusing products and conducting themselves environmentally sensibly, they also practice what they preach.

They currently produce about 35 percent of their food from their 1500 square foot backyard garden and utilize compost to fertilize the area. They also are known as the neighborhood Christmas tree recycling center.

"You need to ask yourself why is it that we in the United States only use our soil for two generations and in China they can use theirs for 4000 years? The word sustainability comes to mind. How do you do that? By mismanagement, by a lack of respect.

"We really want to practice theses principles. You take a business and you help them, they get a 20 times yield on their investment of time, effort and energy. You invest in nature, it will return 20 times to you. You go and plant three seeds and you end up with a whole crop to feed a whole neighborhood. We see this more as a living set of values," he added.

Richard and Lois' next venture will be to use their ranch in Catron County, Reserve, New Mexico; about a five hour drive from Tucson, to share their knowledge about the environment and teach people how to live in nature, while also exhibiting their own self-sufficiency by producing 60 percent of their own food on the premises and using solar, wind and hydro power for electricity.

"We are preparing to succeed at a simpler lifestyle. I think many people feel this way. They just don't know how to get there. We want to share our experiences with people on how we developed a sustaining economy and environment, while we developed our business," he added.

Q & A

How did you get into the business?

We transitioned into the business by working at an environmental consulting firm and a treatment disposal and storage facility for hazardous waste. Through those experiences we were able to see that we could create an environmental niche market for ourselves and go out and offer industry for the first time waste reduction services, pollution prevention and waste minimization programs, regulatory compliance audits and consulting. The result: the reduction of cost, risk and liability.

How would you describe your success?

Added value, perceived and actual.

What was the best advice you ever received?

"Follow your dream," from my daughter. "Can't be afraid to dream and then follow it." I've followed her advice and never regretted it.

What was the worst advice you ever received?

"You can't trust anyone" That's not true. Our very business depends on trust. Also, "Don't go into business because most people fail."

What was your initial investment?

$5000 for our computer and office equipment.

What were your revenues the first year? Last?

The first year, $95,000; last year, $300,000.