February 11, 2021
Environmental Business Journal Recognizes Environmental Industry Firms for 2020 Performance and Innovation
San Diego, Calif. (February 2021) — Environmental Business Journal® (EBJ), a business research publication which has provided strategic business intelligence to the environmental industry since 1988, has honored the Consulting Services division of BSI with a 2020 EBJ Business Achievement Award for COVID Resilience.
“2020 was certainly an exceptional year for our society, the economy and the environmental industry,” said Grant Ferrier, president of Environmental Business International Inc. (EBI, Inc.), and editor of Environmental Business Journal. “Unique enough that we added two major categories to the EBJ Awards: COVID Resilience that recognizes companies that adapted to work-at-home, travel, field services and other restrictions, as well as rapidly changing client needs; and COVID Response that recognizes companies that developed or accelerated new business initiatives, innovations and entire business units to support the environment, health & safety needs of their diverse client sectors.”
The EBJ Business Achievement Awards customarily recognize business performance in conventional metrics like revenue growth, M&A, exceptional projects, technology development and deployment in the field, and advances in information and digital technology, and these categories are well represented in 2020.
BSI was recognized for developing a unified response to the COVID-19 pandemic including:
- PPE fit-testing of healthcare and other front-line employees;
- ergonomic assessments for remote workers to make the transition to working from home more seamless;
- checklists and training to guide organizations on how to return to work safely;
- business continuity and Organizational Resilience assessments and guidance;
- complimentary access to in-depth COVID-19 supply chain insights and intelligence through BSI’s SCREEN (supply chain risk exposure evaluation network) tool with the intent of sharing with the global community information to anticipate, quickly respond to, and avoid supply chain disruptions;
- notification of false personal protective equipment and other counterfeits;
- and, to support and protect healthcare and education facilities with an initiative aimed at providing high-level no-cost cybersecurity reviews of the internet footprint of qualified schools and medical facilities with the aim of highlighting any vulnerabilities
“We’re thrilled to be recognized as a recipient of an EBJ Business Achievement Award for COVID Resilience,” said Thorsten Querfurt, Group Consulting Services Director at BSI. “For over 120 years, BSI’s agility and resourcefulness have allowed us to plan for, anticipate, and mitigate the impacts of disruptions to business and organizations. The COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the most incredible events of any of our lifetimes; however, resilience, careful planning, and thorough assessments are the clear way forward. We are proud of our offerings, but even more so of our team’s ability to go above and beyond in providing complementary services, such as our supply chain COVID insights, to the broadest possible audience to help organizations on their road to recovery and building back better.”
2020 was also a unique year in that it represented what EBJ determined was the 50th Anniversary of the Environmental Industry as a collection of 13 increasingly integrated segments in a $401-billion industry in the United States. Historical relics show active waste management practices in Native American communities, and water and wastewater systems date back to pre-Roman history, but the environmental industry as we know it dates back to the foundation of EPA, and many of the companies that make up the Environmental Consulting & Engineering segment in 1970.
The year 2020 was the 50th anniversary of United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the institution of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the President’s Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) and other environmental protection initiatives at state and federal level that endure today. The year 1970 also represents the foundation of a number of companies that still flourish today, and EBJ recognizes many of these companies in a 50-Year Recognition awards for companies founded in 1970 or thereabouts.
The 2020 EBJ awards will be presented at a virtual Zoom ceremony on February 11th and 12th, 2021, free to the entire environmental industry community. EBJ Business Achievement Awards are customarily presented in person at EBI’s annual Environmental Industry Summit. In 2020 the Environmental Industry Summit XVIII was postponed from its usual mid-March dates and held online September 9-11, 2020. The expectation is for resumption of in-person events in 2021 starting with Environmental Industry Summit XIX on September 22-24, 2021.
EBI’s online and in-person events allow participants to gain and share perspective on issues of mutual business interest with industry experts, analysts, advisors, and fellow environmental industry executives.
ENDS