ABR Inc. committed to the environment: this Fairbanks firm practices what it preaches in regard to environmental protection.

• Author: Santi, Behlor
• Position: Alaska Business Monthly's 2005 Environmental Issue

Tom DeLong, office manager at ABR Inc.--Environmental Research & Services in Fairbanks, remembers his first day of work well. He couldn't believe the policies in place, which extended to benefits for the company's employees.

Founder Bob Ritchie emphasized a commitment to the environment and the well-being of all employees. At first, DeLong was skeptical.

"As a new business school graduate," said DeLong, "I wondered how cost effective these strategies were that included paying $3 day for folks who used alternative transportation, $1.50 for carpooling, and a policy that urged folks to volunteer in the community at least eight hours a month." Eventually, DeLong realized the benefits of Ritchie's policies. Turnover is low, and new applicants choose ABR Inc. as a potential employer because of the company's reputation as environmentally responsible.

"A solid reputation in the community is an excellent recruiting tool," said DeLong.

THE ORIGINS

Ritchie started ABR Inc. in 1976 after working for a Canadian consulting firm. Trained in wildlife and natural resources management, Ritchie met his cofounder, Jim Curatolo, at the Canadian job, and both men shared a love of the work environment so it seemed a natural to start their own environmental consulting firm. Ritchie and Curatolo wanted to provide highly qualified, third-party expertise to government agencies and private industry on environmental conservation.

Undeniably, environmental consulting is popular and profitable in Alaska. Ritchie and DeLong use two quotes to define environmental sustainability, the bedrock of environmental consultant values.

"Then I say the earth belongs to each ... generation during its course, fully and in its own right, no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of its own existence." That quote came from Thomas Jefferson.

The United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development has its own definition. "Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs."

Sustainability is a value ABR Inc. strives for, even though its size may compromise the very tenets it was founded on. Ritchie and DeLong believe that striving for sustainability, however imperfect, is one of the most challenging and constructive journeys around. They want an abundance of natural resources to leave to the children and children's children of the world.

How does ABR Inc...