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Genesis Environmental Solutions Inc. signifies everything “from the beginning” for Shaun Thomas.
Thomas, president of Genesis Environmental Solutions Inc. in Blue Springs, started the company in October 2004 after he worked for 13 years at a previous company, which included experience as a project manager in environmental remediation. While working for the previous company, Thomas knew that he “had to make a move and do something pretty quick.”
“It’s from the beginning. I’m starting over,” he said. “We were changing from a company that focused on environmental remediation instead of prevention. Now we’re in prevention and maintenance.”
It was the first day – and probably the best day, Thomas said – of the rest of his life.
Genesis Environmental Solutions was formed to provide solutions and services for the underground and above ground storage tank industry. Thomas said the market has changed and evolved significantly in the last five to 10 years.
“It’s really went from more of a clean-up and remediation-driven business to more of a prevention for us,” Thomas said. “Instead of digging contaminated soil out of the ground and hauling it to the local landfill, it’s more of what we can do to prevent the relieves to start with, and that’s where we’ve kind of focused our attention on cathodic protection.”
Through the use of a negative potential applied by an external source, cathodic protection prevents the deterioration of metallic structures in contact with environments like soils, seawater and nature waters, according to Genesis Environmental Solutions literature.
Bob McChan, Genesis project manager and occupational safety and health coordinator, has been with the company since its inception. The industry can present dangerous situations for its workers, Thomas said, but Genesis has taken an extra step of precaution. McChan performs Occupational Safety and Health Administration training on staff and is responsible for confined entry and trench safety.
“We take every step to maintain the safety of our personnel in training,” Thomas said. “We get into some hazardous locations – gasoline tanks underground and inside cleaning those. Trench safety is a big deal.”
More than 17,000 registered tank holders exist in Kansas and Missouri, said Royce Kerley, Genesis business development manager. Genesis’ clients range from small “mom-and-pop” service stations to large power plants, Kerley said. Several of its clients include the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the Missouri Department of Transportation, Conoco Phillips, Valero Energy Corp. and BP Amoco.
Genesis Environmental Solutions Inc. signifies everything “from the beginning” for Shaun Thomas.
Thomas, president of Genesis Environmental Solutions Inc. in Blue Springs, started the company in October 2004 after he worked for 13 years at a previous company, which included experience as a project manager in environmental remediation. While working for the previous company, Thomas knew that he “had to make a move and do something pretty quick.”
“It’s from the beginning. I’m starting over,” he said. “We were changing from a company that focused on environmental remediation instead of prevention. Now we’re in prevention and maintenance.”
It was the first day – and probably the best day, Thomas said – of the rest of his life.
Genesis Environmental Solutions was formed to provide solutions and services for the underground and above ground storage tank industry. Thomas said the market has changed and evolved significantly in the last five to 10 years.
“It’s really went from more of a clean-up and remediation-driven business to more of a prevention for us,” Thomas said. “Instead of digging contaminated soil out of the ground and hauling it to the local landfill, it’s more of what we can do to prevent the relieves to start with, and that’s where we’ve kind of focused our attention on cathodic protection.”
Through the use of a negative potential applied by an external source, cathodic protection prevents the deterioration of metallic structures in contact with environments like soils, seawater and nature waters, according to Genesis Environmental Solutions literature.
Bob McChan, Genesis project manager and occupational safety and health coordinator, has been with the company since its inception. The industry can present dangerous situations for its workers, Thomas said, but Genesis has taken an extra step of precaution. McChan performs Occupational Safety and Health Administration training on staff and is responsible for confined entry and trench safety.
“We take every step to maintain the safety of our personnel in training,” Thomas said. “We get into some hazardous locations – gasoline tanks underground and inside cleaning those. Trench safety is a big deal.”
More than 17,000 registered tank holders exist in Kansas and Missouri, said Royce Kerley, Genesis business development manager. Genesis’ clients range from small “mom-and-pop” service stations to large power plants, Kerley said. Several of its clients include the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the Missouri Department of Transportation, Conoco Phillips, Valero Energy Corp. and BP Amoco.
One of the company’s largest services is its tank integrity inspections, including both Steel Tank Institute and the American Petroleum Institute inspections, Thomas said. The inspections are driven through Environmental Protection Agency-mandated regulations.
Genesis also performs traditional tank removal and installation, Thomas said. Most everything in Genesis, he said, involves a chemical or petroleum tank.
Genesis Environmental Solutions created its own database called Tank Inspection and Management System, or TIAMS for short, that incorporates all above ground and underground tanks in Missouri and Kansas. It provides their compliance, inspection and lining dates, as well as those tests that need performed on a periodic basis for compliance with EPA regulations, Thomas said.
It’s all in prevention, Thomas said.
“If you take the time to comply with the regulation and do your inspections and keep your cathodic protection system up to date, it prevents a spill,” he said. “It prevents a leak into groundwater that causes big problems. Prevention is everything.”
With about 18 full-time employees and two part-time employees, Thomas said he enjoys watching the company prosper.
“I think I’ve got a bunch of really good people that care about where we’re going and what we’re doing,” he said. “They’ve kind of started in the same spot. We probably don’t pay like the big-time people do in this business, but there’s no one really like us. We started small, and we’re getting bigger. Everybody’s growing together.”
Genesis moved to its existing 10,000-square-foot location on Missouri 7 in October 2008, but it all started in a 10-foot-by-8-foot office with a folding table and two chairs. With $50,000 in start-up money, Thomas’ first expenditure was $1,200 with a graphic designer for the company’s logo.
“It was important. I think it was a great move,” he said of the logo that incorporates an image of the earth. “The $1,200 I spent was probably the best $1,200 I ever spent.”
Almost four-and-a-half years in, Genesis’ main leaders reflected on the company’s growth.
“It’s astronomical, just going from where we were four years ago to where we are today,” McChan said.
The sky’s the limit, Thomas said.
“From zero to 100 – and we’ve still got another 100 to go.”
