GILBERT, ARIZ. – Earthworks Environmental LLC has experienced tremendous growth in 2018 with plans to expand its operations to more than 16 states from the Southwest to the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic.

Services provided by the Gilbert-based firm include stormwater pollution prevention, Phase I and II Environmental Site Assessments, dust control, and construction safety compliances. The firm primarily serves land developers, vertical developers, commercial construction, and land-holding companies.

Earthworks Environmental Principal Cherie Koester said the expansion was fueled by the company formulating stormwater and environmental programs for national homebuilders that did not have them or who wanted a more well-rounded or refined program.

“It’s one of those things no one wants to deal with – like your taxes,” Koester said. “One of our specialties is taking an entity that doesn’t have a sufficient program and help our clients to ‘gently’ create a program that works for them. If we come in too strong there will be push back.”

Founded in 2014, Earthworks Environmental expanded its operations to Florida and added two employees at its Arizona office in late 2016. The office has since grown to 22 employees. Besides Arizona and Florida, its services are available in Texas, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, and Minnesota. Several other northern states will be added later this year.

To brace for the growth, Koester promoted Travis Fern to director of compliance and Brendan Haugh to director of training and development. Recently, Earthworks Environmental hired Aaron Gordon as compliance manager in Arizona. His expertise is in Phase I and II ESAs.

“We hire locally and start training in Arizona with the core group,” Koester said. “Then we complete their training in their designated division. It is such an independent job. I have to trust them out there; they are an extension of me.”

A proprietary program that Earthworks Environmental employs – ERX – has also played a key role in the expansion, Koester said. ERX is an environmental reporting software program that puts all aspects of environmental compliance into one program. This includes any permits and inspections. Koester said nearly 75 percent of the violations in her industry occur in the paperwork process.

A client can hire Earthworks Environmental to handle the entire process including ERX. A client may also decide to opt out of the consulting and use ERX themselves. In that case, Earthworks Environmental will apply a nominal fee for use.

“We’ve created a great system,” Koester said. “We can do any project, any size, in any state. The homebuilders know we have created a good system. We always ask, ‘where else can we help you?’”

Koester said the next growth area will be the northern region of the U.S.

“We are set up for that now,” she said. “We’re still going through some growing pains, but our clients know we put them first. They tell me what they want and I tell them how we will make that happen and keep them in compliance.”

“Maybe I can even take a vacation. My employees would like that,” Koester said with a smile.

To learn more about Earthworks Environmental visit earthworksenv.com.

GILBERT, ARIZONA – Earthworks Environmental, LLC has expanded its Arizona operation with the hiring of  as a compliance manager.

Prior to joining Earthworks Environmental, Gordon worked for 10 years in the primary fields of environmental due diligence and contaminated site management for both regional and multi-national environmental consulting firms.

Most recently he was the transaction services lead for the Cleveland, Ohio, office of Environmental Resources Management (ERM), a global provider of environmental, health, safety, risk, social consulting services, and sustainability related services.

“By offering land acquisition due diligence services, combined with our existing construction storm water and dust permitting compliance services, we can provide seamless service from land acquisition through final site stabilization,” said Cherie Koester, Principal/Founder of Earthworks Environmental. “Aaron is a great asset to our team.”

Gordon has completed hundreds of environmental due diligence projects including transaction screens, lease exits assessments, desktop-based assessments of sites both domestically and abroad, and Phase I Environmental Site Assessments. His project experience has included agricultural properties, vacant and occupied residential and commercial properties, and active and closed industrial facilities primarily focused on manufacturing operations.

Working with diverse due diligence project teams in North America, Europe, and Asia, Gordon has worked under strict confidentiality and expedited timeframes. In addition, his experience with Phase II Investigations and contaminated site management allows him to recognize potential contaminants. This assists clients in making informed decisions on potential cleanup options and liability concerns.

Gordon is a graduate of Johnson State College in Johnson, Vermont, with a degree in natural resource management. He is a U.S. Army veteran.  He served as a combat engineer, training sergeant and paratrooper. He was deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan).

To learn more about Earthworks Environmental, visit earthworksenv.com.

GILBERT, ARIZ. – Earthworks Environmental LLC has expanded its operations to Florida and added two employees at its Arizona office, Principal Cherie Koester announced.

Mark Hubbard will run the Orlando/Tampa/Jackson, Fla., office as a Lead Compliance Manager. Hubbard will be responsible for Storm Water Pollution Prevention (SWPP) manual preparation, notice of intent/notice of termination filing, SWPP program management, site inspections, permit compliance assistance, construction general permit (GCP) applications, street sweeping, and site clean-up.

“We are thrilled about our service expansion into Florida,” Koester said. “Mark has exemplary skills in regulatory interpretation, consulting, and customer service. He will be a great addition to the Earthworks Environmental family.”

Hubbard will provide National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System/SWPP consulting services in Florida for commercial and residential development. It is one of the services Earthworks offers in Arizona.

According to Koester, the need is even greater in Florida due to the wetlands, sensitive waters, and massive growth of development. The amount of rain Florida receives causes storm water issues.

“We expanded into Florida due to client request and will continue to do so for our clients and the continued growth of Earthworks,” Koester said.

Hubbard, a native of Warwick, R.I., lives in Mesa. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Biola University in California and a Master of Science degree in environmental management from the Fulton School of Engineering at Arizona State University.

In other personnel moves:

• Brooks Morse joined the company as Compliance Manager in the West Valley;
• Travis Fern was promoted to Lead Compliance Manager in Arizona;
• Madison McMain joined the Gilbert office as Administrative Assistant.

Earthworks Environmental services include storm water pollution prevention, dust control and construction safety compliances. The firm primarily serves land developers, vertical developers, commercial construction, and land holding companies.

To learn more about Earthworks Environmental visit earthworksenvironmental.net