Gone Green, A Company’s Push to Increase Service Value with Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

Environmental sustainability is becoming part and parcel to conscientious organizations who wish to evolve value, culture and learning into business imperatives. Huebsch Services is a family owned and operated business headquartered in Eau Claire Wisconsin and has been operating in the Chippewa Valley since 1891. The company serves over 6,000 customers in Western Wisconsin and the metropolitan areas of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Huebsch specializes in sales and service of floor matting, work uniforms, and hygiene products. The Company is dedicated to enhancing the image of its businesses throughout these areas, keeping employees and facilities clean, safe and looking sharp; to quote Mr. Jim Vaudreuil the company president, “Listen to your customers, find ways to give them what they want, and do your best work every day.” Mr. Vaudreuil, determined to reinforce Hubesch’s commitment to community service and organizational culture while increasing its product value, decided to obtain the benchmark standard in environmental consciousness through ISO 14001 recognition. They embarked on a task to develop and reengineer critical processes and procedures to surpass the rigorous standards outlined in ISO 14001, Environmental Sustainability. This paper is the result of hundreds of hours of focused efforts to surpass stringent ISO criteria.