Doing the Dirty Work in Pittsburgh
Remediation experts at Phase One Development Corporation excel
at understanding customers’ needs
Steve Cioppa is the Owner of Phase One Development Corporation (Phase One), a company in Pittsburgh that has been performing demolition, lead and mold abatement, concrete resurfacing and asbestos removal since September 2001.
We talked in early January, and Steve answered my call with a calm and measured “hello.” He was leaving a job site, an abandoned mill outside of Pittsburgh, and his manner of speaking gave me the impression of a real subject matter expert: composed and collected.
We spoke at length about the environmental services market (“it’s a great time to be in the business”), current trends (“there’s a focus on historical preservation”) and the weather in Pittsburgh (“it’s cold”). But we spent the majority of our time talking about his company.
“Phase One Development Corporation is an asbestos-removal company by nature, but we also do lead and mold remediation, and selective interior demolition,” Steve says. “We are committed to being a turnkey solution for any project and any client.”
Building a Top-Performing Business
Steve, a professional with 27 years of experience in asbestos remediation, opened Phase One after an abrupt stroke of insight. “It was in the late nineties, and I had the sudden realization that I had learned as much as I could. I considered the people I was working for and realized I knew just as much as them. I wanted to grow as an individual and professional, and I felt stifled,” Steve says. “But I didn’t make a move until 2001, when I decided it was time for me to be my own boss. I needed to do my own thing.”
He took a look at what made other businesses great—excellent customer service, attention to detail and highly trained employees—and decided to find ways to outperform the competition in all three areas. “Customer service, attention to detail, well-trained employees—those are all ‘needs to have’ elements of a good company,” Steve says. “But in my experience, I saw that clients wanted their asbestos remediation consultants out of the way so they could start rebuilding the site. I realized we should do our work and occupy the larger project as minimally as possible. In other words, get in and get out.”
Being out of the way is easier said than done when conducting asbestos mitigation and remediation—which is complex, carefully coordinated work. For the uninitiated, an investigation begins with the identification of asbestos-containing materials. From there, the surrounding area is effectively quarantined, with HVAC systems disabled, air ducts sealed, and floors, windows and ceilings covered. Once the area is safe, the material is removed. Depending on the severity, technicians wear abatement suits and personal air-monitoring equipment and use hand tools to remove asbestos-containing material. It is then placed into asbestos disposal waste bags, sealed, taken out through a waste decontamination unit, and stored in a specially labeled trailer or dumpster designed with a protective poly lining. Afterward, all surfaces and areas are cleaned to ensure that any lingering particles are removed.
“Environmental remediation—whether it involves mold or asbestos—is physically demanding and nuanced. Projects can have a large footprint. We’re tearing things down, boring holes and sealing off rooms,” Steve explains.
“I am fortunate to have a great team that knows how to work efficiently and get in and out,” he continues, noting that in most cases if his staff finds something they weren’t expecting, such as additional contamination, they’ll mitigate that too. “We don’t cut corners. If we find something that wasn’t listed in the initial asbestos survey, we take care of it. Unless the project is enormous, we won’t do change orders. We’re dedicated to getting the job done right the first time.”
Steve largely credits his staff of 25 for Phase One’s success. “We have the best workers out there. The vast majority of our guys are Ukrainian immigrants, and many have been with us since 2001,” he says, proudly. “This team is incredibly hardworking, excels at customer service, and pays attention to the smallest details. We are lucky to have them.”
I asked him about his feat in retaining so many long-term employees, since they have the skills that can be used in almost any environmental consulting firm. Steve agrees that they have many options. “But they stay because we treat them right, and we pay them right. There’s no reason for them to go anywhere else. If you take care of the guys that take care of you and your business, everything usually goes smoothly,” he says.
Industry Advice
Steve has advice for clients who want to maximize the results of any environmental remediation. His first piece of wisdom is to tackle the contamination head on.
“You can’t sweep asbestos or mold under the rug,” he says. “You can’t pretend it’s not there because, eventually, it will catch up to you. Then you have more than an environmental problem; it becomes a regulatory issue as well, and could potentially create marketing and public relations challenges.”
His second suggestion is to avoid cutting corners. “I have seen many instances where cutting corners made a job more expensive,” Steve adds in a cautious tone. “I have seen more than one $12,000 job become a $100,000 job because someone did the absolute minimum. Never do the absolute minimum.”
Ultimately, Steve and his team at Phase One are committed to doing the job right. This is one key factor that has helped them land contracts with municipal agencies, public school districts, higher education institutions, churches, homeowners and other clients.
“We work closely with the city of Pittsburgh, the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh and Penn State, among others,” Steve adds. He explains that developers and the city are choosing to save old buildings instead of tearing them down, and in the process, are finding architectural elements that have been largely lost to history.
“Pittsburgh is an old city, and we are in the middle of a renovation renaissance. Developers are constantly uncovering beautiful old marble and columns and choosing to keep them,” he says.
The renaissance is good for Phase One. “We are able to help some of these old buildings come to life again. We get to make them safe. We get to clean up hazards. We’re part of the renaissance, and that’s what matters,” Steve concludes.