2022 Fire Awards: How the ecoSPEARS team is using 60+ years of experience to safely rid the world of toxins

ecoSPEARS was chosen as one of Orlando Business Journal's 2022 Fire Awards honorees, who were featured in OBJ's April 29-May 5, 2022, weekly edition.

The Altamonte Springs-based environmental technology company is ushering in the net-zero future of environmental remediation. It designs and develops green and sustainable technologies to extract and forever eliminate polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins and other persistent toxins from the environment. ecoSPEARS is the exclusive licensee of green and sustainable environmental technologies developed by NASA.

Here's more from CEO and co-founder Sergie Albino:

What was your company’s biggest accomplishment of 2021? Commercializing ecoCUBE UV/AOP system. ecoCUBE already is serving roughly 750,000 people within Spokane, Washington, for PCB-impacted waters. ecoSPEARS partnered with Kaiser Aluminum to deploy ecoCUBE in Spokane to eliminate harmful toxins. ... ecoCUBE is a pump-and-treat water remediation solution. Mobile, modular and scalable, ecoCUBE degrades and mineralizes toxins like PCBs, dioxins, 1,4-dioxane, and other persistent toxins from contaminated water. The continuous batch flow system is capable of being deployed as a primary treatment system or in line with other complementary treatment systems, independently or with other in-line water treatment systems. ecoCUBE also can eliminate PCBs from transformer oil to be potentially reusable, thus creating a new revenue stream for utilities and other commercial clients.

How did you get it done? Our management team has 60-plus years of combined expertise in entrepreneurship, environmental & analytical chemistry and government relations, as well as mechanical, aerospace and environmental engineering and consulting. In addition to our diverse team, ecoSPEARS partners with industry experts like for subject matter expertise. ecoSPEARS also partners with engineering and environmental consulting firms, Fortune 100 companies, global organizations and stakeholder groups dedicated to implementing ecoSPEARS green remediation solutions. Partnering with environmental consultants to assist implementation has allowed us to scale our workforce and project capture.

How does your company stay innovative and on the cutting-edge? We first focus on a big mission, innovate a purpose-built solution from our own creativity, and then challenge the industry to think better. Our strategy is approaching the industry how the tech and software industries conduct outreach through predictable revenue. Everything must have a metric and scorecard for us to have a real-time understanding that we are doing the right things. We truly approach things from the triple-bottom-line perspective, a position that’s built-in from the leadership down, not just bolted on when it’s convenient.

What strategies have you implemented to recruit and/or retain talent in a competitive labor market? As we embark on the next stage of our business, we will need folks with industry experience who think outside of the box. We will need more diversity on our team, both regionally and culturally. We want to have a well-balanced and diverse leadership team. We want more powerful women in science and tech to be part of our team. Only through diversity can ecoSPEARS serve a global market.

What is the biggest challenge facing your industry? Current remediation methods are cost-prohibitive and pose significant health threats to humans, wildlife and the environment. In many cases, traditional remediation methods fail to permanently eliminate the contaminants, often producing toxic by-products when incinerated or leaching of contaminants if landfilled.

What is your company’s top goal for 2022? Commercializing the ecoTERRA soil remediation system

In the past year, what progress have you seen in the growth of Central Florida’s entrepreneurial and tech ecosystems? Florida is a very business-friendly state for startups. It’s not competitive when it comes to key hires or resources. The Florida talent pool certainly is not cannibalized as it would be in Silicon Valley, where you may lose a good key hire just for a higher salary. Florida also has an infrastructure and an ecosystem that are supportive of startups. [Albino is] a board member for the Rally Social Enterprise Accelerator, and we’re rallying to bring on more startups to see the value of the social enterprise and how they can impact the world and their communities.

What is the local technology and innovation sector’s biggest obstacle to more growth? Access to capital and mentorship

Are you hiring now? Yes, ecoSPEARS is looking to bring on 10-15 more positions in the next 12 months.

ecoSPEARS Inc.

Sign up here for The Beat, Orlando Inno’s free newsletter. And be sure to follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.