Thriving and meeting its challenges due to its ability to change and its pursuit of innovation, Empire is the strongest it has ever been in its 60-year history.
In 1955, Harry “Whitey” O’Neill, Jr. founded Empire Wrecking Co., of Reading, PA, to provide demolition services to Berks County and surrounding areas. In 1972, Whitey unexpectedly passed away and his son, Harry J. O’Neill III, assumed the role of president. In 1980, Whitey’s son, Todd M. O’Neill, took on a major role in the family business as Vice President. Responding to the changing marketplace and economy, Empire grew and expanded to meet the needs of customers. Harry and Todd O’Neill founded five new Empire companies to provide waste disposal, environmental remediation, building products, transportation and utility repairs. Now, the third generation of this family business is represented by Whitey’s grandson, Harry O’Neill IV, who serves as Vice President of Empire Surplus Home Center, one of the six Empire Group companies.
The Empire Group currently includes six subsidiary companies: Empire Wrecking, doing business as Empire Services; Berks Transfer; Elk Environmental Services; Delaware Valley Contractors (DVC); Empire Surplus Home Center; and Delaware Valley Utility Contractors (DVUC). Empire Group has more than 200 employees and over 400 pieces of equipment, plus a large fleet of vehicles. Empire’s fleet of heavy equipment includes: long reach excavators, vacuum tanker trucks, tri-axles, roll-offs, walking floors, low-boys, flat bed trailers, vactors, tractors, backhoes, truck loaders, bulldozers, skid loaders, roll-off dumpsters and forklifts.
Each of the six Empire Group companies serves a large geographic area. Elk Environmental Services, an industry leader in environmental remediation and hazardous and non-hazardous waste management, serves clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic states. Elk also operates an Oil & Gas Division in Wysox, PA, which provides the Marcellus and Utica Shale oil and gas industry with transportation and disposal of waste and industrial cleaning services.
Empire Wrecking, doing business as Empire Services, provides expert demolition and excavation services throughout Eastern Pennsylvania. Clients include schools and colleges, hospitals, industrial parks, shopping centers and residential developments. Excavation experts use state-of-the-art computer software to analyze building plans, resulting in lower costs. Delaware Valley Contractors (DVC) is a full-service trucking company, providing transportation of bulk commodities and equipment. DVC operates trucks throughout the Eastern half of the U.S., and offers transportation for soil-moving operations throughout Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland. The versatility of DVC’s fleet allows a wide range of materials to be transported, including hazardous and non-hazardous soil, sand, stone, salt and asphalt.
Empire Surplus Home Center, located near Reading in Leesport, PA, sells quality home improvement products at the lowest prices. Because Empire Surplus buys and imports in such large quantities to sell to their customers across the nation, they are able to offer the local customers at the Leesport store the best prices and selection. Delaware Valley Utility Contractors (DVUC), provides directional drilling, utility installation, emergency utility repairs, vacuum excavation and certified pipe fusion. DVUC’s Reading office serves Eastern Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and West Virginia. DVUC provides 24-hour service to residential, commercial, construction, industrial and agricultural customers. DVUC also serves clients throughout New Jersey from their office in Long Branch, NJ.
Berks Transfer, an Empire company founded in 2003, provides businesses and individuals with hauling and waste disposal services. This unique environmental facility/transfer station is built to accept 1,000 tons of waste per day. Berks Transfer accepts municipal solid waste, construction and demolition debris, and liquid and solid residual waste. Berks Transfer provides dumpsters and solidification services for customers, as well as recycling for wood waste, pallets, and ferrous and non-ferrous materials. The staff uses recycling, incineration and landfills to dispose of waste materials.
A Strong Management Team
According to Harry J. O’Neill III, President of Empire Group, the state of the economy in the past year has been relatively strong, especially in comparison with the economy a few years ago, during the recession. “Like all companies who survived the recession of 2007 to 2012, Empire grew leaner and stronger by working hard and smart through those rough years. While we are always working to find new customers, we benefit from many repeat customers who know us well. Our customers know our work ethic and our commitment to exceeding their expectations.”
During the recession, Empire maintained their staff but did not add new positions. “Our team is cross-trained—our people wear a lot of hats—and that makes us stronger. Since the economy has improved, we have been able to grow and add some new full-time positions, including a second safety officer, several new estimators, project managers and technical staff, and several new positions in sales and marketing. We have also invested in new equipment and vehicles, as well as in new Web sites,” says O’Neill III.
He points out that Empire’s current team of vice presidents and managers is the strongest that has been assembled in Empire’s 60-year history. In addition to the individual expertise of each of the VPs and managers, the management team understands the importance of working together to create synergy for the entire Empire Group. The leaders of all six companies communicate on a daily basis in order to ensure the best service for all customers.
Health and Safety
Empire works hard to stay ahead of the curve on safety. One of the toughest challenges is the effort to stay in compliance with changing government regulations from OSHA and other agencies. Embracing a focus on safety as a top priority, the protection of Empire’s employees, customers and environment is paramount at all times. “Our objective is to effectively manage the work and worksite risks to anticipate and prevent harmful incidents. Empire’s aggressive health and safety program combines thorough training and a strict drug and alcohol policy,” says O’Neill III.
Continuing education includes health and safety courses, and certification training in compliance with federal, state and local regulations. Empire’s Corporate Safety Officer performs weekly jobsite safety inspections and works with staff in groups and individually to train them in best practices. In addition, Empire has a second full-time Safety Officer, and a State Certified Safety Committee comprised of both management and field personnel. Empire also encourages input from all employees to ensure safety procedures are effective. Through written safety programs as well as seminars, in-house training and mentoring programs, employees are continually educated about safety.
Elk Environmental Services, an Empire Group company, offers more than 40 regulatory compliance and safety training courses to companies locally, regionally and throughout the country. These courses can be customized to meet each company’s needs and schedule.
In addition to staying on top of changing government regulations, Empire faces the challenge of retaining and growing a strong workforce. “There is great demand for experienced workers in all our service areas, including site supervisors, project managers, estimators, sales managers, accountants, truck drivers and mechanics,” says O’Neill III. “Empire addresses this challenge several ways. While we welcome new talent to our organization, we also consciously promote from within and, therefore, grow our own leaders.”
Empire focuses on retaining good employees by both rewarding and challenging them. O’Neill III says that Empire is a company where people move up the ladder based on their dedication, expertise and continued growth. New employees are welcomed and mentored by senior employees. “Empire is a big company, but we have managed to maintain the close-knit feeling of this family business.”
The Ability to Change and Adapt
What makes the Empire Group unique is their ability to change as the economy changes. The O’Neills believe this is Empire’s most outstanding achievement. As new markets emerged, Empire could have managed these new areas under the original company, Empire Wrecking. However, the decision was made to form new companies; the Empire Group now includes six unique companies. These companies function independently, and also assist each other as needed. “Creating new companies allowed us to review the profitability of each area as a stand-alone activity,” says O’Neill III. “It also enabled us to grow managers in particular directions, and to sell to third-party companies without alienating our competition.”
For example, from its beginning in 1955, Empire Wrecking salvaged materials from properties prior to demolition. This process eventually became a separate business named Empire Building Products. A few decades later, when most buildings were stripped of valuables before demolition, Empire Building Products evolved into Empire Surplus Home Center, which first sold surplus home improvement products. Empire Surplus now sells closeout, buyback, liquidation and running line products at the lowest prices.
During demolition, Empire often encountered hazardous waste. This led them to open Elk Environmental Services in 1988, which offers turnkey solutions for all environmental needs. When they saw a need for transportation, the owners of Empire founded Delaware Valley Contractors (DVC) in 1990, a full-service trucking company. When they identified the need for a waste disposal facility, they created Berks Transfer in 2003. The leaders of Empire are keenly tuned into the regional market and embrace the reality of constant change.
The Empire Group now offers clients turnkey service, from the beginning of a project to its closure, from environmental review and remediation, to demolition, to transportation and disposal of waste, to excavation to prepare for a new building. However, this does not come without its challenges. Currently, Empire’s biggest challenge is to continue to change to meet the changing needs of customers, many of who have multiple, interconnected needs. Due to the synergy and close relationships between the six sister companies, Empire can offer clients turnkey service. They provide the technical expertise, experience and proficiency in each area to take the job from the beginning to successful closure. The unity of the six companies allows Empire to offer cohesive service to clients who have multiple needs.
“Another challenge for clients is dealing with emergencies,” says Todd O’Neill, Executive Vice President of Empire Group. “When an emergency call comes to Empire, we have the ability to react quickly and effectively. Due to the close relationship between the leaders of the six Empire companies, we can rapidly move manpower and equipment to stabilize the emergency.” Empire’s emergency response capabilities include hazardous and non-hazardous waste transportation and disposal.
For Berks Transfer, their waste disposal company, one of the big challenges is continuing to expand the recycling markets. The staff of Berks Transfer currently recycles wood waste, pallets, and ferrous and non-ferrous materials. At the transfer station, the wood waste and pallets are removed from the tipping floor and stored in a separate area. The material is then transported to recyclers, where it is converted into mulch, animal bedding or other products. The ferrous and non-ferrous materials are removed from the tipping floor or from customer locations, and transported to local metals recyclers.
Berks Transfer is also involved in the “Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design” LEED Recycling rating system for Green Buildings. Berks Transfer will provide several dumpsters to the developer/builder to sort recyclable materials on location, then transport and document the different commodities that are shipped to recyclers. As the recycling market continues to grow and change, Berks Transfer is positioned to adapt and offer new technologies as they develop. Currently, Berks Transfer is exploring other possible waste materials that could be used for the solidification of liquid waste, as well as additional outlets for beneficial reuse.
Continuing to Grow
The goal of the Empire Group is to continue to grow and evolve to best serve existing and new customers. Looking forward to offering various services in new markets in the future, another one of their goals is to invest in the growth of their staff and expertise by investing in cross-training staff so that they can serve different companies and provide a variety of services.
In terms of business opportunities and growth, the future is wide open for the Empire Group. All six Empire companies are expanding. The leaders of Empire stay flexible and focused on customer needs. Empire will continue to evolve to best serve current and future customers. “The Empire Group has thrived and met challenges due to its ability to change, its pursuit of innovation, and thousands of dedicated employees over the past 60 years,” says O’Neill III. “No matter how complicated or physically demanding the project, Empire crews take pride in delivering results that exceed customer expectations.” | WA
For more information, contact Francine Scoboria at (610) 372-4760 or via e-mail at [email protected].
