Environmental Journeys: 9. Starting a Business - Rabbits and Elephants
After finishing the work on the chemical contamination site in Woodstock, I decided to start a business that focused on evaluating chemicals in the environment. I sought the advice of my friend and mentor Chuck Mainville. We met for lunch at Longfellow’s Wayside Inn in Sudbury Massachusetts.
I sketched out my ideas with Chuck. Many of my projects at EG&G had involved the manufacture, disposal, and/or investigation of chemicals. While the issues were distinct and case-specific they shared a common characteristic: the potential endangerment to human health and the environment involved the degree of exposure to potentially toxic substances. The magnitudes of exposure and toxicity could vary but it is the combination of these two factors that give rise to the likelihood of endangerment. Understanding how to combine information on exposure and effects had also applied to my evaluations and predictions of power plant impacts. For those, changes in temperature and the physical impacts of impingement and entrainment were the sources of potential harm. I told Chuck that I envisioned a company that offered expertise in an evaluation process that integrated exposure and effects. The matters could vary but the conceptual approach would be similar across assignments.
I did not use the term “risk assessment” in my conversation with Chuck but chemical risk assessment was emerging as a formal process in the United States. In 1983, coincident with my planned business start, the National Academy of Sciences report (often referred to as the Red Book) laid out a four-step process in relation to information needs and risk management decisions. While chemical risk assessments had occurred prior to this date, this report is considered the foundation for formal human health risk assessment for chemical exposures. I would rely on this process and iterations of this process that with time included ecological risk assessment, probabilistic risk assessment, risks of multiple stressors, and holistic assessments that included humans and ecological receptors. Specializing on human health and ecological risk assessment would be the core of my new business.
Chuck was supportive of the idea and offered advice regarding working with state and national regulatory agencies, corporations, and other major organizations including non-government organizations (NGOs). He used an analogy to underscore the importance of being a professional and adopting a professional appearance for the various entities I would be interacting with.
Chuck said, “Rabbits like being with rabbits and elephants like being with elephants. If you want to be recognized by the elephants, you should conduct yourself as an elephant.” I interpreted that to mean acting in a manner that conveyed a highly professional and polished company, one that would exude capability and capacity; one that could credibly and reliably conduct large projects.
The rabbits and elephants imagery stuck with me. I named my company Charles A. Menzie and Associates. I didn’t yet have any associates, but certainly the name implied there were lots of people working with me. And that was the vision I had for my company, me serving as the nucleus and point of contact and a cadre of specialty experts who were independent contractors. Over the years, I was joined on projects by many “associates” who also became friends and colleagues: Dave Burmaster, Harlee Strauss, Andy Stoddard, Chris Werme, Bruce Brownwell, Eric Adams, Doug Levin, Peter Shanahan, Chuck Mainville, John Maney, Gail Charnley, Mitch Erickson, and my former EG&G colleague Jerry Cura.
I began in my basement. Desk top computers had made an appearance and I bought one of the leading pieces of equipment, a Compaq computer with two floppy disc drives. The drive on the left was for installing programs as needed and the one on the right was for files. I purchased a dot matrix printer. This made it possible for me to write reports like an “elephant”. I later upgraded to a desk top with a single disc and a laser printer.
Being an elephant also meant having the right kind of stationery and so I spent some time picking it out and having it produced so that it looked very professional. There were no pictures of little animals or nature scenes. And I set up a phone system and other business equipment to enable me to carry out the work in a professional manner. The phone system had a dedicated line that could be answered from upstairs or in my basement office.
I look back at amusement at the day when I received a call on the dedicated line, picked up the phone in the basement, and heard a series of snorting sounds. I bounded up the stairs to see what might be happening on the upstairs phone. My seven year old daughter was holding the phone. She recalls answering the phone and not knowing what to do, she just began snorting into it. I took the phone from her and tentatively said, “Hello?”
The voice on the other end asked, “Is this Charles A Menzie and Associates.?”
I looked at my daughter who had been snorting into the receiver. “No, I am sorry. You have the wrong number.” And hung up.
During those office in a basement days I hired one employee, Joan Pioli.
Joan and I got to know each other working together on the Westford Board of Health. We made a great team on behalf of the Board and the Town of Westford. I was an elected member of the Board and Joan was the Board’s Secretary and an essential technical support person. She and I would respond to reported incidents at our local landfill when there were claims of inappropriate disposal of material such as PCB-containing transformers or suspected asbestos. We would inspect restaurants. And, we evaluated real estate development proposals to ensure they complied with Massachusetts Title 5, the law governing septic system permitting, installation, and maintenance. The Board of Health is one of the most powerful regulatory agencies at the local level. Understanding the community and the regulations were critically important and Joan had a vast network of connections throughout our community. When I started my company, I asked Joan to join me. Luckily, she agreed.
Joan and I formed a bond of friendship and we had a great working relationship. She knew what I was thinking and we could easily communicate with an abbreviated Joan / Charlie language. We looked out for and trusted each other. Our working relationship lasted almost 30 years and our friendship continues.
As my company grew from Charles Menzie & Associates into Menzie-Cura & Associates, Joan made our place a professional home where people enjoyed working. As our client list increased, she knew each client contact through phone conversations and occasional meetings. She made them feel connected when they called. Joan tells me today she considers Menzie-Cura to be a wonderful family of friends and colleagues. I like the family image and felt it was important to support the professional and personal growth of each employee. Many years later in 2016, I was honored to receive the Champion Award from the Women’s Council on Energy and the Environment (WCEE) for my efforts as perceived by my colleagues on mentoring women scientists. I was thrilled to share the stage with The Honorable Lisa Murkowski, the U.S. Senator from Alaska who was being honored with the Woman of the Year Award. On that occasion I shared a poem I had written, inspired by our entire Menzie-Cura and Exponent staff as it relates to mentoring.
We eventually outgrew my basement office as people joined us and we moved to real offices in Chelmsford MA. The selection of the offices in Chelmsford was all about “location location location”: close to Dunkin Donuts, close to Golds Gym with its outside basketball court, and close to Routes 3 and 495. Access to the main roads connecting the New England states was very useful for conducting the hundreds of site visits that would be part of our growing risk assessment business. It was also relatively easy to get to the two major airports: Boston and Manchester.
I was very comfortable working with Jerry Cura, an independent consultant and an associate who set up in one of our offices after we moved out of my basement and into proper offices in Chelmsford MA. We had enjoyed working together at EG&G and we had a lot in common. We were about the same age, had similar educations, had started families, and liked the Boston Celtics. We were very complementary in a business sense. Both of us were comfortable with clients and staff. Jerry liked keeping an eye on the business (he was the inside guy) while I liked traveling about making connections across firms and other organizations (I was the outside business development guy).
When Jerry and I became business partners and formed Menzie-Cura, the lawyer overseeing the agreement likened our future to being married. It was a good marriage with all the highs and some of the struggles experienced in any marriage. Our Chelmsford offices suited both of us, although they were closer to my home. Perhaps as in a marriage, when we got too big, we compromised and agreed to move the office to Winchester, nearer to where Jerry lived. Later, we were also fortunate to have Donna Vorhees join us as our third partner. Donna took leadership of our human health practice.
Our overarching business strategy was to be the go-to risk assessment support group for other engineering and environmental firms as well as regulatory agencies and corporations. To execute this strategy we built relationships with environmental engineering firms such as TRC, CDM, Haley and Aldrich, GEI, Earth Tech and many others. I also established a close relationship with Eastern Research Group’s (ERG) to support the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. I will describe in a later story how that fortunate relationship with ERG opened up for me the world of risk assessment policy in its early stages and throughout its development.
We typically left business development with primary corporate clients or with EPA to the engineering and environmental firms that were our main clients. Once projects were secured, we would work with the engineering firms to guide sampling efforts, conduct risk assessment, and engage in plans for remediation. We kept investment in capital equipment at a minimum as we wanted to make it clear that we were not a competitor with our engineering firm clients but instead be viewed as a critical resource. We invested in deepening capability and visibility in the field of health and environmental risk assessment. Later, as our ecological practice grew, we filled a needed gap in the industry for field services and we forged linkages to the appropriate biological and chemical analytical laboratories. We were fortunate to team with a first rate firm — New Environmental Horizons— led by Nancy Rothman and Susan Chapnick that provided oversight on data quality and could guide laboratories on achieving the analytical limits necessary for ecological risk assessments.
Jerry Cura and Katherine Fogarty became Licensed Site Processionals (LSPs) in Massachusetts. This was a special distinction and while we did limited direct LSP work, their knowledge opened up a wide variety of projects that fell under the Massachusetts Contingency Plan (MCP). We also became very active in the Licensed Site Professional Association (LSPA). Even today, although she is with me at Exponent, my colleague Meg McArdle formerly at Menzie-Cura continues to network and arrange for educational programs for the LSPA.
We sought smart people with strong communication skills. Many held Ph.D.s in various environmental and health disciplines. But our technical team also included people who came to us at various stages of their careers. Some went on to graduate school, became professors, or joined other companies. I like to think we had an expansive footprint on the growing field of risk assessment, including well-informed people who went on to academia, regulatory agencies, law firms, and other companies.
Twenty-three years after I began our company, the assets of Menzie-Cura were transferred to Exponent Inc. as we closed our consulting doors and started new adventures. Most of our ecological risk assessment capability went to Exponent while the human health risk team either became independent or joined other firms. I’m sure I missed a few names, but here are the Menzie-Cura folks who contributed to our success as an environmental consulting company specializing in risk assessment.
In addition to a great technical team, Menzie-Cura benefitted from a great administrative and management team. Jim Burke was our business manager, JoAnne Kesselhuth was our accountant and bookkeeper, Pat Enwright was a senior administrative person in charge of our library services, and of course Joan Pioli who worked directly for me.
I especially appreciate the work of JoAnne Kesselhuth who still serves as a business accountant for me. She helped me close out Menzie-Cura and continued to support my efforts as I worked to develop the SediMite remediation technology (story to be told later) and the company I started with Upal Ghosh, Sediment Solutions LLC.
The next stories in this series relate to my environmental consulting experiences while at Menzie-Cura. This will include the development of the risk assessment field at the state and federal levels. While Menzie-Cura conducted several hundred projects, I will share my experiences working on national risk assessment development, evaluating PCBs, developing and applying risk assessment approaches for Manufactured Gas Plant (MGP) Sites, invasive species, and sites contaminated with metals.
This story is dedicated to my friend Joan Pioli. She is a very special person in my life. We are welcome in each others homes and I have had the joy of seeing her children and grandchildren turning into adults and look forward to meeting her great grandchild. I had the great opportunity to work with her daughter Dayna Ann Boisvert at our firm. Like her mom, Dayna was a remarkable woman. She was extremely courageous battling a disease for many years. Sadly she passed in 2021 from this illness. I like remembering her, her sister Dawn, her mother Joan, and Joan’s sisters as they sang on special occasions like Thanksgiving or Christmas. When they sang I am Woman, the house would shake from that combined power.
