ADC's Shredify offering secure document shredding

Janelle Jessen/Siloam Sunday Bobbie Sue Whitlock fed papers into the shredding machine. The machine can cross-shred up to 100 pounds of paper an hour and package the shreds into bales to be sent for recycling.
Janelle Jessen/Siloam Sunday Bobbie Sue Whitlock fed papers into the shredding machine. The machine can cross-shred up to 100 pounds of paper an hour and package the shreds into bales to be sent for recycling.

Local businesses and individuals can safely dispose of their secure documents while supporting the Adult Development Center.

The nonprofit recently collaborated with John Brown University's Enactus students to open a document disposal service named Shredify, according to ADC director Kolin Blakely.

Shredify customers can drop off their documents or arrange for once-a-month pick-up. The ADC's clients have been trained in keeping documents secure from the beginning of the process to the end. Local businesses will be given locking consoles to store paper in until it is picked up. The paper is kept under lock and key during the pick up, transport and weigh-in process, and the shredding room is video monitored for extra security, Blakely said.

The shredding machine is capable of cross-shredding 100 pounds of paper an hour. The machine automatically packs the paper shreds into bales to be recycled. Shredify is partnering with the city to provide recycling and storage of the bales of shredded paper.

"It's truly the most secure it could be," Blakely said.

The ADC provides employment to about 20 adults with disabilities. Adding the document shredding business to ADC's services will provide more guaranteed work for clients, he said. Shredify will also be helpful in raising awareness about ADC in the community because employees will be out and about collecting documents and visiting businesses, Blakely said.

Working at ADC gives employees a sense of belonging and self-worth, Blakely said. Having a job provides clients with a sense of independence and being part of a community. Many clients have worked for ADC for more than 20 years, Blakely said.

"Our clients are proud of what they do," he said.

ADC currently contracts with local manufacturers such as Gates, Simmons Foods Inc., La-Z-boy and Alternative Design. Employees do jobs such as assembly, sorting, packaging and recycling, as well as making doormats out of recycled rubber. Enactus members came up with the idea to add a document shredding service to make the ADC more self-sustaining, Blakely said.

Clayton Anderson, communications manager for the Soderquist Center for Leadership and Ethics, described Enactus as a social entrepreneurship team for students who want to use entrepreneurial skills and thinking to help people improve their lives. There are more than 1,600 teams on university campuses all over the world, he said.

The five students who took on the project spent more than two years exploring businesses for the ADC and getting the project going. They did much of the legwork for the business and helped with research, fundraising, marketing and sales, Anderson and Blakely said.

They also connected ADC with Keith Boles of Abilities Unlimited in Jonesboro. Boles' organization also offers document shredding and was able to give practical advice on how to start and run the service, Anderson said.

The ADC received about $13,000 in grant funds and donations to purchase a truck and the shredding machine -- including about $7,000 in matching donations from JBU, Blakely said.

So far two employees are certified to follow industry standards in the document destruction process, Blakely said. He hopes to see that number grow as business increases. He also hopes to expand the service to other rooms of the ADC or even a whole warehouse in the future.

Bobbie Sue Whitlock, who has been working at ADC for three years, was one of the first volunteers to be trained to operate the shredding machine. Whitlock said she loves working at ADC and especially enjoys working in the shredding business.

"It's an amazing place to work," she said.

General News on 03/22/2015