The BEM Systems Story

BEM Systems had one of the strangest and more controversial beginnings. I was managing a very small group of engineers and scientists for a large international A&E company, primarily performing hazardous waste investigations. In 1990, I was approached by my management to lead a new company (BEM Systems), focused solely on environmental cleanup. The owners were very concerned about the potentially uninsurable risks associated with remedial investigations and cleanup, and wanted to divest of our operations. At 31 years old and more naïve about business than a native New Yorker should be, my ego said, “what a great opportunity”.

I didn’t appreciate the significance of that decision until I saw our new statement of qualifications, which showed us with eight employees, not the 2,500 plus I was used to using. And me, with my five years of experience representing our “senior leadership”, the assumption that we would function as a subsidiary of one of the largest and most successful consulting firms in the industry was quickly disabused as the major owners wanted an ironclad corporate veil distancing itself from BEM. But what makes the story truly bizarre was within a year of our launching, the parent firm decided to re-enter the hazardous waste market with both feet while neglecting to inform us.

Now our little group could have done one of three things: resign en masse and find new jobs, ask to be brought back into the parental fold or stick it out and try to make it on our own. Driven by a combination of injured pride, a gross underestimation of what it takes to launch a new company and sensing an intriguing business opportunity, we chose the latter.

And with an underdog spirit emblematic of the 1969 New York Mets, we experienced tremendous success. Our first major contract was awarded by New Jersey Transit, to whom we will forever be indebted, for taking a chance on our then unproven capabilities to manage all the environmental issues associated with the planning, design, and construction of the 20 mile Hudson-Bergen Light Rail System. And demonstrating our fledgling talent for innovative data management solutions, to manage all aspects of the acquisition of over 500 properties, BEM developed a proprietary web-based data management system. That success instilled in us great confidence that we could compete against the more established industry players. Thereafter we established a solid reputation with state infrastructure agencies for delivering consistent performance for environmental planning, compliance, permitting, and remediation services with a very distinct niche in electronic property management systems.

Then through another extraordinary act of courage by a large governmental agency, the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment (AFCEE) awarded us two major contracts: a $25M worldwide environmental services contract for planning, design, and construction oversight; and a $30M full-service remediation contract for Williams Air Force Base in Arizona, an Air Force base undergoing closure under Base Realignment and Closure Act II. The latter was under a full and open competition. What followed were other large contracts that have supported all branches of the Department of Defense, National Aeronautics Space Administration and other federal and state agencies, and a handful of select private sector organizations that allowed us to realize our goal of becoming a nationwide full-service environmental remediation and restoration firm. We were now on our way, but it must be acknowledged, that even our diligent work ethic, inventiveness and luck, that our early success depended largely on the trust and confidence demonstrated by these two agencies for whom, over the last 15 years we continue to work.