Philotechnics Named 2009 Industry of the Year
Thursday May 14, 2009
The Roane County Industrial Development Board has named Philotechnics as the Industry of the Year for 2009. The award was announced at the Board's Annual Industry Appreciation Breakfast on Thursday, May 14 at Roane State Community College in Harriman.
A waste management operation, Philotechnics has been in operation since 1983 and - in addition to their two offices in Roane County -- has offices in Pittsburg, Boston, San Diego and Idaho Falls. They moved their corporate headquarters from Pittsburg, PA to the Roane County part of Oak Ridge in 2006, when they built their new 20,000 s. f. facility at Horizon Center. They also have an office in Harriman for their back-office functions.
They have a workforce of 133 people nationwide -- 33 of which work in the two Roane County offices -- and the company works with Fortune 500 companies throughout the United States, including Pfizer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Dupont, SmithKline Beecham, PerkinElmer and GlaxoSmithKline.
Andy Armbrust, the company's president, put it this way when their Oak Ridge facility opened, "It may not sound glamorous, but we take out the trash....What we do is just a bit more complicated and a lot more expensive." Much of the work Philotechnics performs is in helping to dispose of the radioactive wastes generated by medical treatments.
"Philotechnics is not only a significant player in Roane County's industrial picture," Leslie Henderson, President/CEO of The Roane Alliance said in presenting the annual award to company representatives, "but they are also very much involved in our Roane County community and give to our local non-profits year after year."
"We are pleased to honor Philotechnics today," Roane Industrial Board Chairman David Webb said during the well-attended annual industry appreciation event. "They made a real strong statement when they moved their corporate headquarters here to our county. We hope that they will continue to grow and become even more successful in the coming years."
Since the formation of their brokerage group in 1998, Philotechnics has grown to be one of the largest waste brokerage providers in the nation. They specialize in providing turnkey radioactive and mixed waste management solutions from customer-specific evaluations of waste processing and disposal options through regulatory interface and negotiations with waste processors and disposal sites to packaging, transportation and final disposition of waste. Their services include D&D services, radiological health physics staff augmentation, health and safety plan development, and radiological qualification training to military and federal government standards.
Also honored at the appreciation event was Toho Tenax America for their beautification efforts. Toho was honored for their Roane County facility which is located on Cardiff Valley Road in the Roane County Industrial Park between Rockwood and Harriman. Toho is a Japanese-owned company that manufactures carbon fiber. It is the second-largest carbon fiber manufacturer in the country. The plant has been in operation for many years in the Rockwood area, and was formerly known as Fortafil Fibers.
The annual beautification awards were implemented four years ago by the Roane County Industrial Board in an effort to recognize industries that "go the extra mile" to exhibit a clean, aesthetically-pleasing appearance, Henderson said as she announced the award.
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