Better shred than read - Westfair Communications

What do you do with a mini-storage compartment filled to the brim with age-old paperwork you don”™t need anymore?

Judith Papo may be the person you”™ll want to call. Papo started her own business, Hudson Valley Shredding & Recycling, in January. “Necessity”™s the mother of invention,” said Papo, pouring over her own voluminous paperwork in a local Hopewell Junction coffee shop. “My husband is a pharmacist, and he had tons of old paperwork that needed to be destroyed, but it was difficult to find someone to do it that wouldn”™t charge an arm and a leg.”

That”™s when Papo came up with the idea of starting her own shredding and recycling business. With help from her father-in-law, Fran Papo, who is also her business partner, their $170,000 truck, which has the ability to shred up to three tons of paper a day, is a traveling billboard for the company. Papo does her paperwork from home or on the road, if she”™s out scouting for new business; since they are relative newcomers to the business world, the truck “is our advertisement on wheels,” said the former teacher and accountant.

Papo is not only business-savvy; she”™s also into keeping the environment clean, which led her to look into recycling. “I”™m a Rotarian, and our mission is to keep the needs of the community in mind,” she said. “This seemed to be a good fit in being environmentally conscious and also a way to serve the business community. We get rid of paper no one wants anymore, and we are helping the environment. The shredded paper takes the weight off the client, both mentally and physically, and we use local paper recyclers who buy our shredded product.”

The computerized truck has every bell and whistle, and Papo says growing her business locally is her goal. “There aren”™t too many paper shredding companies here in Dutchess, and there are a lot of firms, especially accountants, brokers, medical practices, pharmacies and others who have to hold records for a certain period of time. They can really start to accumulate. Then, what do you do? You can”™t keep them in storage forever, especially if they are not needed, and you can”™t dump them in the garbage because of the sensitive information it contains.”

Papo, who discovered both teaching and being an accountant were really not in the stars for her, has stars in her eyes when it comes to owning her own business. “The truck is our advertisement, and we do get a lot of calls from people who see my father-in-law on the road going to pick up containers or driving to the paper recycling plants. I do the bookkeeping and marketing the business.”

Papo is sure she has picked a winner. “We”™ve been in Dutchess all our lives, and we see a real need here and elsewhere in the Hudson Valley for a reasonably priced service to get rid of old paperwork.”

The company doesn”™t only work for businesses. “One client we had asked us to come in and shred all her files,” Papo said. “She had gone through the experience of having to go through her own parents”™ years of paperwork, and decided she didn”™t want her children to have to suffer the same fate, so we came in and did the job for her.” Many of Hudson Valley Shred & Recycle”™s clients are one-shot deals, people who are moving or closing a business, but slowly, the company is building a clientele in the region.

The best part for Papo is owning her own business. “There”™s nothing like working for yourself, and I”™m fortunate my father-in-law is retired, but is still looking for something to do. He takes care of the truck like a baby and does the driving, and it”™s great working with a family member who cares as much as I do about being a success.” Papo pictures her business as a “community-oriented service, not a national company, but one that is grown right here in the Hudson Valley.”

Papo also gives free talks on the importance of shredding personal documents. She urges caution concerning the paper in your trash: “invitations to open charge accounts, or other materials, or getting rid of old tax returns, cancelled checks and paid bills they don”™t need to hold on to anymore. There is a whole industry out there comprised of identity thieves, who spend a lot of time going through peoples”™ trash to find personal information and then literally having a field day. Identity theft is a big problem in this country. So if people don”™t have a huge job to do and need a service like ours to get rid of large amount of paperwork or documents, I hope they will go out and invest in a personal shredder. It”™s a lot easier than having to spend months getting your name and credit straightened out.”