Job Training Business Gears Up Customer Base

Fayetteville Shredding Co. has been developing quietly, but is now ready to take on more customers, said Carol Hart, executive director of Life Styles Inc. The shredding company is a not-for-profit operation and is wholly owned by Life Styles.

Life Styles serves area individuals with developmental disabilities, helping them obtain job and communication skills.

The shredding service is one of three on-the-job-training programs for Life Styles and the only one owned by the organization.

The firm is a confidential document and waste paper disposal service and is HIPPA compliant for health care providers. The service costs as little as $30 for up to 250 pounds of paper and, Hart said, FSC also does one-time purges, priced on a case-by-case basis.

FSC has been in business for about nine months and has about 20 clients currently, but could use more to help it become fully self-supporting, Hart said.

The idea for a secure shredding company in part came from the University of Arkansas’ Walton College of Business. Graduate students helped Life Styles zero in on the shredding business and even wrote the business plan, Hart said.

Hart said startup and operating costs for FSC for the first nine months have run to about $50,000, some of which was supplemented with grants from area foundations.