Joseph Hogan

From a simple piece of paper, the idea of Eco2Bureau was born. It stemmed from a conversation about how to reuse paper, and better use our natural resources. Joseph was concerned with the availability and information about environmental products for the office settings, he wanted to find ideas of environmentally friendly products and services to the office. This blossomed into various products being available for the office. Food service products were introduced after requests from various organizations looking for other eco-friendly products for food service packaging in addition to the office products that they were already using. After thorough research on the burgeoning eco-friendly food service packaging market, Eco2Bureau started by selling North Americas first available compostable cup. With the addition of multiple compostable products during the following months, this allowed Eco2Bureau's to be able to offer a full line of compostable packaging to cover a large variety of a food service organizations’ needs. In addition to the organization and creation of a company with a full line of eco-friendly products for the food service and office environment, Joseph was able to improve the efficiency of managing Eco2Bureau by the: 1 - Implementation of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system a) Streamlined administrative tasks related to inventory management and accounting b) Allowed for remote access by business employees and partners 2 – Implementation of VOIP (Voice Over IP) PBX a) Streamlined communication costs and while adding valuable flexibility b) Extended company communication to outside of the office 3 – Implementation of a Contact Relationship Management (CRM) a) Improved sale force contact management leading to improved sales b) Allowed for management of internal projects with improved efficiency c) Allowed remote access for company sales force

Based on Josephs interest in Haiti and trying to find solutions for non Eco-friendly practices, I immediately jumped at the opportunity. Before the market had started to develop, Joseph was able to source and negotiate product details with manufacturer. He is currently involved in: 1 - assuring eco-friendly nature of all products 2 - sourcing product and assuring it's transport to Haiti 3 - sourcing new products as per client needs 3 - setting up IT structure (CRM, ERP, Web) and telephony presence (VOIP) 4 - assuring up to date web presence and social media 5 - accounting needs

Customer service is an important aspect of any business that has a customer, meaning all businesses. Josephs' ability to work with the customers with various questions and problems about the products allowed him to demonstrate his adaptability in dealing with sometimes stressful situations. He was also involved in managing the warehouse space and inventory. Joseph learned more about warehouse/inventory management and customer service which allowed him to grow further in his entrepreneurial skills.

Having finished his studies in Water treatment, in addition to his strong feelings for small decentralized water treatment systems (including treatment wetlands), Joseph reached out to CEMAGREF to see about working there as a researcher to gain experience directly in the Treatment Wetlands industry. Joseph was immersed in the middle of a team of leaders in the Treatment Wetland field. While there, he worked on a project that dealt with a problem that was happening at the time, dealing with a reoccurring yellowing of plants with in the treatment wetland. Research was performed along with multiple field studies at a variety of affected sites. At the end of the project, he prepared a report of his findings titled: “Contribution à la compréhension du jaunissement de Phragmites australis en station d'épuration” Translated: “Contribution to the understanding of yellowing of Phragmites australis in a waste water treatment station environment” Joseph was exposed to a variety of research projects and visited a large number of Treatment Wetlands during his time there. Learning from each research project and visit, he gained a vast amount of knowledge of Treatment Wetlands, the French style wetland in particular and all of its application

Joseph was called upon to use his research skills to work on a project concerning a new type of medical glue for a client of Contamination Zero. The main focus of his research revolved around the properties of the packaging and how it would interact with the glue in the manufacturing process. The plastic needed to withstand the manufacturing and sterilization process and have an acceptable gas transmission rate for the medical glue.

Joseph was called upon to confirm the effect of newly installed ozonaters in their water distributors. The company needed a better understanding of how the ozonation worked and its efficiency. Joseph developed a testing protocol to confirm levels of ozone across a number of sampled water distributors. He then performed the tests to confirm the levels of ozone remaining in the water coming from the distributors. Joseph also developed a manual that explained the mechanisms behind the ozone treatment, which was used as an internal company manual to teach employees how the ozonation process works.