San Diego, CA (February 2021) — Environmental Business Journal® (EBJ), a research publication providing strategic business intelligence to the environmental industry, has honored Absolute Resource Associates (ARA) of Portsmouth, NH with a 2020 EBJ Business Achievement Award for Project Merit.
“2020 was certainly an exceptional year for our society, the economy and the industry,” said Grant Ferrier, president of Environmental Business International (EBI, Inc.), and editor of EBJ. Absolute Resource Associates was recognized by EBJ for successfully implementing a complex new lab method during a pandemic.
In January 2020, ARA had set the wheels in motion to become accredited for PFAS* analysis, which would make them the only lab in NH to offer in-state testing for PFAS in environmental samples. Adding this new market would mean a significant investment of money, time, and labor.
When COVID hit and businesses were closing their doors in March, the ARA management team took a close look at the big picture, weighed the risks, and ultimately decided to press on with the PFAS plan. By the end of April, the company was the first lab in NH to be awarded accreditation under the NH Environmental Laboratory Accreditation Program for testing PFAS in Drinking Water.
In May, ARA was awarded a $2M contract with the state of NH for PFAS analysis, and in December, ARA was certified for testing PFAS by LC-MS/MS, using quantitation by isotope dilution. ARA offers analysis for both compliance drinking water samples by EPA Method 537.1, and matrices such as surface and groundwater using the isotope dilution method.
According to ARA COO Aaron DeWees, “Creativity, resourcefulness and technology allowed ARA to implement a very sophisticated piece of instrumentation during a very challenging year.”
The 2020 EBJ Business Achievement Awards will be presented at a virtual Zoom ceremony on February 11th and 12th, 2021, and the event is free to the entire environmental industry community.
About Absolute Resource Associates:
Absolute Resource Associates is a Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB, WBE, NELAC, ISO/IEC 17025 and DoD ELAP accredited) providing a broad range of environmental services to clients throughout New England and beyond. Services include Environmental Laboratory Testing, Indoor Air Quality Services as well as Project Management. The principals and partners of ARA have been active in both the local and national environmental testing industry for decades. Their experience includes regulatory compliance, information management, quality assurance, operations, and technical expertise in the environmental industry.