Most companies would be satisfied with a sole mission of work that helps the environment, or one that provides jobs for the chronically unemployed, or that offers its product at a low cost to those in need.
Bridge to Digital Excellence does all three. The e-cycler in downtown Benton Harbor branched off a nonprofit that serves as an umbrella for five different operations in 2009. It started out donating computers to those who could not afford them and providing discounted IT services for local nonprofits.
Now it serves 17 nonprofits, including the Boys and Girls Club and the Cornerstone Alliance, among others.
"For Cornerstone I take care of their servers and they do my books," Doug Chapman, BDE executive director. "It works out real well."
Since that time, the company grew from one employee, Chapman, to 25. The company serves as a training ground for a work force made up of those who have been chronically unemployed, recently released from prison, working as an alternative to jail, and some who have disabilities. "We pride ourselves on finding jobs for the hard to employ sector," Chapman says.
Chapman says much of what could be recovered from used electronics
-- up to 30 to 40 percent -- is lost in certain recycling efforts.
Because much of what BDE recycles is reused the electronics are not
lost to landfills. "Batteries, RAM, monitors, if it still works the
most responsible thing to do is reuse it," he says.
The company has been going through a growth process Chapman describes as "crazy good."
Now the e-cycling portion of the business is poised to take off.
This month, BDE officially launches its Responsible Recycler Membership program. It invites companies to donate their used electronics and to host a day when employees bring theirs from home to be part of the responsible recycling of waste electronics. Chapman's goal was to have five of the top ten employers in Berrien County participate in the program and so far seven already are on board.
BDE data wipes donated computers and refurbishes them when possible. Those computers are sold at the lowest possible cost to those who need them. Laptops, for example, are available from $99 to $399.
The company also has donated more than 2,500 computers to families across Southwest Michigan.
Donations of scrap electronics are accepted at the company's space at 153 W. Main Street, Benton Harbor.
Writer: Kathy Jennings
Source: Doug Chapman, BDE
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