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Rachel Jones
Director of Marketing
LEHDER Environmental
519-336-4101, ext. 285
rjones@lehder.com
Media Release – Sarnia-Based LEHDER Environmental Services Limited Celebrates 20 Years of Excellence in Industrial Air Quality Services
June 30, 2015 – Sarnia-Lambton, Ontario – LEHDER Environmental Services Limited, one of Canada’s largest air quality firms, celebrates 20 years of excellence in industrial air quality services in 2015.
In early 1994, four men were discussing their future after being informed their employer was terminating their Sarnia operations. This discussion led to the formation of LEHDER, which is pronounced LEADER and derived from the surnames of the four founders – Sid Lethbridge, Des Hayles, Mike Denomme and Mark Roehler. LEHDER was incorporated in October of 1994 and operations began on January 2, 1995 with a simple business plan – find a first customer and work really hard.
That tenacity has brought LEHDER to the forefront of industrial air quality management services. By the end of their first year LEHDER had 8 clients, 5 of whom LEHDER still services today. LEHDER expanded their stack sampling services into Western Canada with the acquisition of Airworks in Edmonton in 1999; LEHDER’s Emissions Testing Group is now recognized as Canada’s premier stack sampling company. During an economic downturn in 2003-2004, LEHDER used that opportunity to develop the LEHDER Environmental Information Management Service (LEIMS), the key Air Quality Management tool used daily at LEHDER.
“An absolute key to our success is that LEHDER has great employees who recognize and relish the extra effort that is required to make sure that the client’s requirements are met.” says Sid Lethbridge, the President of LEHDER. The senior management team is also dedicated to promoting an exceptional workplace atmosphere to foster their employees’ personal and professional growth. This mandate has resulted in four of LEHDER’s first five employees still on staff in leadership roles, including Peter Pakalnis and Marnie Freer who assumed partnership in LEHDER. Penny McInnis, another early LEHDER employee, became a partner in 2012. LEHDER now maintains an exceptional staff of 40 dedicated employees who manage projects throughout North America.
LEHDER’s success has been recognized throughout the years by our peers and the business community. LEHDER has received accolades from the Sarnia-Lambton Chamber of Commerce through multiple nominations for Outstanding Business Achievement Awards (OBAA). LEHDER was awarded the OBAA for Most Innovative Business in 2003 and Large Business of the Year in 2008 and has been nominated in the Employee Relations and Environment, Health and Safety categories. In 2013, Mike Denomme received the Matthew S. DeVito Award from the Source Evaluation Society; this award recognizes an individual’s superior ethical conduct and major contributions to source testing. Internationally, LEHDER conducted a stack sampling training program for environmental regulators from India in 2004 and participated in Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty’s Clean Tech Mission to India in 2009.
LEHDER would like to thank their clients, employees and the communities of Sarnia and Edmonton for their support and service recognition throughout the last 20 years. To celebrate, LEHDER will be hosting events for their clients and employees throughout 2015 and the LEHDER Volunteer Team will be volunteering their time with community events and charitable services.
“We look forward to writing more chapters in the LEHDER history as we address new opportunities and challenges in the coming years” says Sid Lethbridge, LEHDER President. “We don’t know what the future will bring, but, if history is any indication, we know the partners and employees of LEHDER will rise to the occasion”.