- Kindly give our readers an introduction to your business. Please include what your business is all about, in which city you are located and if you have offices in multiple locations/ cities.
A: Engineering Performance Solutions serves vendors, engineering firms, and utility companies nationwide. Our industry leading company is a symbiotic combination of both a laboratory and consulting firm. We use AWWA and ASTM approved standards to provide timely and accurate results. We offer routine water analysis which includes taste and odor compounds (MIB and geosmin) TOC, disinfection byproducts (such as THMs), and other compounds of interest (such as PFAS). Our goal is to ultimately supply consumers with the highest quality of water possible. Location: 1 office; 3161 Saint Johns Bluff Rd S Ste 3, Jacksonville, FL 32246
- Kindly give us a brief description about yourself (it should include your brief educational or entrepreneurial background and list some of your major achievements).
A: Christine Valcarce joined Engineering Performance Solutions (EPS) in 2020 as a Lab Director overseeing laboratory projects and quality control operations. Her experience at EPS includes over 100 GAC RSSCT column projects for TOC, pesticides, PFAS, Taste and Odor compounds, and other compounds of interest. Christine has also worked on quality management system implementation and the design of experiments, data analysis, and technical reports. As of 2024, she has gained the role of CEO and manages the daily and financial decisions of EPS.
Christine is Vice Chairman of the ASTM Activated Carbon Committee and a member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA). She graduated from the University of Florida in August 2014 with a Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering. Christine’s focus is in water quality and activated carbon. She holds 9 patents in activated carbon product development.
- What inspired you to (start a new business venture) or (to make significant changes in an existing business)? How did the idea for your business come about?
A: The idea to start EPS came about as a way to inform the water industry about the application and effectiveness of activated carbon in water treatment processes. We wanted to help utilities make decisions based on performance of products which varies greatly depending on the water source and water quality characteristics rather than industry set standards that didn’t translate to data driven solutions.
- How many hours do you work a day on average?
A: 8-9hrs a day, 40-45hrs a week
- To what do you most attribute your success?
A: Tenacity, you have to be committed to keep going even when there’s not a clear path to take, and you must reason through all your options in a logical way.
- How do you go about marketing your business? What has been your most successful form of marketing?
A: Attending AWWA conferences, performing presentations there, and handing out brochures to those who attend the conferences. While there, meeting existing clients or talking to carbon vendors who supply carbon to water treatment plants
- Ads in AWWA newsletters
- Current clients referring us to others who needs similar testing
- Most successful: networking in real life with clients at conferences and their referrals to other potential clients. Most of our business has been through word of mouth.
- What is the best way to achieve long-term success?
A: You must cultivate a good staff with strong community with them. No single person can accomplish everything on their own, thus knowing when to lean on others is important for the long-term success of any business. Mentoring the future generation is also very important, especially in the water industry which currently does not have enough younger people to inherit the positions left behind when the current leaders of water management, treatment, and testing. So we must continue to inspire and raise awareness for our field.
- Where you see yourself and your business in 5 – 10 years?
A: We hope to expand our testing services to cover aquaculture, specifically MIB/Geosmin testing from fish samples. We also are possibly looking to expand into biochar specific testing rather than just the tests that overlap with activated carbon tests.
- What kind of culture exists in your organization? How did you establish this tone and why did you institute this particular type of culture?
A: Professional and geared towards interpersonal relationships within our team. We have “Lab Olympics” yearly and monthly have team lunches to go over projects and to discuss topics relevant to our field. Weekly we meet to have project check-ins and timeline goals. Overall, we talk to employees often to listen to their feedback and to build personal relationships so we have an overall atmosphere of transparency and trust.
- How do you define success?
A: Success is shared between a team, so success is building a strong community of employees who are all hardworking and help to balance each other out. Having different strengths and weaknesses between the team makes sure that with any issue that arises, someone will be able to cover it.
- Success is also tied into personal client relationships, since if customers are happy, then you can count on them to recommend your services to others in their networking circle, leading to new projects that you may have never gotten the opportunity to work on if you hadn’t made that personal connection.
- How do you build a successful customer base?
A: Meeting clients where they are at: conferences (AWWA)
- Being transparent and trying to find the best solution for a customer: Sometimes clients come in thinking they need one of our more expensive tests, but through a phone call/meeting, we realize one of our cheaper tests is better for their needs, or vice versa. This attention to their needs shows that we value our clients and want to help improve their operations.
- Prioritizing customer satisfaction
- Transparency of operations and time constraints
- How important have good employees been to your success?
A: Extremely important. In order to get good results in a lab setting, you have to trust that your employees are following protocol to the highest standard and that if they do make a mistake, they communicate that immediately so there can be troubleshooting.
- If you were conducting this interview, what question would you ask?
A: Do you feel that personal client relationships and word of mouth are more important than digital marketing? Why or why not?
- Is there anything else you think we should know?
A: No