May 27, 2016 6:24:11 am

Boulder Valley Mercury 100: RDS Environmental tests positive for growth

By BizWest Staff

Spreading the company wings has worked well for RDS Environmental.

Its president, Tammy Linton, started working with the company in 1989, and about 10 years ago seized the opportunity to buy it. Admitting that there were times when she didn’t think RDS would make it through the year, she now believes it’s well on the way to continued success.

Although many factors have played a part in the company’s increased profits, Linton credits search-engine optimization marketing as the top addition to the mix.

“Corporate clients have multiple places in many states,” says Tammy Linton, president of RDS Environmental Inc., “and as soon as we start testing the radon, we’re on their radar.” Jonathan Castner/for BizWest

“We hired Xcite Media and have been working with them for three years to reach the audiences we were missing,” she said. “People locally knew us, but not outside of Colorado.”

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The investment broadened RDS Environmental’s range and has helped it grow nationally.

“We pay SEO managers to monitor our site. I get weekly reports about the number of clicks we get and the number of people who follow through,” Linton said. “We had cold calling and mailers before, but I’ve never had anything like this.

“We come up when people anywhere are looking for radon mitigation,” she added.

Hotels that are being sold made up one of the new markets into which the company moved. Another is Brookdale Senior Living Solutions.

“Corporate clients have multiple places in many states,” Linton said, “and as soon as we start testing the radon, we’re on their radar.”

That’s one of the other factors that has helped RDS improve its bottom line — putting more emphasis on one part of the company’s focus: commercial radon mitigation.

“We were touching the edge of it, but now we’re getting bigger contracts,” Linton said. “We still do residential work as well as electrical, but about 35 percent of our business is now radon mitigation. It was only about 15 percent before, and I can see it continuing to grow.”

Reconnecting with past clients also has pumped up business. Letting people know the company is still here goes a long way.

Linton said putting more focus on building strong relationships through networking is paying off as well.

“For example, we’ve been working with someone who lives in Florida and runs in the same circles we do,” she said. “He now calls us when he turns business down because he doesn’t have enough staff.”

Those handoff projects have ranged from $60,000 to $80,000.

“We also work with real-estate agents locally and give them referrals, which come back to us.”

Like most small businesses, RDS has been challenged by hiring the right people. “We’re small, so the one person that doesn’t fit shows,” Linton said. “I think we’re there now.

“You never really know someone until you work with them,” she added. “I treat them like my family, and I want a good family.”