Reader Profile: Jason Ramsey

June 22, 2016

Jason Ramsey, vice president of business development for Ramco Environmental in Arkansas and Ohio, notes an increasing emphasis on erosion and sediment control, citing the oil and gas environmental services market as a driving factor. “Ohio has done a good job of passing regulations and having forethought on how they want people operating within their state,” he says. “It’s helped out our business and the industry as a whole. Hopefully, it carries over into additional states. Over the last few years, erosion control and sediment control—especially in water-quality and consumption issues—is of utmost importance to a lot of people in certain areas of the country. There’s a lot of awareness as we continue over the next 10 to 20 years to see it be more regulated.”

However, the fluctuating needs of the oil and gas environmental services market also has driven Ramsey to diversify his company’s services, which is often done by customer request. Ramsey says he diversifies services and service areas in conjunction with trying to find new ways to address problems by testing new products or new uses for materials his company currently uses “to benefit the industry, keeping in mind cost savings is a driving factor for a lot of our customers.”

What He Does Day to Day
Ramsey splits his time between the Ohio and Arkansas offices, dealing with customer correspondence, exploring new opportunities, and preparing bids.

What Led Him Into This Line of Work
Ramsey—who earned a B.A. degree in criminal justice from the University of Arkansas—was formerly employed by two companies in the trucking and environmental services fields, working in environmental health and safety and as director of safety and risk management. “My former partner and I believed we could deliver a better service, do it the right way, and save the customer money,” he says. “We quit our jobs and got initial operating capital to start a business.”

Ramco Environmental was started in March 2011 to service the oil and natural gas industry; it initially had one truck and one energy company client, for which it provided erosion control with PennzSuppress for the lease and county roads. Five years later, the company has grown significantly and now operates from its two primary locations covering Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma, southern Missouri, and Arkansas from the Arkansas office and West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio from the Ohio office. The company now has 36 trucks and 65 employees providing services in dust suppression and erosion control, environmental services, fluids hauling, solid waste and recycling, and safety services.

“We pushed to have that Ramco name out there, investing in good equipment, keeping it properly maintained and cleaned,” says Ramsey. “We want our employees in clean uniforms with shirts tucked in. We feel we’re representing whoever we’re working for as we represent ourselves, so we want to be professional. It’s a big part of how we’ve grown the business.”

What He Likes Best About His Work
Ramsey likes looking for new opportunities or getting a phone call asking him to try to find a solution to a customer’s problem. “It all comes down to relationships, being transparent, and building that trust,” he says, adding “We’re the first company they call when they need something. That’s how we’ve been fortunate to grow the way we have over the last several years. We give them an honest price and we do what we say we’re going to do.”

His Greatest Challenge
Ramsey sees having to leave his family for constant travel and customer interaction as one of his challenges. He thinks about the business upon going to sleep and waking up, pondering whether there’s anything that needs improvement. “I like waking up every day trying to face which new challenges we’re going to have and how we’re going to tackle it,” he says. “We’re selective on who we hire and hope they have those same ideas, enthusiasm, and the right attitude when they wake up and go to work every day. And hopefully it shows.” He notes, “You can plan all you want to, but the day sometimes changes by the hour and you couldn’t have predicted what could have happened. It’s important to be able to react and have a lot of flexibility.” 

About the Author

Carol Brzozowski

Carol Brzozowski specializes in topics related to resource management and technology.