Testimonials

“Information is knowledge; knowledge is power,” the famous saying goes.

The power hungry will stoop to any low-from breaking into competitors’ locked garbage cans to spying on co-workers’ desks. Businesses can, however, prevent sensitive materials from getting into the wrong hands by destroying the materials.

 

“Industrial espionage is huge right now,” said Garrett Sutton, partner at the Skinner, Sutton, Watson & Rounds, a corporate and intellectual property law firm. “So companies should strive to maintain secrecy in terms of their intellectual property and trade secrets. That would be a legitimate use of shredding.”

 

American Document Destruction is a bonded and insured Sparks firm that shreds any kind of sensitive materials, from police evidence to gaming chips. Using machines that shred up to 7,000 pounds an hour, the firm destroys materials at its 8,700-square foot facility or on-site via mobile shredding units transported in either of its dedicated on site units.

 

“We shred millions of dollars’ worth of documents a day under strict security conditions,” said Jeff Gadsby, President at American Document Destruction. “Most of our work is done out on the road.”

 

The company’s building is always locked, armed with motion detectors and under video surveillance. Visits to the facility are by appointment only. At night all company vehicles are parked inside.

 

The firm picks up documents from customers as needed or on a regular basis and supplies locked containers in various sizes for materials storage until the next pick up.

 

American Document Destruction’s customer base spans on I-80 from Elko to Truckee and on Highway 395 from Susanville to Gardnerville and includes individuals as well as many types of businesses- everything from medical groups to banks.

 

Agreements with customers vary depending upon their needs, Jeff Gadsby said. The company is flexible in the way it charges- by the cubic foot, pound or container- and with the regularity of is pick ups.

 

“Our business philosophy is to treat people how we expect to be treated and that means responsive service; polite, clean, cordial employees; and full-service shredding,” he said.

Barnard, Volger & Co., a certified public accounting firm, is a customer. Anything that contains client information gets shredded, said Dick Barnard, a managing partner.

 

“We have a client confidentiality responsibility that we take very seriously,” he said. “We keep most of the stuff that’s pertinent and only shred it when it’s no longer relevant.”

By having an outside firm destroy the materials, the company avoids having to pay an employee to shred, typically at a slow rate because of machine limitations, Jeff Gadsby said. It eliminates the exposure of another employee to sensitive material. Also, the responsibility of ensuring total destruction is transferred to the outside firm.

 

The staff at American Document Destruction guarantees that every piece of paper taken to its facility is destroyed. Should their clients desire, the will give them a written certificate of destruction and/or a videotape of the materials being destroyed. The president, Jeffrey Gadsby, has even shredded documents onsite under the security of an armed guard at a customer’s request.

 

Another client, Washoe Credit Union, destroys volumes of paperwork that have expired, not only to protect their members but also to save on space, said Margie Berglund, operations supervisor.

 

“I call them (American Document Destruction), they’re here,” she said. “We’re assured that things are taken care of. There are no problems at all.”

 

Other firms may have sensitive materials shredded for fraudulent reasons, attorney Sutton said.“I don’t ask any questions,” Gadsby said. “I just destroy it.”

 

Unless American Document Destruction has actual notice that certain documents are subject to a court order or are needed for a court investigation, it is not liable for destroyed materials, Sutton said.

 

The firm, however, does carry $2 million in liability insurance and dishonesty bond insurance for each employee.

 

Jeff Gadsby said the company’s six workers were cleared for employment following stringent criminal background investigations that went back 15 years, conducted by an independent firm. In addition, each has signed a confidentiality contract and dishonesty disclosure.

 

“We must always provide stringent controls on our operation to ensure our customers’ privacy at all times,” Jeff Gadsby said. “If this was an easy area to get into, well, everyone would be shredding documents.”

 

Gadsby purchased the business in September 1997, which was then called American Mobile Shredding. The original company, based in Sacramento, California, was started in 1992.

 

By Doresa Banning

Reno-Gazette-Journal

Tuesday November 28th, 2000