Bankers Hill environmental company remains active in many San Diego projects
By Anthony King | SDUN Editor
RECON Environmental, Inc. only recently established itself as an employee-owned company, but the group has been working for 40 years to help cities and private companies maneuver the complicated world of environmental laws, all the while supporting community in the process.
On Friday, Nov. 2, former and current employees, clients and guests celebrated the achievement at a party held at the company’s Bankers Hill location. RECON President and CEO Robert MacAller spoke.
“RECON is a fantastic company with a really good longevity,” he said. “The reason we’re such a fantastic company [and] been around for all these years is really because of all of you.”
Founded in 1972 when the National Environmental Policy Act and the California Environmental Quality Act were enacted, the company has since prepared over 5,000 environmental documents working with local, state, federal and international clients.
Currently, there are over 100 employees throughout offices in Santa Maria, Calif., Tucson, Ariz. and Austin, as well as their main location at 1957 Fifth Ave. in San Diego.
Co-founder and current board chair Charly Bull attended the Nov. 2 celebration and said the 40-year achievement was spectacular.
“One of the joys in your life is to see the fruits of your labor,” he said, adding that several people have been with the company from the start. “We were always employees, so it’s always been employee owned, but now it’s wholly owned. … A lot of the people here were here in the 70s.”
MacAller, who received his bachelor’s degree in biology at San Diego State University, began at RECON in 1997, bringing over 19 years experience as a researcher and restoration ecologist. He thanked Bull at the anniversary party, previously calling him a mentor in the field.
“Charly has had a hand in educating many of the environmental professionals working today in the San Diego region,” MacAller said in a release. “I am always amazed by the depth and diversity of his knowledge.”
Bull was recently honored with the Al Reynolds Memorial Lifetime Achievement Award from the California Association of Environmental Professionals. After receiving the award in May, Bull said working at RECON was equally rewarding.
“From my standpoint, I get to say I participated in building a company that went from four people to 100 people,” he said in a release about his award. “That company has helped all those people to have better careers and better lives. That’s what’s rewarding to me.”
At the Nov. 2 party, Bull talked briefly about the company’s decade in Bankers Hill, saying it was a “great opportunity” to be in the neighborhood.
“First of all, in a diverse community like San Diego, this is the place to be,” he said. “We’ve changed with San Diego. … If you have a choice, this is where you want to be.”
The company’s previous locations include offices in Mission Valley and on Morena Boulevard, however Bull said Bankers Hill is the most convenient for the employees, keeping his focus on the environment.
“We were never a suburban company,” he said. “From an environmental standpoint, density is key.”
An active part of many Uptown and San Diego private and civic projects, one of RECON’s recent – and perhaps most visible – jobs was working on the Environmental Impact Report (ERI) for Balboa Park’s Plaza de Panama Project. Ultimately approved by the city, the ERI was needed to determine the project’s environmental compliance.
RECON also collaborated with San Francisco’s Ver Planck Historic Preservation Consulting firm on the Plaza de Panama Project, working closely with San Diego resident Irwin Jacobs, who initially funded the project. The Historical Resources Survey was complete in January; the city council approved the project in July.
In addition to their consultation work, the company also participates in several “community involvement” activities, including the program RECONnect. With a mission to “inspire” a younger generation to careers in environmental science, one current RECONnect project has the company partnering with Balboa City School in establishing a native plant garden.
Collaborating with the nonprofit I Love A Clean San Diego, RECON also “adopted” Maple Canyon, located at First Avenue and Maple Street in Bankers Hill. Employees perform regular clean up of the canyon.
The company’s 40-year work does not go unnoticed, as they have received several awards in addition to Bull’s Lifetime Achievement honor. On Oct. 24, RECON won the Outstanding Community Stewardship Award at the San Diego Association of Environmental Professionals banquet, held on Harbor Island.
“I am very happy that the hard work and dedication of our employee owners to our community has been recognized,” MacAller said in a release. “So many of them have done so much good work and dedicated so much time to local causes, making our local communities better places for all of us to live.”
