MCPC Secure Technology Asset Disposition Center
Cleveland, OH – February 21, 2018 – When MCPC decided to purchase a 120,000-square-foot former bus barn as the home of its first facility dedicated to secure technology asset disposition, it turned to Jason Taylor to transform it. A technology veteran who is coming up on his 11th anniversary with the company, Jason managed the transformation of SkyPark, the MCPC technology logistic center, from a former DHL warehouse into what many today call the most advanced and secure facility of its kind in the United States. Most predict he’ll have the same results with the former bus barn.
Q. Tell us about your latest project, Jason.
A. I’m calling it STAD until our Marketing Department can come up with a sexier or savvier name. It’s a Secure Technology Asset Disposition center. The facility is located in Old Brooklyn, a west side neighborhood of Cleveland situated a few miles south of downtown. It’s a former bus and trolley barn that was constantly being upgraded by RTA over the past 100+ years. Way back when, it actually housed trolley cars that were pulled by horses. Whoa Nellie!
The local area is both diverse and vibrant with approximately 32,000 residents. The site selection represents our continued commitment to the community. We plan to hire members of the local population as well as military veterans and qualified candidates with disabilities. We also plan to engage students from nearby high schools. The ultimate goal is to create new avenues for individuals to have opportunities to enter into and excel in the information technology sector. It’s very exciting.
Q. Why the need for a specialized asset disposition center?
A. Businesses today can’t just leave their technology out on the curb to be hauled away. Most know this, but many organizations select their recycling partners out of convenience and price. But in the area of technology retirement where sustainability and security are both key considerations, it is caveat emptor: Let the buyer beware! The data that used computers and printers have stored on them can be easily retrieved if they are not cleansed and disposed of properly. And businesses, like hospitals, banks and law firms, that are highly regulated, have to show chain-of-custody and death certificates to ensure they are meeting those regulatory requirements. That’s to say nothing of manufacturers who may have valued IP on their devices. I actually know of companies that ship their “recycled” equipment to China, a country that, it has to be noted, is not without a tradition of pirating copyrights.
Q. So how is STAD different?
STAD will deliver a secure environment which strictly adheres to industry-leading standards across the entire disposition process. It is being designed with hardened physical and logical security that leverages the appropriate operational segregation, access diversity, video surveillance, perimeter sensoring, personnel-based monitoring and cybersecurity provisions.
It will deploy transit and logistics capabilities, including enhanced customer onsite disposition, which are vetted for dependability and security. The MCPC team at STAD will employ CISO-designed secure business processes that are closely monitored for accuracy. We will also conduct thorough background checks for all employees and provide layered security and focused training. It will adhere to stringent auditing to verify that the facility is operating with a top-of-mind operational and facility-based security posture.
Q. Wow. Impressive. What are your recycling business objectives, and what can your customers expect?
A. STAD will also deliver new and enhanced capabilities in e-waste asset disposition services that improve the MCPC value proposition to customers by optimizing end-of-life device retirement values.
The facility will have the ability to test, refurbish and resell equipment that still has useful technological life in the device. We will be expanding organic capabilities around logical cleansing and physical destruction of used technology hardware as well as the reclamation and ultimate sale of the remaining “sorted” elemental materials.
Our team will work toward implementing the appropriate processes to certify sustainable recycling practices that minimize negative effects on the local, national and global environment.
The operation will also be committed to a strong training regimen that stresses sustainability, safety, effectiveness and security as well as the appropriate operational auditing to insure the organization is operating at or above industry standards for sustainability and security compliance and regulations.
Q. I hear the term Reverse Logistics. How does STAD play into that field?
A. Good question. Rounding out the engagement strategy, STAD will deliver a subset of ISO-inspired and MCPC-tested best practices for reverse logistics asset management that provide tangible evidence of performance in the logical and physical destruction and/or redeployment of processed IT assets.
The operation will provide customer choice by offering multiple services that balance cost and security optimization in the treatment of processed devices and fleets. MCPC has been and continues to develop asset disposition best practices that fit the various business models, regulatory requirements and financial constraints of the existing customer base as well as the verticals we serve.
We will also leverage existing tools as well as develop new ones to enhance the accountability and documentation provided to support asset disposition during all phases of the contracted destruction and recycling process. That, along with continuous auditing and clear customer engagement scoping that delineate committed-to workflow, will deliver EOL execution that meets or exceeds industry standards for data destruction and cybersecurity compliance and regulations.
Q. One more question: How’s Old Brooklyn as a neighborhood. Find any good places for lunch yet?
A. It’s a great neighborhood and embodies the grit of Cleveland legend—full of hardworking people who know how to work through adversity. We are really excited about joining it as a business partner. Councilman Kevin Kelley has once again been great to work with—wow, what an amazing civic partner he’s been. I love the story. It’s recent: When someone asked Mike Trebilcock what we were going to do to make the building more attractive, he said, “How about putting a ‘Now Hiring’ sign out front?” And that’s exactly what Councilman Kelley wanted to hear.
MCPC also wants its neighborhood development plan for its Old Brooklyn facility to align with MetroHealth’s vision. We are big fans of Dr. Akram Boutros and want to support his ambitious plan around revitalizing the West 25th Street neighborhood.
As for places to eat, I’ll have to get back to you on that. I did get to Gus’s, which was really good, but there are a ton of choices in our new neighborhood.