SBA Honors Owner of PARS Environmental, Inc.

On Jun 11, 2014

Kiran Gill had no idea she would go from being a summer intern at her father’s company to becoming its owner; but that’s exactly what happened.  The NYU graduate was just in her mid-20s, when she purchased the company from her dad in 2003. Gill took a company with just six employees and annual revenues of $500,000 and turned it into one of the most recognized environmental engineering firms in the state of New Jersey.

The owner of PARS Environmental, Inc., a full service Robbinsville-based award winning environmental consulting firm with a focus on innovative solutions, was named the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2014 New Jersey Small Business Person of the Year.

In making the announcement at the SBA’s Annual Small Business Week Awards Breakfast held at the Rutgers Business School in Newark, SBA’s New Jersey District Director Al Titone said Gill was selected for the award based on criteria that include: Staying Power (a substantial history of an established business); Growth in Number of Employees; Increase in Sales; Financial Strength of the Company; Innovativeness of Product or Service Offered; Response to Adversity and Contributions to Aid Community Oriented Projects.

Under Gill’s direction, PARS Environmental, Inc. has grown to 50 employees with annual sales of $13 million – an approximately 50 percent revenue growth per year for the last nine years. From the onset, Kiran’s vision for PARS Environmental has been focused on developing innovative technologies for environmental applications and building the company into a consulting firm that would specialize in tackling and solving tough environmental problems.

Along the way, Gill learned about the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 8(a) Business Development program. With assistance from the SBA’s New Jersey district office, the company became an 8(a) certified business with the federal government. As a result of participating in the 8(a) program, PARS was able to secure federal contracts with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Air Force.

“It is clear that from day one Kiran Gill has had a vision for PARS Environmental, Inc.,” said Titone.  “Like most successful entrepreneurs she’s not interested in the status quo.  You won’t find Kiran Gill in a comfort zone; she is about pushing the boundaries with the idea of achieving the next level of success for her company.”

“I believe that as a small, growing firm you can’t offer the same thing everyone else is offering,” said Gill. “You have to diversify and open yourself to more opportunities in different areas.”

“Currently, we are focusing on building a solid infrastructure so that PARS is positioned to play a major role in the green and sustainable practices movement,” said Gill.  “We continue to grow the business aggressively, particularly in developing new technologies for energy reduction and alternative energy, and have positioned PARS to grow globally, as well as domestically.”

“National Small Business Week gives us the opportunity to shine the spotlight on small business owners like Kiran Gill,” said Titone.  “No doubt that she is a trailblazer in her field and that more milestones lie ahead for PARS Environmental, Inc. The SBA is glad to have played a small role in part of the company’s current success through our government contracting programs.”

In addition to her service to the company and its employees and clients, Gill is committed to many activities that give back to the community where employees live and work. Some of the organizations and activities that PARS supports include the American Red Cross; the Special Olympics Polar Bear Plunge; and Manavi, an organization that assists South Asian women who are victims of domestic violence.  The firm also actively participates in local environmental clean-ups. This past year, Kiran and members of her staff also participated in the Tough Mudder, an 11 mile run with over 20 obstacles.  Proceeds from the Tough Mudder went to support the Wounded Warrior Project.

As part of SBA’s National Small Business Week festivities (May 11- 17), Gill was honored in Washington, D.C. by SBA’s Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, where shel competed for the title of SBA’s National Small Business Person(s) of the Year with representatives of 49 other states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

She was also recognized with three other New Jersey Small Business Week Award winners at the agency’s annual Small Business Week Awards Breakfast cosponsored by TD Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank and 1st Colonial Community Bank.

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