Q&A With our Technical Director in Raleigh, NC – Amy Marshall

Amy Marshall recently joined ALL4 as Technical Director, and has also opened an office in the Raleigh, NC* area.  With 25 years of experience, Amy is well known to the regulated community. She started her career as a contractor for the U.S. EPA and has worked as an air quality consultant to industry since 2001. Amy provides air quality technical support to industrial clients and to national organizations such as the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA) and the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers (AFPM).  As she completes her first 90 days with ALL4, we thought we would ask Amy some questions related to her experiences and goals.

What makes ALL4 different from other consulting companies?

From a technical standpoint, we are focused primarily on providing strategic, high quality air-related consulting support to clients.  The practice of air quality consulting is not dwarfed by some other business in the company, it is the primary business, and that was important to me when I decided to make a change.  We keep on top of air regulatory drivers and agency activities and share updates both internally and externally.  The officers of the company understand the business and the practice of air quality consulting and are very engaged in not only the technical and the sales aspects of the business, but the coaching and growth of the staff at ALL4.  There is a lot of care for the people that work here, from making sure there are snacks in the office, to coaching and mentoring, to routine acknowledgement of extra effort, to fun activities at each office.  The business and technical aspects are obviously important, but the management understands that people need to be able to relate to one another and we need to balance work with some fun.

What is one thing that surprised you after joining ALL4?

I was pleasantly surprised by a lot of things in the first two weeks.  Everyone is very welcoming and helpful, IT support is awesome, there is a well-laid out training program for new hires, the atmosphere is very collaborative and open, and there are not a lot of internal processes that bog things down.  If I had to pick one thing, it would probably be the amount of information that gets communicated to all staff.  There is a lot of information sharing that happens both weekly and daily.

What are your goals as Technical Director?

ALL4 is very collaborative and externally visible with our participation at various meetings and conferences and our 4 THE RECORD posts.  I would like to build on what we are already doing to improve our effectiveness communicating technical and regulatory information and updates both internally and externally. Having good information and understanding what it means are key to being a great consultant. I want ALL4 to be nationally known as an outstanding air quality consulting firm because we have great people, we have the latest information, and we do high quality work.

What kinds of interesting things are you working on?

Aside from permitting strategy type projects, what I think is most interesting is the work I’m doing with trade associations, such as the AF&PA, American Chemistry Council (ACC), and AFPM.  I really enjoy being involved with these associations in their communication and outreach to U.S. EPA as regulations or guidance documents that impact their members are being developed or revised.  I’m tracking U.S. EPA’s MACT risk and technology review activity and looking at how their conduct of these reviews is evolving and impacting industry.  The Raleigh Office is very close to U.S. EPA’s Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, and it’s easy for me to attend meetings there, hear what U.S. EPA is working on, and help provide feedback if they need technical input to inform their efforts.  I’ve also been involved in writing technical comments and issue papers, developing impact assessments, and preparing talking points for meetings with the White House Office of Management and Budget as they are reviewing major U.S. EPA rulemakings related to national ambient air quality standards, new source review, or air toxics rules.

You are also managing our newly-opened Raleigh Office, what are your plans for growth?

There are now three of us in the Raleigh Office.  We are currently renting space in a co-working location and are close to signing a lease for permanent space.  I would like to add more staff at different experience levels, continue to build our technical expertise, leverage our relationships with existing clients to grow our business, and expand our brand recognition to bring more new work to the company.  Technical excellence, good customer service, and a best in class workplace will result in growth.

You got some comments on our LinkedIn announcement of your hire on your Red Sox hat.  What’s it like being a Red Sox fan in the South?

Although there are a lot of Braves fans around, there are actually a lot of Red Sox fans in the area as well.  The Yankee fans give me the most grief, of course, but it’s all in good fun.  People ask me why I’m a Red Sox fan, and it’s because my parents are from Massachusetts.  There is actually a local group called the Triangle Red Sox Nation that hosts various activities like game watches and softball.  My husband saved the TRSN Governor’s Mom from being hit by a foul ball at a Durham Bulls/Pawtucket Red Sox game once, so I think that improved our standing with the group!

Learn more about Amy

*Engineering services provided by ALL4 NC, P.C