Reader Profile: Harvey Gershman

Municipal solid waste operations appreciate obtaining independent, objective advice to help plan and implement solid waste management programs that improve efficiencies, save money, enhance customer service, and protect the environment. That is what Harvey Gershman has endeavored to provide since he started Gershman, Brickner & Bratton (GBB), a solid waste management consultant company in 1980 with Bob Brickner, Tim Bratton and four other staff members. He remains its president. GBB has grown into a leading, recognized national firm dedicated exclusively to the solid waste management field. “That provides us with a depth of experience not always available in other consulting organizations,” Gershman points out.

What He Does Day to Day
“GBB is a very entrepreneurial and flexible organization, with everybody in the firm involved in multiple aspects of the business,” Gershman says. “I am very much involved in providing overall guidance and leadership on client projects, participating in visioning sessions and briefings, contributing strategic input, and leading internal peer review and quality assurance.” Business development is another key aspect of his daily work: He attends industry conferences, keeps in touch with past and potential clients, leads proposal development efforts, and strategizes for the firm’s long-term development. He also finds it critical to keep up with the latest in the industry and share his ideas, knowledge, and lessons learned with his peers in his effort to help advance innovative, sustainable solid waste management solutions. He spends the rest of his time engaged in administrative duties.

What Led Him Into This Line of Work
The first Earth Day in 1970 inspired Gershman to lead his mechanical engineering project team during his senior year at Northeastern University and prepare a report on the Town of Saugus, MA, which was dealing with its open-burning dump and considering alternatives. The report, “Reclamation for a Town of 20,000,” evaluated alternatives Saugus needed to consider and received a first place design award in the senior division from the National Engineering Education Association in 1971. Proud of the award and passionate about the environment, Gershman pursued a solid waste management career. “There seemed to be so much that could be done with waste versus current practices,” he says. “And there always will be garbage!”

What He Likes Most About His Job
Helping hundreds of communities of all sizes throughout the country and overseas craft and implement practical, customized, and technically sound long-term solutions to complex solid waste management challenges has given Gershman a great sense of satisfaction. “Being passionate about the environment in general, and solid waste management in particular, it is very rewarding to see that we can help communities implement sustainable and effective programs,” he says. A current example: the turnaround of the solid waste management infrastructure GBB achieved in Guam as the receiver appointed by the US District Court of Guam. “Through this project, we’re helping the island become cleaner and greener,” he says. Gershman also enjoys  mentoring young talent, having empowered over the years dozens of young professionals who joined GBB as consultants or interns. Gershman has sought to instill in them the company’s work ethic and passion for solid waste management. “They have grown with GBB and many are now key members of the industry, contributing to the advancement of sound waste management programs in the private and public sectors,” he says.

His Greatest Challenge
“Here are three that are always on my mind. First, finding others who are passionate about dedicating their -professional career to doing what GBB strives to do,” says Gershman. “We try to find those folks and bring them into the firm. Second, tracking how our industry needs to change and changing our consulting approach to be right there ahead and with those changes. We always try to “˜think outside the box,’ suggesting changes to solid waste systems that in several cases hadn’t ever been done. And third, convincing our prospective clients that GBB really is special!” The Solid Waste Association of North America is convinced, having honored Gershman in 2013 with the Robert L. Lawrence Distinguished Service Award for his more than 40 years of service as an advisor to government and industry, providing assistance to solid waste service/system regulators, managers, and owners.