Batta Environmental recognized for export efforts

Delaware engineering firm Batta Environmental has been named the state’s Small Business Exporter of the Year by the Small Business Administration (SBA) for its initiatives in opening markets overseas for its products and services.

“The SBA recognized our commitment to adding exports to our overall market,” explains Batta vice president Neeraj Batta, who notes that the company has formed partnerships in Brazil, China and the Middle East, and is pursuing strong prospects in Mexico.

Started as a small consulting firm nearly 35 years ago, Newark-based Batta has grown into a full-service environmental business, with a range of products and services that include environmental site assessment, industrial hygiene services, asbestos surveying and abatement management and brownfield site investigation and development. The company also operates an analytical laboratory, a training institute for compliance-based training, and recently added a line of oil/water separation and contaminated water filtration products.

Batta’s clients include companies and organizations from the federal, state, local and private sectors, many of them on the East Coast. However, the company has spent the last several years developing and executing an ambitious export strategy to expand its reach to clients across the globe.

“We’re laying the groundwork in several different regions,” Neeraj Batta explains, saying that the company is competing on a sizeable project in Israel to clean up soil and groundwater of former defense site so that the land can be used for residential development, and is exploring opportunities in Mexico.

Batta notes that collaborating with in-country partners is a critical component of the export strategy, as it allows the company to reach out to prospective clients with a known entity in the market. “We’ve advanced the ball by identifying partners with synergies and forming partnerships in hopes that this will lead to new opportunities for both of us,” Batta says.

New product line brings new challenges, opportunities

Batta recently began sales and distribution of a stand-alone oil and heavy metal absorber and filtration system manufactured by Swedish company Axon, marking Batta’s first foray into product sales. “We’ve been a service company for 30 years, and so we’ve had to quickly come up to speed on product sales activities like taking and fulfilling orders, distribution, and payment,” Neeraj Batta says.

The AFX Absorber consists of thermally-treated granules that can be spread directly on an oil spill on land or water to soak up the oil. The granules—non-toxic peat pellets harvested from Sweden’s Arctic region—won’t leak the oil absorbed, and don’t need special equipment or processes for disposal. The impregnated pellets can even be incinerated to generate heat.

The absorber granules are also used as part of Axon’s water filters. Water contaminated with heavy metals or oil is pumped through the filtration units, where the granules capture the contaminants. The systems are easy to use and install, Batta says, as well as more cost-effective than other solutions on the market. “And the treated water is clean enough to be put right back into the environment, without requiring added treatment or having to haul it away.  It is a simple, yet highly effective plug and play solution” he adds.

Batta is the exclusive rep for the Axon products in the U.S., Latin America, India, China and Israel.

The Delaware Advantage

Batta joined a Delaware trade mission to Mexico in October, where he met with eight companies in three days. “The meetings were very productive, and we have two very promising prospects, one for our lab operations, and the other for our environmental services,” Batta says, noting that he will attend a second mission to Mexico this month to focus on the new filtration products.

“We have a strong relationship with the state that we’re proud of,” Batta says “We are grateful for the help and support of the state and Global Delaware in facilitating our international growth objectives, and we love our dual role as an ambassador of state when we meet with prospective partners and clients overseas.”

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