Industry News

Information Storage Consolidation Corp. (ISCC) has entered the records storage business with its acquisition of Safe Records Center Inc., Lansing, Mich. The company provides records storage and document destruction services.

ISCC is a partnership developed by Ron Harper, a former president of Recall Total Information Management’s Americas division, and Brantley Partners, a mid-market private equity firm based in Beachwood, Ohio.

The firm’s goal is to grow its presence in the North American market through acquisitions targeting companies that provide records storage, shredding and related services.

Harper, who acts as CEO of ISCC, says, "We are building a scale company with a strategy to decentralize operational management and centralize those administrative activities that are not customer related. This allows acquired companies to act autonomously in executing the most important aspect of the business, managing employees and delivering customer service."

Recall, based in Norcross, Ga., has opened a full-service secure document and electronic media destruction facility in Baton Rouge, La.

With this new facility, Recall can offer its customers collection and off-site destruction of sensitive documents and data storage media, as well as destruction of items with intrinsic value, such as uniforms and defective merchandise.

"The importance of certifiable, secure destruction cannot be overstated, particularly for enterprises in a region that remains a vital national center for the energy industry as well as seaborne shipping," Dan McFarland, vice president and general manager, South Central region, Recall Americas, says.

According to a 2006 Consumer Awareness Survey conducted by the National Association for Information Destruction (NAID), Phoenix, only 26 percent of companies have written policies and procedures for information destruction.

Bob Johnson, executive director of NAID, told attendees of the NAID Compliance Toolkit Training session during the association’s 2008 annual conference that U.S. regulations mean every company should have a written information security policy in place. Companies with such policies are three times more likely to outsource their information destruction, Johnson said.

This information led NAID to compile its Information Destruction Compliance Toolkit with the help of New York City-based NAREMCO Services Inc. and Alan Andolsen, a principal in the firm who sits on the NAID Certification Review Board and is a vice president of the board of regents for the Institute of Certified Records Managers (ICRM). John Montana, vice president and general counsel of the PelliGroup, a records management consulting firm based in Reston, Va., was also consulted in the creation of the toolkit.

The toolkit, which is designed to help clients of NAID member companies develop information management and destruction policies, is available in electronic format as well as in hard copy to NAID members who underwent orientation training and signed a release prior to obtaining the materials at the conference. For NAID members who did not attend training sessions at the 2008 NAID Annual Conference, Web-based orientation will be available. More information is available at www.naidonline.org.

The 2008 NAID Annual Conference was April 2-4 in Anaheim, Calif.