Jeff Bittner, CEO of Exit Technologies in Naples, Florida, says he’s always looking for new concepts in the information technology asset and disposal (ITAD) industry. When he was approached to launch a podcast about ITAD earlier this year, he jumped at the opportunity—now he’s sharing them with an audience of 10,000 listeners.
Bittner launched ITAD Talks in August, a weekly podcast about the ITAD industry. The show features Bittner speaking with industry leaders such as Sean Magann, chief commercial officer for Sims Lifecycle Services, West Chicago, Illinois; Cal Braunstein, the research director at the Robert Frances Group, Westport, Connecticut; and Kyle Wiens, CEO of iFixit, San Luis Obispo, California.
“This is a way to have a really productive and insightful conversation that can be shared with others,” Bittner says. “We’re providing value while finding value for ourselves.”
Since August, Exit Technologies has released more than 19 episodes, broken into smaller segments. Some of the topics include the labor shortage, R2 (Responsible Recycling) certification and sustainability. However, the podcast also covers topics such as growing and expanding a company and market trends affecting the industry.
Bittner records each episode with the help of Jeremy Schaller, the marketing director for Exit Technologies.
“We wanted to give a platform to really awesome people,” Schaller says. “It doesn’t seem like there’s enough content specific to our industry that’s readily available.”
Each interview is broken into two to four segments, which are released on consecutive days. Schaller says this release schedule gives the audience an easier time navigating the information discussed on the show.
He says he hopes the podcast can increase access to ITAD information and provide a way for people to network with others in the field.
Bittner founded his ITAD company in Naples in 1994 as SMS. In 2001, the company changed its name to Exit Technologies. It has17 employees and dropbox locations in Illinois and California.
Bittner’s company specializes in refreshes for corporate America and sells computers, laptops, servers and storage devices. Exit Technologies handles equipment from Dell, HP and Cisco, with degaussers, shredders and custom-made erasure racks that the company created. It also tests memory processors on custom-made devices. The company primarily sells to data centers in North America but also does business in overseas markets.
Exit Technologies is ISO45001 certified, a standard developed by the International Organization for Standardization, and R2 certified, a standard developed by the Sustainable Electronics Recycling International (SERI). Bittner says the company is working toward its R2v3 certification I and hopes to earn it next year.
While the podcast was meant to connect industry professionals with one another and shed light on new ideas, it also has helped Bittner and Schaller identify emerging trends in the market. Recently, the most important trends discussed include the right to repair movement, the chip shortage and the disposition of electric vehicles as they become more prominent.
While the duo’s goal is to share new ideas about the ITAD industry, Bittner says he hopes the podcast helps new businesses get off the ground and establish themselves.
“When I got into this business, it was a pretty cutthroat industry,” Bittner says. “I think that mentoring others and helping each other is really important to do right now.”