Aroostook Shredding acquired by Bangor firm

Maine Highlands Senior Center Directors President Dr. Lesley Fernow, left, and Piscataquis Thriving in Place Collaborative Project Director Meg Callaway hold open a bin for two young helpers during for the Piscataquis Shredding Event on Sept. 16, 2017, behind Central Hall on River Street in Dover-Foxcroft. The center, collaborative and the AARP Fraud Watch Network sponsored a visit by the Shredding on Site company to enable residents to bring documents, such as those with confidential and personal information, to be shredded. Dr. Fernow and Callaway said older adults are at a greater risk for fraud and those stopping by could watch the bins be automatically dumped into the rear of a truck with the papers then cut into numerous little thin strips. (Observer photo/Stuart Hedstrom)

PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — The Bangor-based company Records Management Center has acquired Aroostook Shredding and is now providing paper shredding and a range of services in Aroostook County.

The acquisition took effect May 1, according to a press release. Aroostook Shredding’s Missile Street location has closed, but its services and others, including digital media management, are available through Records Management Center, a part of the Lynch family of companies.

Isaac Nelson, chief financial officer at Aroostook Trusses, said that his family business purchased Aroostook Shredding from the Central Aroostook Association in 2013. The Central Aroostook Association, a nonprofit serving individuals with disabilities, was getting out of the business but didn’t have any buyers.

“Aroostook Trusses didn’t want to see The County lose this valuable service so we acquired the assets and set out to provide The County with a great local service,” Nelson said.

“We grew the business year over year and were paying our own way until the Presque Isle Recycling Center was closed and we were forced to acquire new baling equipment and rent a new location as our current location was no longer feasible.”

Needing building renovations and equipment costs of around $100,000, Nelson said the business was facing a decision to “get big, or get out.”   

They got in touch with Records Management Center, which was certified by the same organization and had a good business reputation, and it made sense to sell to them and “pass the torch,” Nelson said. Aroostook Shredding had one employee, who joined the Aroostook Truss team, he said.

Records Management Center started in 1995 to provide services in confidential file storage and information management for the health care industry. Today, it offers a range of document and information services, including on-site shredding with a mobile truck, hard-drive destruction, high-speed document scanning, and paper and date storage.

Ryan Lynch, vice president of Records Management Center, said the company has been doing work for customers in Aroostook County and it turned out to be a good fit to take over Aroostook Shredding.

“We’ll bring some more services to offer to the area, such as off site document retention.”