Frank has spent over 27 years working with residuals management and composting both in operations management as well as sales and marketing. In 1993, he started North Carolina’s first source separated organics composting facility. As past principal of Akkadia Consulting, Frank provided professional consulting services on projects of animal waste management, biosolids management, coal ash residuals, composting of industrial residuals, product development and marketing.

He has facilitated the turnkey start-up of award winning composting facilities, taking them from concept to feasibility to operational, overseeing permitting, equipment selection, hiring and training of personnel, as well as the development and execution of the product marketing plan. Frank also managed the Novozymes’ Nature’s GREEN-RELEAF™ composting facility from 2003-2015. In 2014, Frank was the recipient of the Hi Kellogg Award for displaying outstanding service to the US composting industry over a period of many years. He has a BS in Plant and Soil Sciences from West Virginia University.

Frank Joins Sustainable Nation to Discuss:

• The work of the US Composting Council

• The state of composting in the US

• Roadblocks and challenges to composting

• Getting composting started in your community

• Advice and recommendations for sustainability leaders

Frank's Final Five Question Responses:

What is one piece of advice you would give other sustainability professionals that might help them in their careers?

Build on your knowledge base. Each job should get you the next job. In your first job, you should learn and network to your second job, third job and so on. Go to seminars and conferences based on your job or your topic of interest. When you go there, find a mentor. I've found a lot of mentors over the course of my career. I really didn't know a lot about composting. I did a lot of reading and networking/talking to mentors. Once you become fluid in your subject topic, book speaking engagements and get certified in your subject area.

What are you most excited about right now in the world of sustainability?

The millennials and the young professionals. We have a young professionals group at the US Composting Council. I just think that they're interested in making our world more sustainable. I'm impressed by their passion and their drive. I'm also excited about how big brand companies are really starting to embrace sustainability at the corporate level and also within their products. I'm seeing more and more of the big brand names worry about their packaging and their processes. A lot of that has to do obviously with shareholders and those kinds of issues. I think we're getting there. It's a slow turn, but we're getting there.

What is one book you would recommend sustainability professionals read?

The one that really impressed me the most is Natural Capitalism by Paul Hawken in 2008. If you go back and read that book, he's predicting stuff in 2008 that's happening now. I've read Cradle to Cradle and Upcycle by William McDonough and Michael Braungart. I'm now reading Drawdown, which is coauthored by Paul Hawken and Katharine Wilkinson. Katharine will be our keynote speaker at our conference in Charleston in January.

What are some of your favorite resources or tools it really help you in your work?

There's a group called the American Society of Association of Executives, or ASAE. They're a great resource for me because I don't have a lot of experience managing associations, so I use them a lot. They've got a great resource and reference area to go to. We just got a new association management system called Your Membership. That's exciting because it has a learning management system in there. It helps us manage our information a lot easier. Google docs, Google sheets and we use Basecamp a lot for external resources as well as working with our committees.

Where can people go to learn more about you and your work?

I'm on LinkedIn so please link in to me. The Composting Council's website is www.compostingcouncil.org. Our foundation is www.compostfoundation.org. If you're interested in our conference it's www.compostconference.com. If you go to our website, we have YouTube. We're on Facebook, we're on Instagram, and we're on LinkedIn, both the foundation as well as the council.