Using Business as a Force for Social Good with Tony Selvaggio of eSmart Recycling

Tony Selvaggio is an award winning social entrepreneur who turned an old laptop into a thriving business.  He joins Rosie to talk about his life experiences and how through his company he is able to give back to the community. Tony was born and raised in Venezuela and raised by immigrant parents as neither of them were from Venezuela. 

After graduating, Tony was employed by a relative who sponsored his US visa in exchange for working for the family member’s recycling company. After a year and a half, Tony was recruited by another metal scrap company as a metal scrap buyer. During this time he met his wife and they now have two girls. 

After working on both the buying and selling sides of the metal scrap sector, Tony took a chance and started his own company with $8000 and no back up plan as he had resigned from his previous position. However, that was not the original plan. He was initially to start a small scrap yard company with investors from Venezuela. Unfortunately, the economy in Venezuela took a significant downturn and the investors no longer could help him start his business. He wasn’t going to let this stop him. So, he moved ahead anyway and started his company, eSmartRecycling, in 2014. The company is a technological waste recycling company with a focus on solving electronic waste pollution. He shares that he shifted from focusing on metal waste to electronic waste because in 2014 electronic waste was such a hot topic.  He thought he would capitalize on this and use the same buying and selling skills he acquired in the scrap metal sector to electronic waste. 

Tony visited numerous networking groups in order to establish a presence. It was during one of these events that he met his first client. The company had upgraded their computers and had 20 computers sitting around with no idea what to do with them. Tony shared he could take them. Well, a week later he is at another networking event when he is approached by a non-profit agency representative asking him if they could buy affordable computers from him as they knew he had access to used computers. As an immigrant, he was shocked to find out that there was such a gap in access to resources like computers here in the US. Therefore, he decided that rather than sell them the computers he would refurbish 10 of them for free and keep 10 to sell them and make a profit. It was a win-win for both companies.

The prospect of bringing two different businesses together enthralled Tony. He also felt it was a unique business model that bridged the gap between businesses and individual needs. Over time Tony worked to perfect this business model. 

Rosie admires Tony’s approach to giving back to the community. When Tony was asked what youth should be taught, he firmly suggested entrepreneurship. Rosie recalled that Tony had asked her to judge a middle school competition where students demonstrated their ingenuity through a recycling entrepreneurial idea. The competition not only teaches children about the necessity of recycling but also provides them with a sense of entrepreneurship.

Tony’s community aided him in achieving his potential when he was just starting out. He claims that becoming active in the community helps in the formation of long-term relationships. Currently, Tony is involved in local communities such as Young Professional Organization, Chamber of Commerce, HBIF (now known as Prospera), and Small Business Development Center. Before ending, Tony did recommend the listeners to form professional ties with persons they admire in their community.

 

#Immigrant #Community #Leader #Recycling #Scraps #Technology #Children #OutreachProgram

 

Tony Selvaggio 

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