Rock Solid Shredding’s Jeff Ward on Ensuring Security & Sustainability

Rock Solid Shredding also has offices in Fayetteville. (Karen E. Segrave)

How did you get into this business?

I had a chance encounter at a trade show with Dan Norman, the founder of the Arkansas Shred-it franchise. At the time, the franchise was just getting started and he needed someone to help manage it. After he tragically passed away in a car accident, I became co-owner and managing director of the franchise for 12 years before eventually selling the franchise and later acquiring Rock Solid Shredding alongside my wife, Christy.

Who are your main customers, meaning what sorts of businesses or industry sectors?

Any organization across Arkansas, southern Missouri or eastern Oklahoma that needs secure, on-site document destruction. Some examples of our customers include health care organizations, financial institutions, government agencies, schools and universities, dealerships and many other business types of various sizes.

With so many transactions and documents digital these days, how do you grow the document shredding business?

Paper is still crucial to the workflow of most organizations, so our focus is on acquiring as much of the existing market share as possible by providing customers with a better overall service than other shredding providers. We have also diversified our service offerings with on-site hard drive destruction and bulk document scanning for more digitally focused organizations.

How many documents does your business destroy in an average year and what happens to the paper after it’s shredded?

In 2024 we shredded more than 1,500 tons (or 3 million pounds) of mixed paper — all of which we recycled. Our work helps to save trees and reduce the energy consumption related to paper production.

How do you ensure security and make sure documents do not fall into the wrong hands?

We shred all paper on-site (at a customer’s location) using industrial-grade mobile shredders, minimizing the risk of a breach. We also offer secure containers for organizations that need to regularly and responsibly dispose of sensitive information. And we are NAID AAA-certified for on-site shredding, meaning we comply with the highest industry standards for data protection laws through scheduled and surprise audits, extensive background screening for all our service reps, and other regulatory due diligence requirements.

What was your biggest career mistake and what did you learn from it?

After selling the shredding franchise in 2015, my wife and I opened another franchise business in the health and wellness sector, but it had a flaw in its business model. Customers who did not find success with the program canceled, but many of the customers who did find success also canceled (because it worked). Naturally, the customer churn was extremely high, and I learned the important lesson that a service is only as good as the business model supporting it, no matter how good your intention.