Company ensures you can shred your identity fast

by Luci Scott - Sept. 26, 2009 07:00 AM

The Arizona Republic

Worried about identity theft? Do you have a box full of papers to be shredded but postpone it because your home shredder is flimsy and slow?

 

Now, thanks to one of Chandler's innovative small businesses, you have an option.

 

Go to a cash-operated, fast shredder at a mail store. Insert a $1 bill, and the machine shreds up to 20 pages at a time and more than 100 pages within a minute. Insert a $5 bill, and the machine will run for seven minutes and shred up to seven pounds or 700 pages.

 

The machine is the brainchild of two Gilbert men, Tom Stutting and Jeff Beard.

 

The company, You-Shred, is just one of a number of Chandler businesses that have been putting the city on the map as a haven for entrepreneurs. There is Bonded Logic, which turns denim into building insulation.

 

Another company, Engenuity Systems, has captured imaginations worldwide by sharing expertise and distributing products that make buildings smarter, safer and more energy-efficient.

 

And Kovach Inc., a specialty contractor that designs, makes and installs metal roofs and walls, is involved in many projects, including the huge CityCenter on the Las Vegas Strip, the largest privately funded construction project in the nation.

 

As for fast-growing You-Shred, its owners say the severe recession has not been a roadblock but rather a boon to their success.

 

"Even in a recession, identity theft is there, if not worse," Stutting said.

 

He and Beard began the company last year with one shredder in the PostNet store on the southwestern corner of Gilbert and Riggs roads in Chandler.

 

Now the company has 43 shredders throughout the United States with more orders constantly arriving. There are 12 You-Shred machines in metro Phoenix.

 

"Our office is booking orders daily," Beard said.

 

Stutting and Beard created the machine by adding a vending mechanism to a heavy-duty Fellowes shredder.

 

The men say the machine is jam-proof, and the blades are hidden so fingers can never touch them.

 

You-Shred works in a cross-cutting fashion, creating not strips but confetti that can't be reassembled. The confetti is recycled.

 

The machine also shreds CDs and credit cards.

 

The men recently signed a contract with The UPS Store/MBE; the agreement says that You-Shred is the only approved shredding-service supplier for The UPS Store/MBE throughout the country.

 

"Every store has the option to purchase one," said Stutting.

 

You-Shred machines are now in about 20 states, including New York, California, Florida, Oregon, Iowa and Illinois.

 

About half of the machines are in The UPS Store/MBE and half are in independent mail stores.

 

Stutting and Beard say they saw a need and filled it.

 

"About three years ago, we were struggling with the same issue," Stutting recalled. "We had stuff piled up at home that needed to be shredded. I had a home shredder, but it ended up being such a pain that the items to be shredded kept piling up."

 

The men pondered the question: How can homeowners and small businesses get access to high-end shredding, especially if they don't have enough to take to a bulk shredding facility? You-Shred is not for truckloads but for shoe boxes and banker boxes.

 

Timing is a key to the company's success, Stutting said.

 

Stores were looking for a shredding option, and You-Shred reduces a store's liability that is at risk with blue recycling bins.

 

"Identity theft is high, the need for shredders is high and mail stores happened to be looking for a shredding option," Stutting said.

 

The recession may be boosting business.

 

"People don't have an extra few hundred dollars to spend on a home shredder, but now they can go to the local mail store and shred on a regular basis," Beard said.

 

The men are looking at other outlets such as business centers, college campuses, libraries and drugstores.

 

Stutting and Beard have five employees working for them, including the workers at a factory in Mesa.

 

To maintain the machines, Stutting said the company has partnered with Fellowes and its nationwide service system. You-Shred also has sales support from Fellowes.

 

The company's Web site has a machine locator; people just type in a ZIP code.

 

The Web site is www.you-shred.net.