9 Congratulations Regional Winners! All four San Francisco winners of the Bay Area TOBY Awards have also won at the Southwest regional level. Award winners were: Salesforce Tower, Boston Properties (over 1 million SF); Post Montgomery Center, Jones Lang LaSalle (500,00–1 million SF); 100 Pine Street, Rockhill Management (250,000–499,999 SF); and Bay Area Metro Center, Cushman & Wakefield (Historical Building). They proceed to international competition. Winners will be announced at the BOMA International Conference in June.
San Francisco skyline with Salesforce Tower in the center. Photo courtesy of Boston Properties, credit: Abe Blair.
Associate Member Profile
Joe Nelson, President, eWaste Direct, Inc.
In his role at eWaste Direct, President Joe Nelson manages the company’s operations and customer relations. “I am very hands-on, so you may see me driving or scheduling.” eWaste Direct offers two primary services that can benefit BOMA members, Nelson explains: “One is our free ewaste pick-up service. There are no minimums, which offers convenient scheduling and less material building up in workplaces. The other main service is free building-wide collection events. This is a great opportunity for property managers to provide a value-added service to their tenants at no cost.” From the website (www.ewastedirect.com), customers can easily request free pick-ups and other nominal fee-based services such as hard drive shredding and collecting battery Joe Nelson buckets and toner boxes. “The items we collect are often retired, so we can test, erase data, and reuse them in many cases,” Nelson says. “For items that are damaged or obsolete, we demanufacture them and send them to our certified recycling partners for the commodity values.” Nelson and the eWaste team have been active on the BOMA SF Energy and Environmental committee since joining BOMA. “We have been able to meet with like-minded representatives and keep a collective finger on the pulse of practices, innovations and regulations on sustainability,” says Nelson. “We have also been a proud sponsor of many meetings and events, such as the annual holiday party.” “Through BOMA we have created some strong relationships with many members at all levels and have learned a great deal about the culture in our area,” he adds. “We have also built great trust with our customers and have been blessed with the reputation as a responsible and reliable service provider. This has led to an amazing amount of referral business and retention with companies and even individuals who have kept us along the way when changing companies or positions.” Off-hours, Nelson enjoys time with friends and family, volunteering with the boosters club for his son’s school and soccer club. “Our family also loves to travel and go on camping adventures,” he adds. “When I get a chance I like to squeeze in a little golf or paddleboarding.”
