ArmorShred was named the Greater Port Arthur Area Chamber of Commerce Small Business of the Year, and was honored Tuesday by Chamber members during a special program.

To be selected for the honor, a business must have been active in both the Chamber and within the community, and have been named Business of the Month by the Chamber the prior year.

“ArmorShred certainly is involved in both,” Chamber member Conrad Cooper said while presenting a plaque to owners Christie Gerstenberg and Sondra “Alex” Thompson.

The minority women-owned mobile document destruction company serves Texas and Southwest Louisiana by helping businesses and individuals destroy private information, whether it is paper or electronic media.

ArmorShred has been in operation for the past 10 years. The company operates two high volume shred trucks and destroys more than 150,000 pounds of paper monthly.

All of the destroyed paper material is recycled back into another paper product, and has been since the company started a decade ago.

In today’s world, there is not a person who does not need their residential and commercial records destroyed, the owners said.

“Nothing should go in the garbage can,” Thompson said. “There have been several large companies with lawsuits right now because they dumped in the dumpsters.”

“This is a terrific honor be selected because there are so many businesses out there working every day for success,” Ray Thompson, ArmorShred operations manager, said.

The company will be honored as the Small Business of the Year during the Chamber’s annual banquet on Jan. 21.

E-mail: sherry.koonce@panews.com

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