Company: e-Cycle LLC, Hilliard, OH, U.S.A.
Company Description: Co-founded in 2005 by Tonia Irion, e- Cycle has empowered businesses and organizations to take a more responsible, secure, and profitable approach to mobile phone asset recovery and recycling. The company collects wireless phones from businesses and major organizations, reimbursing them for devices that retain value and recycling all others at no charge.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Female Entrepreneur of the Year – Business Services –11 to 2,500 Employees

Nomination Title: Tonia Irion, Co-Founder

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated entrepreneur since the beginning of July last year (up to 500 words):

e-Cycle’s business innovation is simple—provide complimentary recycling and data security services for its clients while increasing their revenue through its wireless buyback service. Completely privately funded, Tonia and Christopher Irion co-founded e-Cycle with only three employees in the basement of their private home.

Since 2005, e-Cycle has purchased and recycled more than eight million devices and paid its clients more than $13 million in revenues to offset the cost of upgrading to the latest wireless technologies. Under Tonia’s guidance, the company has created 56 jobs in Central Ohio and throughout the U.S. since July of 2011 (103 total) and plans to add another 50 jobs by early 2013.

e-Cycle Co-Founder Tonia Irion, a veteran of the technology industry, is committed to helping organizations invest their telecom budgets wisely, while protecting the environment. She has helped secure thousands of enterprise clients, including many in the Fortune 500, as well as strategic partnerships with Verizon Wireless and Research In Motion (RIM).

A strategic one-year certification initiative led by Tonia, in January 2012, e-Cycle became the first mobile buyback and recycling company in the world to achieve e-Stewards® certification. This time consuming and costly certification requires e-Cycle to adhere to the highest global standards of environmental protection and worker safety. Achieving certification requires complete restructuring of internal processes, rigorous internal and external audits, continual improvement strategies, thorough reporting and transparent business practices.

A parent of a child with type 1 diabetes, Tonia is actively involved in raising money for diabetes research and makes significant personal contributions to the organization. She serves as a board member on the Mid-Ohio Chapter of JDRF. Last year, her weeklong “e-Cycle for Type 1 Diabetes” campaign raised nearly $19,000 for the Mid-Ohio Chapter of JDRF when e-Cycle donated $1 for every mobile phone the company purchased or recycled. In June 2012, Tonia formed a partnership with Ford Motor Company to raise additional money for type 1 diabetes research. In this month long program, thousands of Ford employees throughout the U.S. are collecting used mobile phones and the company is donating $1 for each recycled device. Tonia hopes this initiative will raise more than $100,000 for the national JDRF.

In 2011, Tonia was one of five local business professionals honored during the “Celebrating Visionaries” awards ceremony. This award program, presented by the Columbus Young Professionals Club and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, honors dynamic, young entrepreneurs in the Central Ohio area for creating and achieving their unique business vision. A few key distinctions that e-Cycle achieved over the past year are listed below.

Key 2011-2012 Awards and Recognitions

•First e-Stewards, ISO 14001, and R2 Certified Mobile Buyback Company
•#68 on the Forbes magazine Most Promising Companies in America list (2011)
•#5 fastest-growing, privately held environmental services companies (587 overall) in the U.S. on the 2012 Inc. 500 list
•#3 in the Columbus “Fast 50” of the fastest growing companies in Central Ohio
•TechColumbus “Best Business Services (under 100 employees)” Innovation Award

Provide a brief biography of the nominated entrepreneur (up to 100 words):

e-Cycle Co-Founder and Chief Communications Officer Tonia Irion, a veteran of the technology industry, is committed to helping organizations invest their telecom budgets wisely, while protecting the environment. Fueled with a passion for technology, environmental protection and charitable giving, she has helped secure thousands of e-Cycle’s enterprise clients, including many in the Fortune 500. In 2011, the Columbus Young Professionals Club honored Tonia as a “Visionary Leader.” Tonia currently serves as a board member on the Mid-Ohio Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and is actively involved in several other charities.