Shannon Riley, One Stop Environmental’s founder and CEO, is featured in this month’s Woman’s Day Magazine for making a difference in the Woodlawn, AL community. See article below:
Making a Difference
Reader Shannon Riley is helping revive a struggling Alabama community.
As CEO of One Stop Environmental, a company specializing in hazardous waste removal, Shannon Riley, 40, knows the importance of being green. Shannon, a wife and mother of four, not only cleans up chemical materials in her daily work, but is also devoted to “greening” an inner-city neighborhood. “My company’s offices are located in Woodlawn, a once-thriving community that’s now economically challenged struggles with crime. My grandfather founded his fireproofing company in 1948 just one block from my office, so I feel a personal connection to the area,” explains Shannon.
Working with the local business association and city counselors, Shannon has done everything from placing decorative trash cans on streets to discourage littering to planting trees to repairing lampposts and sidewalks. She’s even working with artists to paint murals on railroad viaducts. “Through our beautification efforts, I hope to make it a safer and more usable community for business,” she says. Another major accomplishment: the conversion of a dilapidated block once plagued by crime into a safe pedestrian street. “While it can be a slow process, it’s wonderful to see the positive effects in the community,” says Shannon.