MYC Environmental Construction

Sindhani Sharma used to run a day care center. Krishna Sharma had a career in real estate. Though their professions enabled them to help others in a small way, the impact wasn’t enough for them. The Sharmas wanted to save the planet.

With the day care children as a primary motivator, the entrepreneurs founded MYC Environmental & Construction in 2007, with the goal of protecting the environment for future generations.

“Clean water is key,” Sindhani said. “No matter how much we do for our environment, it’s never enough. That’s something that we felt like we needed to do something about.”

Their certified woman-owned small business, composed of six employees, themselves included, focuses on groundwater remediation, but it also provides disaster and contamination cleanup services. Since the beginning, the co-owners envisioned taking on larger and larger projects. After all, the bigger the problem they could solve, the greater their impact on the planet.

Believing that government contracts would afford them this opportunity, they applied for and received certification as a minority-owned 8(a) business through the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in June 2021. The program is supposed to ensure that underserved businesses receive equitable access to contracting opportunities in the federal marketplace. The Sharmas didn’t find that to be the case.

In fact, it wasn’t until their SBA contact put them in touch with the New Mexico Minority Business Development Agency Business Center (MBDA) that they began to see doors open to larger projects.

For example, the New Mexico MBDA introduced the Sharmas to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers contracting officer, who then connected them with the USACE’s prime contractor. Ultimately, MYC Environmental was awarded a contract of $1.6 million to help conduct burned vehicle removal and asbestos abatement in the large wildfire burn area in Las Vegas, N.M., in 2021.

“We have a pipeline of potential contracts coming directly to us now vs. having to go search for them,” Krishna said, attributing them all to New Mexico MBDA’s resources and consistent one-on-one support.

New Mexico MBDA business advisor Stephanie Skaggs meets with Sindhani weekly, providing marketing and outreach assistance, as well as helping with basic business skills. The Sharmas say their business is on a completely new trajectory as a result of the New Mexico MBDA.

“I am blessed to have Stephanie in my life,” Sindhani said. “I call her my ad lady because she teaches me how to promote my business. She helps us remember to bug people by making calls, sending emails, following up, things that we as small business owners don’t realize are necessary. She’s taught us not to ask for a job, but to ask, ‘How can I help you?’

“As a small business, we can’t hire anyone to do this kind of marketing; we have to do it all by ourselves. It’s just us for now.”

However, if MYC Environmental & Construction grows as planned, the Sharmas hope to add more employees and even expand overseas to help impoverished countries gain easier access to clean water.

For more about MYC Environmental & Construction, visit www.mycenviro.com.