After graduating from Bucknell University in 1984 with a degree in civil engineering, Mr. Ertel returned to his hometown of Williamsport where he began his career at R&J Ertel, Inc., a mechanical construction business founded in 1971 by his father. He was instrumental in growing R&J Ertel from five employees in 1984 to 120 employees by 2007.

Mr. Ertel cares deeply about the natural environment, and especially about the area surrounding Williamsport. When drilling was approved for the Marcellus Shale, he decided to use his expertise as a civil engineer and entrepreneur to create a solution for the wastewater produced by these operations. In 2007, Mr. Ertel, Timothy Butters and William Ertel founded Eureka Resources. They opened the company’s first treatment plant in November 2008, and added mechanical vapor recompression technology in June of 2010.

Under Mr. Ertel’s leadership, Eureka Resources has grown to three treatment facilities with a workforce of approximately 100 employees. Today, Eureka significantly reduces the local energy industry’s waste stream by recovering clean, reusable water while also producing various co-products for industrial reuse.