AFFORDABLE SOLUTIONS One Stop for all Your Business Needs

One Stop for all Your Business Needs

WRITTEN BY: KAREN SINGER

Orange residents may recognize Joe Johnston or his truck from the town’s twice annual shredding events at High Plains Community Center. But when Johnston started his company, Affordable Solutions LLC in 2002, shredding was not a part of the business plan.

Initially envisioned as a “one-stop shop” for providing medical offices with everything from furniture and discounted supplies to printing services, web development and sign design and installation; the company has grown to include on-site document shredding and building improvements for a wide range of clients.

SERVICING THE STATE

“I go anywhere in the state, but most customers are off I-95 between New Haven and Greenwich,” says Johnston, 49. “We are a vendor or reseller of multiple services,” he explains. “Office furniture, for example, we get directly from the manufacturer, and we install it.” Moreover, he adds, “If I don’t know how to do something, I’ll tell you who does.”

Johnston and three employees, however, run the entire shredding operation and do the property renovation work.

Born in Minneapolis, Johnston came to Connecticut as an eighth grader, when his father got a job as a nurse anesthetist at the Veteran’s Hospital in West Haven. He went to West Haven High School and earned bachelor’s degrees in business administration and marketing at the University of New Haven. After graduating in 1992, he worked for a now defunct office supply company in Madison before striking out on his own.

THE ADDITION OF SHREDDING

Johnston moved to Orange 12 years ago, so his three children could

Owner, Joe Johnston in front of the shredding machine on the truck.

attend the town’s highly rated school system and Amity High School. Around the same time, he became interested in shredding documents when one of his customers asked whether he provided the service. Johnston was intrigued by the idea to expand his Orange-based business.

“I found my first shredding truck in New Jersey, and now I’m on my third,” he says.

Shredding caught on big time, and currently accounts for around 70 percent of Affordable Solutions’ business. Among the clients are accountants, attorneys, medical offices, and car dealerships. The company also shreds for some big corporate headquarters.

“One of the Milford car dealerships uses us for shredding and we’ve also provided them with their customer waiting room furniture,” Johnston says.

COMMUNITY SHREDDING EVENTS

The shredding work includes events sponsored by churches, towns, and civic groups. “They pay us for three hours to provide and operate the truck,” Johnston says. “The organizations run the event and are

Photo: Paula Severino

in charge of collections.” Johnston personally operates the truck at community shredding events.

From time to time, he retrieves unexpected items headed for the shredder. At an event in Greenwich, he once spotted a jewelry box containing a pair of diamond earrings. Johnston chuckles, “The owner told me that his wife likes to hide stuff.” When Johnston added shredding to his business, local recycling centers paid him by the pound for shredded paper. But prices have plummeted lately as China, a major market for recovered fiber material, has imposed import restrictions. Although recycling centers still accept shredded paper, Johnston now must pay them to take it.

“You need to adapt to changing conditions,”

The ebb and flow of demand is nothing new to Johnston. “It’s that kind of business,” he says. “I used to sell a filing cabinet to a doctor’s office once a week. Now it’s maybe once a year.”

Johnston hopes prices for shredded paper will rise again. In the meantime, he’s trying to offset the gap in profit by adding building improvement contracting services for commercial and residential customers.

HOME IMPROVEMENT SERVICES

Before the pandemic, he finished remodeling an apartment (one of three) in a 19th century house in Fairfield for a property manager and is working on several more renovation projects for realtors and other property managers.

In addition, Johnston is seeking more opportunities for residential home improvement work, from basic service to full renovations. “You need to adapt to changing conditions,” Johnston says. “I’m always thinking about the next thing.”

When asked how the COVID19 pandemic affected his business, Joe reported that while shredding went down during the pandemic, the home improvement portion of his business went up and kept them busy. Johnston says, “When businesses (medical) returned to their offices, Affordable Solutions went back to a normal shredding schedule. In fact, July was the busiest July they’ve had ever with shredding.”

For more information, call Joe Johnston at 203-795-3591 or visit: www.affordablesolutionsllc.com.

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