The Christmas holiday season is just around the corner, and Santa Claus must be knitting his brows. Reason: Summer saw the recall of a million popular toys made in China, due to lead contamination. Who should one call for safety issues on environment, air, water, food and consumer products? How about AmeriSci Group?

            AmeriSci is a nationally-accredited group of analytical testing companies. Its expertise is “food, microbial, asbestos, and environmental testing,” according to its website. It has offices in Richmond, Virginia and in New York, Boston, L.A. It recently expanded its operations into Shanghai, China.

Its prestige is well-earned and well-deserved. Last month, in recognizing AmeriSci’s support of Minority Business Development Agency (MBDA) programs, that agency’s Chief of Staff and Associate Director Chiling Tong, noted: “AmeriSci has the distinction of being the only private testing facility which provided analytical support to government agencies at the World Trade Center site on September 11, 2001.”

            “It’s true, and my staff of 100 geologists, chemists and biologists and I stayed in Manhattan for the entire week,” said AmeriSci CEO SiuMing Tomi Hong in a phone interview from his office in Midlothian, Virginia.

            He recalled: “I came in early morning from our office in Boston. I told my managers, we’d better stay behind. Later, I got a call from FEMA. We were the only private lab in the country supporting FEMA that fateful day.” (FEMA is the Federal Emergency Management Agency.)

He said AmeriSci experts tested Manhattan for air safety, and at one point, Hong found himself donating six big boxes of gas masks to policemen, firemen and other volunteers.  Currently, AmeriSci is still involved in the Lower Manhattan Air Project, running tests together with engineers and other consultants.

These days, AmeriSci has its hands full again. Among other things, AmeriSci is doing analytical work for “the biggest U.S. computer companies.” Its task: To test the metal or circuit board for anything that will cause contamination.

Globalization

Hong said the safety issue is a monumental job, but what can be done “is to focus on supply management and speed up the process.” As a supply chain management issue, it needs a grassroots approach from Day One. “You have to monitor the process from the very beginning until the end, look at the very first subcontractors.”

He added addressing the latest safety issue would not get solved overnight, “and work is just getting started.” Partly, it’s due to globalization. He explained: “Take an ordinary, old-fashioned pencil. The wood comes from Brazil. The rubber comes from Indonesia or Malaysia. Inside, you have the lead, which comes from Spain. The paint, which must be of high quality for it to stick to the wood, comes from Italy. China is the last country involved in the process, providing labor. You have five different countries involved.”

            He said the U.S. and China “are trying to find a common ground” to solve the safety issue. “China has now banned the use of lead in many products,” he pointed out. “Lead has been banned in the U.S. for at least 25 years.” In the U.S. Congress, there are “seven to ten separate pending bills” addressing public safety concerns.

Background

Hong, an only child, came to the U.S. in 1989. His grandfather worked during the construction of the Pacific Railroad. His father, a Chinese herb doctor, treated workers during this construction.

            Hong said adjusting to American culture was a challenge. This was especially true because he came to culturally diverse New York. He grew up in Hong Kong and was accustomed to British culture.

            Eventually, he experienced cultural immersion when he joined the U.S. military service. “I owe my understanding and knowledge of the American system from my military service,” said Hong, who became a captain in the Military Police.

            Hong earned a degree in electrical engineering at the Polytechnic college in Brooklyn, New York. He earned an M.B.A. at Pace University, studied commerce and became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

            As a hands-on CEO at AmeriSci, Hong frequently travels to its offices across the country. “It’s something I picked up in the military. A commander should operate in the front,” he said. He spends the time on operation matters, staff meetings and training senior managers.

But he finds the time to go fishing, or indulge in reading (he has over a thousand books on different subjects). Currently, he’s reading on Tibetan Buddhism because the Dalai Lama will be in the U.S. this month. Hong said daily meditation has helped him in his work and in his life.

Lately, he has been trying his hand at playing golf. “It’s difficult,” he said, laughing. But tough things have never stopped him before in achieving success. So it’s a sure bet he’s going to master the sport soon.