Management Team

The principals and partners: Sue Sylvester, Guy Sylvester, and Cliff Chase have over 100 years of combined experience. Each team member has been active in both the local and national environmental testing industry for 3+ decades. In addition, they have demonstrated knowledge of the market through the successful management and operation of other local, regional and national laboratory companies. Their experience includes regulatory compliance, information management, quality assurance, operations, and technical expertise in the environmental industry.


Susan Sylvester

Sue is President & Chief Financial Officer of Absolute Resource Associates. After 20 years of working at various environmental laboratories in almost every capacity from Lab Technician to Lab Director, Sue purchased Resource Laboratories (now Absolute Resource Associates) with Guy Sylvester in 2000. Since then, the business has expanded to meet the ever changing needs of its customers and markets, tripling in revenue, staffing and facility size.

Sue currently manages the overall operations, sales, safety, finance, human resources, and quality aspects of the business. In this capacity, Sue makes sure that the employees and customers all have what they need to insure success of every project we touch. Whether it is writing a quality assurance project plan, scope of work for a project, or getting data to the customer in a regulatory compliant format, Sue has done it all.  Sue has made a name for herself in this industry as an entrepreneur with steadfast ethics and a natural business sense. ARA has been recognized as a Top Woman-Led Business in NH, Sue won the prestigious NHBR Business Excellence Award in 2014, the Outstanding Women in Business Award in 2016, and was invited to testify and share her story at a Small Business Hearing in Washington D.C. in July, 2014. In 2015, Sue was appointed to the Federal ETTAC Environmental Committee by the US Secretary of Commerce.


When she is not at work, you can find Sue kayaking, camping, biking, running, cooking, gardening, or hanging with her nieces, nephews and grandkids.


 

ARA CEO Guy SylvesterGuy Sylvester

Guy is a former board member of the New Hampshire Chapter of the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA), the American Lung Association (ALA) in the Northeast, and Past Chair of the ALA Leadership Board in NH.

 

Guy was winner of the NH Business Review (NHBR) Business Excellence Award in 2011, and is co-founder of the New Hampshire Mold Task Force, a group which helped to pass SB125 in NH, which is important legislation in support of consumer protection and health as it relates to mold. Guy is a visionary leader and Strategic Contractor at Absolute Resource Associates, helping guide the firm toward market trends that will best serve our customers and the environment. 

 

Guy has managed environmental firms and projects all over the country before purchasing Resource Laboratories (now Absolute Resource Associates) in 2000 with his wife Susan Sylvester. After helping set the lab up for success, Guy then created the Indoor Air Quality division of the business, seeing a need to help solve indoor air quality mysteries for his customers. His passion for helping people with illness related to air quality led Guy to write a book for consumers, entitled "Mold: Myth or Monster?" which helps homeowners and small businesses in their quest to get information and help as it relates to mold, indoor air quality, and related health issues. 

In his college days, Guy was a wildlife biologist and his attraction to the natural earth and all its creatures is still strong. In his spare time Guy enjoys spending as much time as he can in the great outdoors kayaking, sailing, camping, biking, skydiving and even doing 5K races and triathlons for fun. However, his most pleasurable moments are spent enjoying time with his family, especially his grandchildren.



Cliff Chase

Cliff is the Vice President and Director of Technology for Absolute Resource Associates, as well as a partner in the business. Cliff reviews and approves the equipment we buy, the methods we use, looks at a fair bit of data and introduces us to new and upcoming technical issues that affect our work.  In addition, he is responsible for our information systems.

After receiving his degree in Chemistry from the University of New Hampshire, Cliff has been working in the environmental field since the 1980s.  He has bench level experience with almost every method we perform at the laboratory.  His project experience includes responsibility for analytical data in response to EPA Superfund investigations, municipal wastewater permits, groundwater investigations and various federal environmental clean up projects. 

Much of the work Cliff does is behind the scenes, improving data handling systems, and finding ways to get the job done more quickly and easily, with ever improving quality.  As you will see when you work with us, Cliff achieves these goals on a continuous basis. In his spare time, Cliff is a marathon runner, mountain and road biker and a proud husband and father.


Aaron DeWees

Aaron has been with Absolute Resource Associates since 1999, and has directly contributed to the success of the business on many levels. Starting as an intern in the extractions department during his college days at the University of New Hampshire, and filling almost every role here at one point or another, Aaron's hard work, dedication and vast understanding of day-to-day operations have led him to his current position as Chief Operating Officer Along with his responsibilities of overseeing operations at ARA, Aaron is also accountable for researching and implementing new methods and technologies as the environmental testing field evolves. Aaron has extensive hands-on experience using GC/MS, GC/ECD, GC/FID, ion chromatography, ICP, cold vapor AA methodology, as well as various wet chemistry techniques. Aaron is the "Captain" of the lab, and has become known for finding creative solutions to every challenge brought to his attention. The company would not have developed with such success without Aaron's inspirational insight, guidance and "can do" attitude.

In his free time, Aaron can be found running 5K road races with his wife, camping with the family, snowshoeing, brewing tasty ales and working on home improvement projects.

 

 

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