Today marks HOBI International Inc.’s 34th year as a leading IT and mobile asset disposition provider. From a small, family-owned operation in a dusty corner of a garage to an international success, HOBI is now one of the most competitive and innovative ITAD providers in the country.
The Dawn of Electronic Waste
Today, technology is at the pinnacle of success. Mobility is a societal staple, and AI is transforming the way we work and live. Electronics supply and demand are at an all-time high, and responsible e-waste disposal is now required in many states, but the true dawn of e-waste began in the early 1990s. As IT assets such as PCs, servers, and networking equipment became mainstream, the first significant wave of obsolete hardware led to the birth of what is now known as e-waste recycling.
As young adults in the early stages of technology, siblings Cathy Hill, CEO, and Craig Boswell, President, were recruited into the e-waste business by their father after he discovered a significant opportunity. It began with circuit boards but evolved as the duo discovered a rising demand for a broader range of IT equipment. This need was repeated to them as they met with prospects, and thus the idea of HOBI was born.
The Rise of HOBI International, Inc.
Cathy and Craig started HOBI in 1992 in Batavia, Illinois, as an electronics processor focused on the retrieval and resale of electronic components and the environmentally sound recycling of midrange and PBX phone equipment. They recognized a need for professional, reliable electronics recycling solutions prioritizing data security and environmental responsibility. During the past 34 years, HOBI has adapted to the evolving industry and the needs of clients, expanding to become an industry-leading IT and mobile asset management service provider in Chicago, Dallas, and Phoenix.
Ahead of the Curve: What Makes HOBI Unique
As one of the first of its kind, the HOBI team identified changes and needs early and tailored services to meet them. It was Cathy who recognized that the business was about services rather than the hardware itself, enabling HOBI to customize and expand its service offerings to meet clients’ evolving needs.
While there are many players in the ITAD space today, HOBI remains unique on several fronts. As technology evolved and data security became a primary concern, HOBI developed its very own data erasure tool, HOBI Shield, for traditional IT assets. On-site data erasure is a crucial aspect of the disposition process, especially in a digital age. HOBI Shield allows for the complete erasure of hard drives, ensuring no data is leaked before reuse or recycling.
Recycling and resale were a natural progression of the business. Reuse is an industry staple nowadays, but in the industry’s early years, it wasn’t a top concern. In the pre-Internet days, reuse sources were more challenging to find. Finding reused components was easier because of the international channels developed for toy and electronics manufacturing, but the resale of larger assets was a newer idea. HOBI navigated the market, developed those marketplaces, and established a foothold in the traditional electronics recycling market.
34 Years of Innovating ITAD Services
HOBI began in the midst of the industry’s own conception, enabling it to evolve as the industry itself grew and changed. As a result, HOBI was able to provide many core industry services before they became the norm and expand its reach to larger clients. Appealing to larger corporations brought HOBI new opportunities but also posed challenges. Finding traction in a relatively new industry meant there were few examples to follow when developing services. Boswell explained that HOBI’s small size and limited resources were obstacles when meeting the needs of large corporations at the beginning. Although adapting to large-scale needs was initially challenging, HOBI formed friendships with clients and competitors that helped the team learn to navigate the industry’s constantly evolving landscape.
Enterprise engagements opened new service lines. Early focus on environmental compliance and data security enabled HOBI to help create R2 and, later, R2v3, the industry’s standards for ITAD companies. We turned those standards into certified processes well before they became the ITAD norm. In our first year, we launched reverse logistics for domestic clients, and today we run RL and ITAD programs in more than 72 countries.
HOBI entered the mobility space in 1998 and has evolved alongside technology. Mobility transformed society’s view of technology and created a need for one of the most critical aspects of any business: data centers. The rapid evolution of mobile technology thrust the world into a digital age, which required digital storage. The ability to read market trends and identify emerging industry needs enabled HOBI to enter the data center space early and meet those needs for the past 20 years. Today, HOBI continues to provide data center services domestically and internationally.
HOBI’s strength is its long-tenured team. Many managers and operators have been with the company for decades. During our 34 years, HOBI established expertise in IT and mobile asset management and disposition. The company developed tools such as HOBI Shield and the Intelligent Routing 2.0 (IR2) ERP to manage complex programs. This experience supports a broad set of services, mobility managed services, data center services, environmental services, enterprise asset services, and reverse logistics across North America. The market changes quickly, and demand continues to rise, so service expansion remains essential. Boswell and Hill say the risk of falling behind pushes HOBI to keep improving and expanding its services.
Aside from expanding services and becoming one of the most competitive IT and mobile service providers in the nation, Hill and Boswell said that HOBI’s employees’ success and growth have been the most rewarding aspects of the past 34 years. Hill explained HOBI’s team is “as much family to me as the family I go home to after the work day.”
About HOBI International
Founded in 1992, HOBI International, Inc., a WBE-certified company, provides IT and mobile asset disposition solutions and electronics recycling services to Fortune 1000 organizations worldwide. We handle resale and remarketing, data erasure and destruction, responsible recycling, de-installation, logistics, and compliance reporting. HOBI is R2v3, RIOS, NAID, and ISO 14001 certified. Our team builds asset programs specific to each client’s sites, systems, and risk requirements.