Paul Teutul, Sr., star of “American Chopper” and founder of Orange County Choppers, shows off the company’s sustainable headquarters and showroom in Newburgh.
“If you like what you’re doing, work hard, and you’re passionate about it, you’ll succeed,” Teutul says.
Teutul should know. After overcoming drug and alcohol addictions, the 59-year-old former steel fabricator and merchant marine during the Vietnam War founded Orange County Choppers with his son Paulie in 1999. Fueled by his passion for custom bike building and his relentless attention to detail and organization, Teutul gained national fame with his unique bike designs. Subsequently, by 2002, Teutul, Sr., and sons Paulie and Michael were stars on the hit show “American Chopper,” which now has a global fan base.
Teutul is also a man of principle; 19 principles to be exact, which are detailed in his most recent book, The Ride of a Lifetime: Doing Business the Orange County Choppers Way. Aimed at anyone who aspires to start a business or take their small business to the next level, The Ride of a Lifetime touches on the core factors that made the Newburgh-based business a success. Teutul writes, “If you take one lesson away from this book, let it be this: Your past does not dictate your destiny. You have choices in life. The sooner you realize that—and start making the right choices—the sooner you’ll be a success.”
Teutul’s philosophical approach to business might seem like a contradiction to some. After all, this is the burly steel welder who gets into fights with his son on TV with bleeps to cover the foul language. Well, Teutul is also a thoughtful and sensitive businessman who happens to be concerned about the environment. And this is why Teutul decided to build OCC’s new facility as green as possible, following LEED standards.
“We’re real concerned about the environment, and we had an opportunity to think things through and go green, so we did,” Teutul says, adding that Henry Kroll, project coordinator at OCC, worked to ensure that the $13 million, 93,000 square-foot building stayed on mission during construction. The results are astounding.
The short list of green innovations featured in the building, which serves as corporate headquarters, retail showroom, manufacturing space, and TV studio, include: locally-processed, partially recycled steel, efficient lighting fixtures, and daylight-harvesting technology; a high-efficiency rooftop HVAC system; a variable-air-volume system that adjusts automatically to climate settings; reduced interior potable water use; using storm water for irrigation; low-water demand fixtures and sensor-activated water fixtures; recycled and locally processed building materials; and environmentally friendly wall, floor and ceiling finishes. The facility, which won New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) incentives, is LEED certified and is in the running for a silver rating.
Of special note is the construction of a “pollution prevention” and enhanced storm water management system by Cultec Inc. Kroll says the system gathers storm water, “and it stays on site and is filtered through the earth—a natural process that is environmentally sound.
“Green is also visual,” Kroll says, explaining that the Cultec system is housed within the building, thereby eliminating the use of a retention pond on the property. Kroll says there were challenges in building the facility to adhere to LEED standards; it involved micro-managing every aspect of the construction. Kroll was kept busy making sure outside contractors used green materials—not that they were trying to cut corners or anything, but the contractors simply needed to be educated about green building standards, Kroll says—and the learning curve was steep for everyone.
“The level of awareness is much better now than it was even two years ago,” Kroll adds. “Contractors and suppliers are quickly coming up to speed on being green.”
Regarding the HVAC system, Teutul says the technology is a work in progress. “Even after installation, it is being tweaked and fine tuned,” he says, adding that it’s “like fine tuning a bike.”
Kroll describes the system, by Carrier Corp., as state of the art: “I can usually make a phone call if there’s a problem and since it is controlled by computer, a technician at Carrier can solve the problem online,” he explains. “Five minutes later, the problem is fixed.”
Kroll says the bulk of materials used in the construction were reclaimed or recycled. For instance, walkways around the building are composed of recycled car tires. The material looks like black pebbles, but is soft to walk on. And it’s porous, “which reduces any storm water issues since the water goes straight into the ground,” Kroll says. Water pools on nonporous surfaces, and during storms or flooding, oils, road salt, and other contaminants can get into the supply.
The retail space of OCC is impressive, being both green and well designed. The front of the building is tinted glass that regulates temperatures. Behind the glass, the recycled steel beams and supporting trusses are exposed, a nod to Teutul’s heritage in the steel fabrication business. The showroom displays all of the bikes that are made on “American Chopper,” giving it a museum quality. The retail showroom of 30,000 square feet includes apparel, accessories and other OCC-branded products for men, women, and kids. Top sellers include Lugz shoes, as well as sweatshirts with the OCC emblem, and authentic Paul, Sr. sunglasses.
Michele Paolella, vice president of public relations and events, acknowledges that the OCC brand has quickly evolved into a lifestyle brand for consumers. She says fans are the most frequent shoppers in the store; many are “extremely” dedicated. During this article’s photo shoot with New York House, a pregnant fan waited nearby to get a picture with Teutul, Paolella says. The woman was in labor.
Paolella says the fan base is diverse. In the parking lot, cars had license plates from Ohio, Michigan, New Jersey, Connecticut, Florida, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. One Dodge minivan with Michigan plates pulled into the lot, packed with four adults and two kids, one of which jumped for joy, pointing to the giant OCC logo etched in the glass of the retail showroom. Teutul also has a strong celebrity fan base that includes Sylvester Stallone, Will Smith, Bruce Willis, Billy Joel, and Richard Petty, among many others, including David Letterman, who penned the foreword to Teutul’s latest book.
After touring the headquarters, showroom and workshop, it’s clear that Teutul has his stamp on everything. In regard to being green, the business decision did not end after construction. Teutul decided to make recycling a permanent part of company policy.
When asked what the least green thing Teutul does is, he’s quick to respond and says it was in the past. “We didn’t build bikes that met environmental standards,” he says. “Today, though, we do.
“And I have to say that bikes in general are inherently green,” Teutul adds. “They use less gas, have smaller engines and exhausts than cars, and give off much less pollution.”
Resource List HVAC systems for Commercial Buildings Carrier Corp., Commercial Building Services commercial.carrier.com Storm Water Management Systems Cultec Inc. cultec.com Financial Incentives for Green Building New York State Energy Research and Development Authority nyserda.org LEED Certification U.S. Green Building Council usgbc.org Engineering Services M.A. Day Engineering Wappingers Falls (845) 223-3202
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