Big ideas, real impact.
Anlab Environmental was founded by two friends, Bobby Henderson and Registered Geologist Bernie Helmick, with a shared commitment to quality, safety, and integrity. At Anlab Environmental, both founders personally prepare your report, giving you direct access to professionals with a combined 65 years of hands-on environmental experience. This founder-led approach, combined with our diverse technical background, ensures one thing above all else: quality you can trust.
We welcome the opportunity to Earn your business and demonstrate the Anlab Environmental difference.
Who we are
“The Chairs”
I founded Anlab in 1992 to honor a personal debt — to my grandparents, parents, and my mentors who sat in these 2 chairs.
The chairs once seated wealthy businessmen while my father (1895–1989) shined their boots at the Union Stock Yards in Omaha — a major financial hub that was once comparable to Wallstreet. Farmers from across the country brought livestock to the yards, where animals were bought, sold, processed, and shipped to grocers nationwide.
In the summer of 1962, at age six, I sat in one of the chairs while Don Mactier (Mactier Bros.) sat in the other. After his boots were shined, he told my father, “Dave, when Bobby is with you, drop him off at my office in the mornings so he can work with me.”
For seven years, my summers were filled with learning the business acumen from Don and others through meetings, negotiating sales, structure contracts and the crucial roles of banking and finance. Admittedly, I found this “schooling” rather boring as a child, but mandatory if I wanted to do what I loved — directing cattle and hogs from one yard to another. After my “graduation,” several of my mentors (now like family) made it possible for me to graduate from two private institutions: Creighton Prep High School and Creighton University (undergraduate, Class of 1978).
At the yards, I learned about business from men engaged in an industry where fortunes were made and lost overnight. Meanwhile, my parents taught me about life. My mother pushed me to study hard and taught me the value of keeping my word. I watched my father work relentlessly and listened to stories about my grandparents, born in 1865 and 1867, and the sacrifices they made.
In 1989, after a career in Sales at Fortune 100 companies, I walked away — despite having no background in science. For three years, I worked hands-on in this industry, learning it from the ground up. In 1992, I used my savings to launch Anlab with one mission: Earn Your Business.
The Chairs symbolize the very best of America, embodying a shared belief that transcends socioeconomic boundaries—from the poorest, like my grandparents, to the wealthiest, like my mentors—that everyone should have the opportunity to succeed.
—Bobby
