Clean Planet was established in 2006 as a privately held company with an Advisory Board offering guidance and operational input for the owner, Judy Williams. In the fall of 2011, the company was reorganized and expanded to include a research and development laboratory. With that official addition came the name change to Clean Planet Mfg. & Labs, Inc. The company continues to conduct business as CPMI. The Advisory Board was replaced with an elected Board of Directors holding full governing authority of the company.
Clean Planet Mfg. & Labs, Inc. is a privately held, woman-owned, board governed, and family operated sustainable manufacturing company located in Virginia’s Central Shenandoah Valley. In our manufacturing complex, we also house a research and development lab to explore and bring to market the latest and safest automotive and heavy equipment fluid management products for OEMs, end-users, mechanical…
technicians, and, of course…The Environment! We are always excited to meet companies that share our commitment to advancing commerce while simultaneously striving to ensure our environment and people are protected in the process.
Meet the Team
CPMI Founder Judy Williams serves as the company’s President of the Board and corporate CEO. With a rich career forged on both sides of the Mississippi, Judy has logged over 40 years in the industries that drive America. From communications to education and from public relations and marketing to major fundraising, Judy has grown professionally throughout her career and has leveraged her vast array of experiences in each of her endeavors.
She began her career in her hometown of Houston, TX as a commercial sales and service representative for the former Southwestern Bell Telephone Company. In 1970, she moved to Texaco, Inc. as national sales and customer service representative. She entered the world of public education in 1976 as a teacher of English, journalism, and photo journalism in the Aldine Independent School District in Houston.
In 1980, she moved into administration in that school district and served 14 years as public information and marketing director with purview over media relations, policy writing, publications, government relations, public speaking and training, curriculum development, and crisis communications.
Moving to Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley in 1994, she launched her first entrepreneurial endeavor in the hospitality industry as a bed and breakfast inn owner.
Following that successful, yet life-consuming venture, she reentered the educational arena as executive director of development for Bridgewater College, a private co-educational school in the Valley. In that role, she oversaw fundraising, alumni relations, special events, marketing, publications, grants, staff development, and project development.
Judy established CPMI in 2006 and has worked in her leadership capacity since then, helping advance the inventions and creative developments of her business partner and husband, Jim Williams. Judy is a cum laude graduate of MacArthur High School and the University of Houston where she double majored with BS degrees in Communications and English.
An entrepreneur with over 35 years in the field of diesel service, repair and maintenance, Jim Williams puts great faith in the statement that if necessity is the mother of invention, persistence is surely the father.
While servicing heavy equipment as an independent contractor, Jim realized that despite his best efforts to protect the environment and himself from exposure to draining used fluids during routine maintenance tasks, wind and other conditions typically led to environmentally damaging fluids being broadcast over land and into nearby streams. He also found that field conditions on work sites would often lead to serious damage to fluid-holding reservoirs, such as oil pans. Frequently he saw drain plugs on these devices broken off and oil, fuel, transmission fluid and other fluids being lost to the ground.
From those experiences grew Jim’s invention for the Oil Evac Valve Kit with its unique safety check valve feature that separates his invention from the small pack of competitors. From the first invention grew his many others that serve as the basis for CPMI’s operations.
Jim completed a two-year diesel and mechanical degree at Blue Ridge College in one year. His career accomplishments and certifications have established him as a leader in his field.
He holds Master Certifications in diesel and truck technology from the world-renown ASE program. He also holds the coveted EVT (Emergency Vehicle Technician) certification that qualifies him to service, repair, and maintain firetrucks, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles.
His first entrepreneurial venture was the establishment of a logging company in the late ’70s. He opened his first automotive repair business in 1984. Today, in addition to his duties at CPMI, Jim also heads up the operations for two other family-owned companies, Code Red Repairs, an emergency vehicle repair service in Staunton, and Shenandoah Valley Diesel, a fleet service and repair company. He also serves as president of the board for a local fire company.
Our Vision
“CPMI offers its environmentally focused products and services as a way to improve our planet by helping others expand their environmental knowledge, practices, and stewardship.”
At a Glance
Protected Products…CPMI insures its products against damage to engines and the environment.
Solid Governance & Guidance
In addition to the Williams team, CPMI’s Board of Directors brings to the table a well-rounded field of experiences and successes. Our governing board is comprised of:
- Judy Williams – Staunton, VA – President & CEO of Clean Planet Mfg. & Labs.
- James Williams – Staunton, VA – Vice President of product development for Clean Planet Mfg. & Labs.
- John Dabney – Houston, TX – Owner of Dabney Ruffeno, a design, management, and construction company. Graduate of University of St. Thomas, with a BS in Environmental Management.
- Abner N. Johnston, IV – Raphine, VA – Owner of Shenandoah Stone & Chancellor Company, Inc., an aggregate mining company in the Central Shenandoah Valley, and member of several community and regional boards of directors.
- Dennis Shifflett – Harrisonburg, VA – Sales & Service Director, Big L Tire Company, has logged career goals in sales and customer service with some of the country’s leading companies, including Sysco Foods, and is a founding funder for CPMI.
- George Shifflett – Harrisonburg, VA – Sales Director for Big L Tire Company, owner of real estate and transportation companies, member of Continental Tire Board of Directors, and founding funder for CPMI.