INFORMATION #1 EDSR 09-11-2006 - Laserfiche WebLink

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cover However, Walker came up with a better idea. He acquired an existing salt delivery system that he believes will complement his furore pellet business. In 2004, Walker purchased Redwood Falls- based StepSaver Inc., a company that delivers salt tablets used in water-softeners to thousands of Minnesota customers. It pumps salt through the foundation of a customer's home into a water sofrener's storage tank Walker believes a similar system can be used to deliver his biomass fuel pellets to furnaces and plans to retrofit the StepSaver trucks. The trucks will deliver pel- lets to furnaces through hoses and also can suck up pellet ashes left afrer burning and pump them into a storage unit. "The salt business is already profitable and we're continuing to operate it, and it will just add profit to the bottom line when we begin delivering the pellets," Walker says. "We took a big negative hurdle in the delivery process and solved it." Bixby's products and technology are gaining national attention. The company was invited last November to present its business plan at a conference focusing on energy technologies. It was sponsored in part by t116uquerque, New Mexico-based Utili- Point International Inc., which provides research-based consult- ingservices to the utility/energy industry. Bixby was named one of the five "most promising" companies out of the 75 invited. "The company's plans, products and the technology associated with it are relatively easy to understand, and the company has a vision to expand past just offering furnaces and heaters;' says J. Christopher Perdue, UtiliPoint's senior director, market research. "The fact that energy prices are escalating, and expected by most to continue to rise, also makes Bixby's products attractive to ven- ture capitalists." In general, Perdue says, the energy technology sector lacks proven entrepreneurs. In some business secrors, its not uncom- mon for a CEO of a company seeking venture capital to have successfully done the same for two or three companies in the past. "Such serial entrepreneurs in the energy technology sector are rare," he says. "I think the fatt that Mc Walker has demonstrated proven entrepreneurial experience, albeit not in the energy sec- tor, makes the company quite attractive. Uenmre capitalists tend to look for companies led byYridividuals with vision, passion, a quality team and good judgment" One Bixby investor who understands Walker's vision is Ron Musich, chairman of Blue Marlin Capital, an he was hearing his entire Rogers plant with three stoves for $4.50 a day. This is one of the best products I've seen in a private com- pany in many years." Nlusich says Walker plans to do a self- directed IPO and expects it to be completed some time between Oaober and next February. Rep. Gi] Gutknecht (R-Minn.) also recognizes Bixby's poten- tial. He sits on the nation's House Committee on Agriculture and chairs a subcommittee with responsibiliries for renewable energy programs. "Bob Walker walked into my office two years ago and what impressed me most was that he's a distinguished guy," Gutknecht recalls. "He was in a nice suit and said, `I'm here to calk about renewable energy' Not to be condescending, but most people who come co my office to talk about renewable energy are `save the planet people.' Bob was clearly a business guy. "When he told me that he started Selec~x Comfort, he had my undivided attendoq° Gutknecht says. "I sleep on a Sleep Num- ber bed in both Minnesota and Washington, and I'm a 40. He started to talk and what I loved about his story is that he had a serious business plan, he did the market research and was inter- esred in the costs. He understood renewable energy from a busi- ness perspective better than anyone I'd ever talked with, and I've talked with people around the country and around the world. He also understands branding, imaging and marketing, which this industry really hasn't seen before. He's adding a whole new value to the industry. And if you look at the numbers on just his corn stoves, it blows your mind." Gutknecht believes biomass as a viable renewable energy source has enormous potential. "Last year, Americans spent $~00 billion on fuel. If even just i percent of chat was for home-heat- ing, that's a $25 billion business. OPEC actually has done us a favor, because rising gas prices have forced us to look at energy in a different light. The beauty is that people like Bob Walker are working on technology that will make us totally independent of OPEC." Meanwhile, Walker is very comfortable in his role as inventor. He's never much enjoyed running the day-to-day operations of an established company. "I'm a wheel builder, not a spinner. I can build the best race car out there, but there are a lot of people who can drive it better than I can. I think you get your juices rolling more in the crearive side, because you're putvng some life into something." 42 UPSIZE SEPTEMBER 2006 www.upsizema9.com