ECO Research - Boise

Three engineers, Larry Haley, Barry Kurtz and Burt Poppenga, founded ECO Research to design, develop and distribute a moisture control system for home lawn sprinkler systems. They felt confident their product could be developed, manufactured and distributed nationally to homeowners at a fraction of the cost of currently available systems. Rather than using expensive and complicated temperature and moisture probes, their system was designed around proprietary technology that measures solar radiation and temperature.

Haley contacted the Idaho SBDC Region III office in Boise for help with his business plan and resources for his advisory committee. He was then partnered with TechHelp, an engineering and manufacturing assistance program sponsored by the Small Business Administration that helps in product design, technology protection and manufacturer selection.

The SBDC and TechHelp enabled Haley to understand organizational startup costs, product development costs, product manufacturing costs and operational/marketing costs. A marketing plan was then prepared with help from the Idaho SBDC, the TECenter and Boise State University professor Gary McCain’s market entry strategy class.

The company has completed product final development standards for production and distribution and is using a local manufacturer to produce the system. Dozens of products are being forwarded to major distributors and wholesalers identified by the marketing plan as initial targets for product introduction. In addition, an article in the Idaho Press-Tribune newspaper in Nampa generated significant local interest in the product, and the company sold out current inventory.

The successful completion of the business plan, product development and marketing plan represent the initial startup phases of every small manufacturing company. This process is usually so difficult, most introductory products do not make it to the production phase. The successful development of this product, with resulting introduction to the national market, is a tribute to the efforts of Haley, ECO Research, and the network of assisting organizations that he chose to assist him.