The Abrams Clean Tech Report

 

The Abrams Clean Tech Report June

Tuesday, June 14th, 2005

It seems that people are finally voting for change as they know is the only way to make themselves really heard: with their pocketbooks. Politics aside, when it all comes down to it, people put their ethics, their wishes, their hopes, their dreams – all of it – into their buying power. And if anything is pointing to the new direction people want to see, just take a look at the direction that GE is going in, with their recent announcement re. the greening of the entire organization, their products and service offerings, announced just this month.

I’m watching tv while writing this (The Food Network, thank you very much) and just happen to see an American Express commercial, where an AMEX travel rep is pretending to talk to a “Ms. Abrams” (not me!)…I wish they’d start talking about the difference AMEX card holders are making when they purchase products for the environment. That would be quite a cool thing, now, wouldn’t it!!?? Whatta concept.

Between this month and the last – well, and April, I turned The Abrams Clean Tech Report into a blog, with the help of my friend Ivan Storck, founder of Sustainablemarketing.com. If you haven’t acquainted yourself with Ivan and his team – do. Great group. Anyway – back to the blog…so I’m playing catch-up, now that I’ve got this going. I also joined the Sustainable Business Alliance, and updated my website.

I spoke with Riverworks in the last couple of months, and include notes on that conversation below.

Additionally, be on the look-out for www.ecohomeimprovement.com to come to the Bay Area in the form of a retail location in San Francisco somewhere. Where, not sure yet. They’re being very mysterious :-) . And looking for funding, I hear. I’m interested in eventually having the need to remodel (I currently rent, so that’s out for now), and want to get some of those compressed paper countertops. What a very cool concept.

Also check out www.pangaya.com. Sean Bartlett and his lovely wife have started this company, and I am waiting for more people to tune in to their site. It’s lovely, with great products, all sustainable, nice, high end organic brands, and well laid out. Excellent shopping experience for those not yet introduced.

Additionally, if you don’t know about www.greenhomeguide.com, it’s a must-read for those trying to figure out how to remodel what part of their house next…in as green a fashion as possible. Founder Willem Maas is doing a wonderful job, and if you ask me, he’s got the next panel of panels as his ’scientific advisory committee’ helping to make sure that the business stays on course with its objectives. For those of you interested at all in green building, do read up. It’s a wealth of interesting information. And Willem himself is wired into the community…

And if you didn’t hear about it, or don’t know about it – check out www.cleantechventure.com, headed by Keith Raab and his extraordinary team, who recently put together not only a San Fran event, but also a Paris event focused on what else – clean (green) technologies. I recently had the wonderful opportunity to attend Keith’s San Francisco event, and was not only pleased but so surprised by the overwhelming attendance at this event. It’s like mainstream IT and mainstream investors have missed the green investment niche alltogether – but those who were there, were very much THERE and interested and involved. For those involved from the get-go in investing in these areas, and for those people like Keith, I thank you, and I know that those companies working to build products in this area also thank you for providing a forum in which such companies can become known and recognized. If you have a business you’re trying to get funded, and would like to participate in Keith’s venture network, check out the Clean Tech Venture Network’s website. www.cleantechventure.com. I’ll include an excerpt from the newsletter I drafted for the SF event in my next blog.

On THI Riverworks Rapid Assessment System (RRAS), THI RiverWorks, Inc. & Sister Company Trout Headwaters, Inc. (www.riverworks.net)

This small Montana company has a great new tool. Let me rephrase that – great new tool with GREAT market opportunity. They’ve introduced a system for ecological assessment, reconnaissance, inspection and monitoring. You might not think that’s a big deal, but in this industry, where pen and notepad or “dirtkicking” have dominated ecological assessments, reconnaissance, inspection and monitoring for years, this is a significant advancement. And the market opportunity is huge – 9.6 billion dollars is one number being cited as the size of the ecological restoration industry. As the economic tide turns in this country from development to restoration, the industry is in real need of innovation. So RiverWorks has come up with a solution. “No one was stepping up to the plate, so we decided to,” says Mike Sprague, RiverWorks CEO. “We took on a technology partner, The TechLink Center at Montana State University in Bozeman, a DOD and NASA funded entity. We went to them and said we were interested in developing strategic relationships within government and specifically in working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Coastal and Hydraulics Lab and the Environmental Lab (both within the Corps’ Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Mississippi),” Sprague says. “And what we found was that there was great opportunity to advance the technologies for river restoration. We created a business plan for RiverWorks to provide products, services, and support to those in both government and the private sector charged with various types of restoration activities.”

According to Mike Sprague, the company’s CEO, THI Riverworks’ sister company, Trout Headwaters, Inc., was founded about 12 years ago, after Mike was approached by a gentleman who needed some restoration work done on his ranch. “We had a client before we had a business,” he said. Trout Headwaters grew out of the demand to provide design/build services to the watershed industry. Not surprisingly, a lot of what Sprague sees coming down the pike now is a need to repair “restoration projects” gone awry. “Even at present, it’s common for folks to gather very little information in the field before making big decisions and spending lots of money,” he says.

Generating a profit every year, THI has added 3 new staff members to the company in January ‘05. Mike credits THI’s continued growth and success to diligent attention to process, planning, and client communication.

The Technology
For their product suite, RiverWorks rolled out RiverWorks Rapid Assessment System™ first. RRAS™ (patent pending), is currently being used by government, private industry, universities, and non-profit organizations across the U.S. to meet critical objectives associated with watershed studies, TMDLs, remediation activities, restoration design, permitting requirements, and pollution prevention.

There are two basic components of the product: software that installs on a desktop or laptop computer, and the handheld field unit – a customized TDS Recon. It’s waterproof and extremely rugged, whereas most of the pocket-PCs available on the market are intended for consumer retail use and not suitable for extreme or wet environs. The field handheld has an integrated digital camera, with a waterproof optical cap. An integrated, wireless GPS receiver completes the hardware package. RiverWorks worked with the manufacturer of the Recon in the development of the optical cap, and tested numerous GPS receivers for optimal performance. The desktop software is written in Java; software on the handheld runs on a Windows Mobile platform and is written in SuperWaba. And for data management, the company uses a standard SQL embedded database.

“Ecological restoration in aquatic environments really requires an interdisciplinary approach,” says Sprague. Engineers, biologists, ecologists, hydrologists and others are needed to make the team complete. “This tool allows a scientist or technician to take an interdisciplinary approach with respect to monitoring, assessment and inspection of restoration sites.”

An optional, 16-piece RRAS™ field toolkit is available, sold separately. This complete toolkit contains all of the instruments and gear needed to perform an RRAS™ stream assessment.

RCAS™, RiverWorks’ comprehensive analytics system in development now, will be the third product in the product suite. RCAS™ is an analysis and design tool, enabling the cost-effective design of stream restoration projects. A fourth, yet undisclosed product is also currently in development.

What was your model for developing the features of the desktop application?
“Well, it evolved over time – the protocol and the reports that we produced. It started out with Trout Headwaters using the protocol in the field, and producing reports for clients, and working with experts. Trout Headwaters had developed some spreadsheets to help automate the process and shorten the reporting time. So we took those spreadsheets and built a prototype, first using an HP Pocket PC. This allowed for the transfer of data into an Excel spreadsheet, which had a number of different worksheets incorporated into it, and that prototype was the basis for building the product. What we were able to incorporate into the commercial version is an application that has a number of additional capabilities. One of the features that everyone loves is the observation tool – integrating the camera and the GPS – which allows the person in the field to take an observation, marking the time and location, and to capture a photograph or field notes tied to that time and location.”

On Their Handheld
“It’s fairly intuitive. The stream assessment protocol developed by Trout Headwaters is incorporated on the handheld. The protocol is easy to follow and repeatable. For instance, we can rate 15 parameters affecting stream health on a scale of 1-10 with this protocol. It’s a rapid assessment protocol, and with a minimal amount of training someone could go out into the field and do an assessment. What typically used to take several field technicians to do now takes only one. What we ship is the handheld unit fully assembled and fully loaded, and a CD for the desktop…the license is for a single user. Eventually we plan to provide software upgrades downloadable from our website, but we don’t yet have that capability.” Sprague says the company had to first build a development environment before they could begin building product to suit the marketplace. He says RRAS™ is a 10 million dollar product over a 4-1/2 year period. With a patent pending, RiverWorks has protected their IP.

On Their Sister Company, Trout Headwaters, Inc.
Trout Headwaters is a customer of THI Riverworks, Inc., which allows them very interesting and valuable contacts. Trout Headwaters Inc. – The River Restoration Company – is a private company specializing in the creation, restoration, and enhancement of rivers, streams, lakes and wetlands.

The Ideal Customer
“We’re selling to customers similar to Trout Headwaters, Inc., because the economics are very compelling for a small to medium firms…government agencies are also very important for a number of reasons…as are the large engineering firms, construction firms, other restoration firms, universities and NGOs.

“The industry has exploded in the last 6 or 7 years, but there are still lots of questions that need answering. We need better tools and better modeling capabilities for these resources. Our best customers are those looking for ways to do better work more efficiently.

“We provide a 100% satisfaction guaranteed to all customers, in an effort to deliver a quality product with predictable outcomes and results,” Sprague notes.

Price Point
“It’s being sold now for around 5k.”

On Internationalization
As far as creating a platform that will work for multiple language considerations, this is already in the works, the company says.

On Competitors
“The number one really serious competitor for us is “business as usual,” says Sprague. “Otherwise, we don’t really have any direct competition. A competitor would have to be able to reduce their client’s upfront costs for assessment, planning, design and inventory by 40% or more to be able to compete with us.”

Complementary Technology Companies
Land EKG – does open range assessments – “they do for range land what we do for streams…”

Funding
RiverWorks has investors – and is the recipient of some small grant monies. The company’s primary investor is from Texas. The company has taken in around $750,000 to date, and while running lean, is committed to retaining good employees and providing excellent customer service.

Advisory
This CEO makes no bones about the fact that he’s not in this for personal gain, and that’s quite apparent from the journey this company has taken. The tools RiverWorks has developed will make for a far more efficient and accurate process by which decisions are made regarding stream and river restoration projects. The contribution the company is making to the industry as a whole also is to be commended. Look for RiverWorks, and CEO Mike Sprague to be leading the charge in this industry, with his can-do attitude and willingness to be a leader. For now, I’m keeping tabs on their progress.

Next blog:
Sensicore
The Rainforest Action Network
The Global Data Syncronization Network

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To contact Lara, please email her at lara@laraabrams.com or call 415 613 1704.

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