The rising demand for clean water worldwide has created huge opportunities for creative engineers, researchers and entrepreneurs with great ideas and dreams of starting their own businesses. But what does it take to build an innovative global company?
In Ontario, more than 300 companies have developed innovative water technologies and several have blossomed into world leaders in niche markets. One of the best known of these companies is TrojanUV. TrojanUV is part of the Trojan Technologies group of businesses. This group includes seven businesses: Aquafine, OpenCEL, Salsnes Filter, Trojan Marinex, TrojanUV, US Peroxide, and VIQUA.
SUPPORTING INNOVATION
Based in London, Ontario, TrojanUV develops and manufactures UV disinfection and UV-oxidation systems for municipal water and wastewater treatment. Over the past thirty-seven years, the company has grown to become a global leader in UV technology. It has the largest installed base of UV water treatment facilities in the world, a list that includes over 8500 municipal systems in 102 countries, treating 50 billion gallons (189.3 billion liters) of water per day.
Today, the company has 750 employees worldwide, with manufacturing facilities in London and Guelph, Ontario, California and Germany. It’s a remarkable transformation for a company that, in 1976, was a small metalworking shop whose main business was making toolboxes.
“What sets TrojanUV apart from most companies in our industry is our commitment to R&D. We invest about 5 percent of our top line in R&D and that’s allowed us to expand into markets. We now have more than 250 patents granted or pending.”Marv DeVries | President, Trojan Technologies
Some of TrojanUV’s research is done in-house and some has been in partnership with local universities. Ontario is internationally recognized as a centre for water research, with more than twenty-one institutes dedicated to water-related research across the province. To further encourage R&D by companies, Ontario offers one of the most generous R&D tax incentive programs in the G7.
“Government support for R&D has been very important for us,” says DeVries.
REWARDING SUCCESS
That’s a sentiment echoed by Jodi Glover, co-founder and CEO of Real Tech Inc., a Whitby-based a start-up. Real Tech is a four time recipient of the Deloitte Technology Green fifteen awards for their remarkable success in developing affordable and reliable water quality monitoring technology. In many ways, Real Tech is a classic story of an entrepreneurial family business with a high-tech twist.
“I grew up in the water business,” says Glover, explaining how her dad, Ron Hallett worked in the water treatment sector for years before starting UV Pure, a company that develops water purification technologies using ultraviolet radiation.
Recognizing a need in the water industry for a small portable unit that could quickly test for organic contaminants, Jodi and her husband Andrew, an engineer, started Real Tech.
“We knew that there was a real market opportunity since traditional water quality testing can take days to complete in a central laboratory using delicate and very expensive equipment.”
Andrew began researching approaches that could overcome many of the challenges faced by such analytical instrumentation. The result was Real Tech’s breakthrough product, a portable, reliable and affordable water analyzer that was rugged enough to be tossed into the back of a truck. With a few minutes training, a technician could take one of the units out in the field, draw a water sample, test it and see the results on-the-spot.
Real Tech has since expanded its technology platform and product line to include real-time online quality monitoring for large treatment systems. They have also racked up sales in 40 countries to customers including the Ontario Ministry of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NASA, Coca Cola and almost every major water company, including TrojanUV.
“We wouldn’t be here without the support we received from the Ontario government,” says Glover. “The support for R&D, marketing, labour costs—it’s amazing.”
ENTICING TALENT
Equally vital for growing companies is the ability to attract and retain top talent, says TrojanUV’s Marv DeVries. Often that comes down to quality of life and, for TrojanUV, London Ontario has what it takes.
“London offers a person a great balance of living,” he says. “Housing costs are relatively low, and there are education and recreation opportunities that are important for the young people with families that we are looking to hire.”
Ontario offers water technology companies research expertise, an exceptional talent pool and a range of government supports to bolster their chances of building global market leadership. Will the next generation tackled the emerging water challenges and find success? If the Ontario industry track record is any indicator, the answer is a resounding yes.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Stewart is the senior economic officer for the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Trade, and Employment. For more information about the companies mentioned in this article, visit www.trojanuv.com and www.realtechwater.com. For more information about locating a business in Ontario or doing business with Ontario entrepreneurs, visit www.investinontario.com.
MODERN PUMPING TODAY, March 2014
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