Hi. I'm Rick Terrien. I love working in economic development and entrepreneurship. I believe this is the renaissance age of entrepreneurship and it's just beginning.
I am currently working in the most beautiful area in Wisconsin as the founding Executive Director of the Iowa County Area Economic Development Corporation. Iowa County, WI is immediately west of the Madison area. It is an amazing place with diverse, enduring communities, and a world class collection of resources for enjoying yourself. Iowa County is also home to an amazing experiment in local foods processing, the Wisconsin Innovation Kitchen, where I work as entrepreneur in residence.
My last startup is now 15 years old. Our technology is recycling millions of gallons of oil every year that used to be lost as wastewater. We were awarded multiple patents, won important national innovation awards and built profitable, lasting relationships with customers around the globe. I launched this enterprise with my business partner Dave, and we grew it for 10 years before selling to our investors in 2007.
We started and grew that enterprise with very limited resources. We soon had wildly enthusiastic customers in all 50 states and on 6 continents. We did it all this with a small group of committed friends, great ideas, and hard work.
My first startup, Banner Graphics, will turn 40 years old in 2012. We started it with money from a loose change jar. Our enterprise grew and prospered for 25 years, when we sold it. The operation is still succeeding and winning new customers today. This enterprise also had customers in all 50 states and 6 continents. Our customers included over 75% of the Fortune 500, most major Universities and many of the world’s best known non profit and development organizations. That enterprise was a family affair, with my wife and I, kids throughout, and some great employees over the years. We successfully mixed family and enterprise for two and a half decades. And we're still married...
Several of our patents related to our Vertical Fluid Recycling System, shown above. My business and design partner Dave Walker and I were awarded eight US patents, and one foreign patent. This work focused on green manufacturing and industrial fluid recycling. Our technology is now recycling millions of gallons of oil and critical industrial fluids yearly at great manufacturing firms around the world, and will continue to do so for years to come.
