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Exciting times ahead... expanded management, new products & more! |
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| Need wax now? Visit our eCommerce web site. |
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A new chapter in the SoyaWax story...
SoyaWax International is on the move! The next steps in the evolution of our business will be as revolutionary and exciting as when our founder, Mike Richards, invented soy wax, an innovation that rocked the candle industry. Over the next few weeks, we will announce a series of initiatives that move us beyond this summer's flood and that will propel our business forward.
SoyaWax International will take bold actions to create new jobs and launch new products as we do our part to contribute to the recovery of Cedar Rapids and the Iowa economy. Like so many small businesses in the U.S., we will do our best to be part of the solution rather than part of the problem as we all pull together to redirect and revive our national and global economies.
SoyaWax Intl. Awarded $150,000 Iowa Grant for New Products
11 August 2008, Des Moines Iowa - SoyaWax International is one of nine Iowa businesses awarded a Demonstration Fund grant by the Iowa Department of Economic Development. The $150,000 award, the maximum amount available for a single competitive application, was made on the strength of SoyaWax International's proposal to commercialize a new generation of soywax products.
"Our new soywax technology has been engineered to have the flexibility and cohesion that will allow soywax to compete in expanded applications in the candle industry and to open new applications in paper-coating and packaging." Mike Richards said, "We are very excited about this award and thank the Iowa Department of Economic Development for this important vote of confidence in our business and new products."
SoyaWax International co-funded research at the Center for Crops Utilization Research (CCUR) at Iowa State University that resulted in the new bio-ag product. A patent on this next generation (or G2) of soywax has been applied for and is held in the portfolio of Iowa State University. SoyaWax International has perpetual, global rights to commercialization of this new generation of soywaxes.
"This is an excellent example of how Iowa entrepreneurs can successfully work with world class researchers in our state university system to create new products that help our state's economy." said SoyaWax COO Timlynn Babitsky. "All successful businesses have an impact on their local economies by paying taxes and creating jobs. In addition to these typical contributions, a portion of all profits from our G2 soywax commercialization will come back to Iowa State University as royalties to support and expand its research and teaching programs."
Follow this link to read the press release announcing IDED's recent round of Demonstration Fund awards.
Follow this link for more information on Iowa's innovative Demonstration Fund program.
SoyaWax Intl. Earns EDC New Business Creation Award
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| SoyaWax International management accepts New Business Creation award at Entrepreneurial Development Center 5th Anniversary celebration - Left to right: Lee Clancey, of the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce; Curt Nelson, of the Entrepreneurial Development Center; Timlynn Babitsky, Jim Salmons, and Mike Richards of SoyaWax International. |
"The Entrepreneurial Development Center is a unique and valuable business development resource in Iowa." said SoyaWax CTO Jim Salmons, "In over thirty years of my entrepreneurial career, I can enthusiastically say that I have never been involved in a start-up where we had such a breadth and depth of on-demand, high quality mentoring, technical, and strategic assistance. The EDC has been inspirationally effective in helping us to fast-track our business growth."
All members of the SoyaWax International management team - Mike Richards, Timlynn Babitsky, and Jim Salmons - were on hand at the awards ceremony and networking event. Over 170 entrepreneurs, community leaders, vendors and investors were in attendance.
"The number and diversity of the folks attending this 5th anniversary event are a testament to just how widely recognized and appreciative we all are that Curt Nelson and his staff have dedicated their efforts to developing such a wealth of business acceleration services for Iowa entrepreneurs," said SoyaWax founder and soywax inventor Mike Richards.
SoyaWax International has been a client of the EDC for five months. During that time, the EDC has provided exceptional service. "Having been a core team member of various high tech start-ups, I know that one of the hardest challenges for a new business is growing the management team." said Jim Salmons, "Under the time crunch and limited resources of a start-up, it often happens that you bring the wrong person on board too early or you take who you can get rather than who you need. The EDC's 'virtual executive' service has proved invaluable to us. Glenn Wiltgen, our EDC-supplied virtual CFO has been instrumental in helping us to structure our financing and negotiate our local banking relations."
Learn more about the Entrepreneurial Development Center.
Learn more about Glenn Wiltgen and B2BCFO services.
Little did we know we'd be hit by the Flood of 2008!
| BEFORE | AFTER the Flood of 2008 | |
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| Hover for caption. Click to enlarge. Refresh page for more pictures. All photos hosted at www.flickr.com |
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SoyaWax International LLC is located in, and plays a prominent role in the life of, the New Bohemia arts and entertainment district of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. With Jim Salmons and Timlynn Babitsky joining Mike Richards on the management team and with innovative new products in development, the exciting times ahead and new chapter to be written in our company history were all positive and upbeat. We had no idea, like most other folks and businesses in Cedar Rapids, that a flood of unimaginable proportions would soon change our lives. The Flood of 2008 crested at over 31 feet in Cedar Rapids! That's more than eleven feet higher than the previous worst floods on record in 1851 and 1929.
The proverb says that a picture is worth a thousand words. In this context then, you will find many thousands of unanticipated words expressed in the photo collections we've posted on Flickr. One set of photos tells the story of "SoyaWax Intl and our historic Maytk Bldg BEFORE the Flood of 2008". Two more photo collections tell the tales of "SoyaWax Intl. AFTER the Flood of 2008" and "The Maytk Bldg AFTER the Flood of 2008".
It's a family affair...
The flood-damaged historic Vavra House in Cedar Rapids from Richard Pratt on Vimeo. |
Together with wife Lynette, Mike had the pleasure of helping Michael Jr. and his wife Liza as they purchased and restored an historic Czech worker's home next door to the SoyaWax International candle/wax production building. Through painstaking research, a load of elbow grease, and a lot of tender loving care, the Richards' restored the Vavra house to a state where it was both a comfortable home and entered into the National Registry of Historic Places.
Listed as one of the best examples of a Czech immigrant home, the Vavra house is now gone forever. The Flood of 2008 destroyed Michael Jr. and Liza's home, but did not dampen their spirits. Like Mike Sr., Michael Jr. and Liza are determined to recoup, adjust, and start over. The damage was so great to their home, that it was deemed one of the first 40 homes to be demolished after the flood. The loss of the Vavra house is not just a personal loss for a fine, young couple. It is an example of the significant loss of historic building and neighborhood destruction that will change the face of Cedar Rapids as we all move forward into the 21st century.
As you watch this video, notice that the front porch is collapsed before the bulldozer comes to obliterate and haul away what remains of Mike Jr. and Liza's home. That's not flood damage. Mike Sr. was able to dismantle the front porch to salvage the columns and lentil ornamentation.
"Once Michael Jr. and Liza have found and settled into a new home," Mike said, "We'll build a backyard gazebo using the Vavra house porch pieces. That way they'll be able to remember the good times and fond memories of their first house."
Mike Richards appointed to Flood Recovery Task Force
Mike Richards is well-known in Cedar Rapids as an active and energetic leader and participant in many area organizations and initiatives to promote community economic and social development. So it was only natural that the state of Iowa tap Mike for membership on the Economic and Workforce Development Task Force of the Rebuild Iowa Advisory Commission. Each Rebuild Iowa Task Force is charged with developing and setting out a plan for action in a specific issue-area integral to Iowa's rebuilding efforts following the Great Flood of 2008 and other natural disasters that have hit our state this year.
"I am particularly pleased to be named to the Economic and Workforce Development Task Force." Mike Richards said, "Rebuilding lives, businesses, and our neighborhoods after such a monumental disaster as the flood is, at its core, a creative and entrepreneurial effort. My goal will be to contribute new ideas for innovative approaches to local economic and workforce recovery initiatives both here in Cedar Rapids and in Iowa at large."
"In my past work," Mike said, "I've won national awards for welfare-to-work and homeless work programs of my former Candleworks company. In many ways we face similar life-rebuilding challenges in Cedar Rapids and Iowa. These disasters have puts thousands of our families, friends, and neighbors into economic hardship and out of their homes. I want to be sure that our flood recovery efforts at the State level maximize the opportunities for people to find and expand their entrepreneurial self-support spirit. We have an opportunity to create a lot of new microenterprises and small businesses as we get on with the challenges of rebuilding Iowa together."
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The SoyaWax Certification Mark certifies the highest quality soy wax formulated with specific traits for superior properties and performance in the candle making industry. |
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