H2O Tech Offers Holistic Solutions to Water Treatment Challenges Worldwide
Solutions to problems. That’s what the folks at H2O Technical Services, Inc. give their clients faced with water-quality challenges.
The Springfield-based company offers integrated water treatment services to a roster of national and international firms, which cover such industries as animal and crop processing, power utilities, high-tech, municipal water-treatment and manufacturing.
“When you focus on results and solutions rather than selling products, it’s essential to provide all the necessary tools to solve a problem,” says Scott Frazier, president and co-founder of H2O Tech.
His company applies unique combinations of chemical and biological solutions to solve the most complex water and wastewater problems. For each of his client’s unique water-quality problems Frazier will send a team of research scientists and technicians to the site. They work with their client to improve productivity, reduce costs and waste, and meet the strictest compliance requirements.
“As our company has grown, more valued-added components have been added to our core business,” says Frazier, who co-founded the company with his wife, Kala Frazier, in 2000. “This makes H2O a value-added firm to the end user who often needs a solution and not a product.”
However, sometimes the problem solvers have a problem of their own. A couple of years ago Frazier needed to restructure H2O Tech’s debt in order to refine and expand the company’s service capabilities.
Before applying for a loan Frazier got some advice from Doug Page, loan officer at Empire Bank. Page suggested that Frazier get help with the application process from
the business counseling experts at the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) on the Missouri State University campus.
So, Frazier got in touch with Rayanna Anderson, assistant director at the MSU SBDC, which is part of the Columbia-based Missouri SBDCs and affiliated with the University of Missouri Extension business development program.
Frazier found the application process extensive and time-consuming. Anderson helped H2O Tech organize and streamline it.
“Rayanna helped me adhere to a timeline in getting the application to fruition,” recalls Frazier. “She also knew what would help in making our application look stronger.”
“By taking time to understand our business goals…Rayanna knew more about what H2O needed in a loan package than I did. This is where most loan applications fail. You have to know what you need, before you can ask for it.”
Ultimately Anderson’s efforts helped the water-solution firm find the right solution to its financial challenges. H2O Tech addressed its debt restructuring issue, secured a $1 million SBA-backed loan and eventually added five new positions to its then-16-person staff.
“When we finally received our loan, Doug Page told me this was the first loan package he had ever received that was perfect the first time,” says Frazier. “I just assumed this is how they all work but ultimately realized what Rayanna had meant to the process.”
The moral to the story: the problem solvers at H2O Tech found the solution to their problem at the MSU SBDC. And Frazier, a 1991 graduate of Southwest Missouri
State University (as MSU was then called), has a final observation about what he learned from Rayanna and the SBDC: “It’s more than a place to park illegally when you need to get to class.”
Because of H2O’s continuing business success, Scott Frazier will represent the SBDC at the second annual Client Showcase and Legislative Breakfast Thursday, Feb. 9, in the State Capitol Rotunda in Jefferson City.
At that event hosted by MO SBDC, Frazier and representatives from more than a dozen other outstanding Missouri companies will meet with legislators to discuss their products and services. They also will be recognized for their contributions to the economic development of the state of Missouri. Recognition from MO SBDC will be accompanied by legislative resolutions presented by each company’s district state senator and state representative.
For more information on the services of the MO SBDC program, call the Center at 417-836-5685 or visit the web site www.sbdc.missouristate.edu.
###
2/2/06/pal |
|
