Inside Track: 'Cleantech Open' goes to Eden Prairie engineering firm

Ron Rich, CEO of Atmosphere Recovery of Eden Prairie, is a veteran aerospace and environmental engineer who has spent 14 years trying to make manufacturing more efficient.

Earlier this month, the six-person company was named the national winner of the Cleantech Open competition among nearly 300 entrants from 30 states.

Rich's company will receive $250,000 in cash and business.

"Atmosphere Recovery's win is impressive," said Justin Kaster, an investment banker at Cherry Tree and regional director of the North Central Cleantech Open. "The Cleantech 'accelerator' program will help Atmosphere Recovery focus on their core business and competitive strengths."

Rich said he's already getting calls from prospective customers.

"We're really grateful for all the national connections and funding -- anything that can help us grow," Rich said.

The company began as a research project in 1994, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and Dana Corp., the auto parts manufacturer. The goal was to save energy, reuse combustion gases and reduce emissions.

Atmosphere Recovery will post about $1.3 million in revenue this year from the sale of units that cost $50,000 to $150,000.

"We've been growing as an analyzer company," Rich said. "Most of the technology industry uses is 40 years old. This is higher-speed, measures more gases and does it all with one automated detector that is much more rugged and represents a lower cost of ownership. It just runs."

A decade ago, entrepreneur Jamin Arvig and his wife started an e-commerce business in their apartment while both were students at the University of Minnesota.

The business, WaterFilters.net, is now a fast-growing online retailer of dozens of residential and commercial water-filtration products that expects to top $20 million in sales this year from a 30-employee distribution center and headquarters in Zumbrota, Minn.

"E-commerce was a growing thing, my wife and I both had some understanding of programming, and the Internet and clean water is a growing need," Arvig said. "The Internet allowed us to create a water-filtration superstore on the Web."

By contrast, the most generous public companies in Minnesota typically donate 2 to 5 percent of pretax profits to charity.

"It's very important to us, and we want to make a difference in providing an essential product wherever it is needed, regardless whether somebody can afford to pay," Arvig said. "Our preferred partner is www.charitywater.org, which uses almost 100 percent of donations to implement [small scale] water projects in developing areas. Some of these people walk hours to get impure water. We focus on bringing filtered and pure water to them."

Arvig said the projects must also be locally maintained and accessible for all who need the water.

"The most compelling part of the story is simply that our donation of $10,000 [over the last couple weeks] will provide water for a village of 500 people," Arvig said.

Bloomington-based communications firm Himle Horner officially changes its name to Himle Rapp & Co. on Monday and hangs its shingle at the Accenture Tower in downtown Minneapolis.

John Himle, a former Republican legislator, was the founding partner of Himle Horner in 1989. Rapp, a DFLer, has also been president of the Minnesota Taxpayers Association.