Canadians show interest in WastAway process
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Two of the most recent supporters to come view the process is a father-daughter team from our sister nation in the north, Canada. Tom and Patricia McConkey have formed a company called WastAway Services (Canada) to market the system to various governments and municipalities across the country.
Patricia lives in Edmonton, Alberta while Tom is from White Rock, B.C. This is Tom’s second trip to Tennessee to view the process, and Patricia’s first. Tom found out about WastAway after meeting BouldinCorp CEO and president Floyd Bouldin and vice president Bob Brown at the Far West Nursery Show in Portland, Ore. After discussing the process, Tom and two of his brothers came down to view the system.
“We came down, saw it, and talked to people in our family and just decided, if we could convince Floyd, we wanted to bring this product up to Canada,” Tom said.
Bouldin obviously felt this entrepreneurial family had much to offer and agreed to work with them to expand the business into Canada. Tom said the group is already working to spread the word about WastAway. Daughter Patricia has just gotten on board, but feels the system has a lot to offer. She had previously been involved in selling water treatment plants, and said the knowledge gained from that should be a benefit in marketing WastAway.
“I’m familiar with a lot of the environmental laws and how to deal with municipalities,” Patricia said. “So that fits very well with this business.”
Patricia also feels her familiarity with another aspect of Canadian business will be an advantage.
“In Canada we have public-private partnerships,” Patricia said, “called P-3s which is where a local or provincial government will get involved with a private business, and the two will work together to produce anything from a bridge, to a garbage processing plant.”
The company plans to market the system first in Vancouver, B.C., but also has representatives currently making a presentation in Toronto.
Like most industrialized nations, Canada is interested in recycling. According to the Patricia, that aspect of the WastAway system will be an effective selling point.
“Environmental concerns are big, I think, everywhere,” Patricia said. “And this is such a good product to help the environment.”
A WastAway system will cost around $8 million Canadian for equipment to run two lines, with building and incidental equipment extra, according to the McConkeys.
BouldinCorp vice president Bob Brown said he is pleased to see WastAway moving into the north.
“We’re very excited about it,” Brown said, “because we’re aware the Canadians are a bit more aware of the environment, or maybe started working on it earlier than we did in the U.S., and we would like very much to expand into that area.”