Loading...
7.0. EDSR 02-09-2004 ITEM # 7. • City of Elk River MEMORANDUM Economic Development Authority p FROM: Heidi Steinmetz, Assistant Director of Economic Development DATE: February 9, 2004 SUBJECT: Business Incubator Update Attachments • Incubator Status Report, Harlan Jacobs,July 10, 2003 • "Bixby Energy Scouting Larger Space", The Business Journal, October 10, 2003 • Bixby Energy Systems Newsletter, The Bixby Blaze,January 2004 • • "Going to Great Lengths for Financing",NetSuds Monthly Report(virtual newsletter), January 1, 2004 • LapTwo Technology Web Site Issue Incubator consultant Harlan Jacobs will attend the EDA meeting to present his semi-annual Incubator Prospect Report. Mr.Jacob's July 2003 report is attached for your review. Bixby Energy Systems Update It was reported in The Business Journal last October that Bixby Energy was looking for space to expand. Bixby is currently leasing space in Rogers. Per staff's recent discussion with the company's broker,Bixby will soon be signing documents to lease the former Gen-X Sports Facility, a 208,000 square foot building in Anoka. It was also reported in Bixby's January newsletter that Bixby is considering building a plant in Southern Minnesota. Venture Capital Article The attached article, "Going to Great Lengths for Financing",reflects the recent lack of venture capital opportunities in Minnesota. Harlan Jacobs contributed to the article and Cymbet Corporation is mentioned. • S:\Eda\BUSNSINC\EDA Updates\2004\2-9-04.doc Business Incubator Update February 9,2004 Page 2 of 2 • LapTwo Technology Web Site Attached is the new web site of Incubator tenant LapTwo Technology. The site is located at www./aptwo.com. On the site's "History"page, a link is provided to the city's Economic Development web page. • Elk River Incubator Program Status Report: 10 July 2003 There's a Shortage of Seed Capital in the Land Most of the prospects that have been identified in the past three months are holding firm in their homes/garages until it is clear that they can raise sufficient equity capital with which to grow their businesses once they would move q Y into the incubator facility in Elk River. While not meant to complain, it must be recognized as a fact of the present economic and stock market cycles that the cupboard is bare at both the Anoka Sherburne County Capital Fund (ASCCF) and the Elk River Investment Club (ERIC). The entrepreneurial prospects understand this and some are not inclined to move-in or to seek approval for moving in until it is clear that they will receive a modicum of funding from these • two sources. The short run prospects for additional funding for each of these two groups is mixed. At the ASCCF, Mr. Roger Jensen, our dear friend and colleague, died suddently on the 30th of June after surgery for a brain tumor two weeks prior to his death. The ASCCF is in the process of seeking a replacement for Mr. Jensen and to continue his work of seeking new funding from the banks, utility companies, and the private investors that have expressed interest in either making a follow on investment or an initial investment. We have two solid new prospects for the incubator program at this time-both of which are not deterred by the lack of immediately available funding from these two sources: -Intellipatch, Inc. -Lap2, Inc. Intellipatch, Inc. has developed a pulse tracking wristwatch with a great number of additional capabilities to be deployed as funding permits. The CEO/Founder of the company is Mr. Mike Geatz. An executive summary of the company has p Y been forwarded to the Elk River EDA and to the ASCCF and to ERIC as well. This company only needs about $25,000 to get its molds ordered in the Far East. It is likely that they company will wish to enter the incubator program prior to the receipt of any funding commitments. Further, it is likely that the company will find one business angel quickly and then be ready for business. Lap2, Inc., is a new company founded by Mr. Rob Henningsgard who lives in Elk River. He was formerly with Cirus Controls,LLC of Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. And he also worked with Fast Technologies, a company that had offices in Elk River near the post office. Rob intends to focus his new business on the software that will be needed to use the technology that will shortly be made available commercially to consumers in the realm of the convergence of telephony/computers. Sprint and others will shortly be introducing mobile telephones that resemble personal digital assistants (PDAs) and possess a QWERTY keypad near the bottom of the telephone. In the future, these 'technology platforms'will remain underutilized until software is written and deployed to perform useful commercial transactions. At present, these applications cannot be disclosed in this report as they remain subject to invention disclosure documents for the patent application Sprocess. Suffice it to say that there are many things that people use cellphones for in Europe that no one in the US would imagine doing such as paying for a can of cola in a machine or paying traffic tolls or parking meters by pointing a mobile phone and pressing a button or entering a code or both. Other Prospects: Among the other prospects, Verdantes remains in the field of eligible prospects but is not ready to budge from the founder's home in Edina. Its business prospects continue to grow, yet, not to the point that venture capital will be attracted. S • ManageTheFarm remains a prospect. To help the company to get funding, we have introduced the company to Mr. Brian Sorbe of Alliance-Controls, a farm animal husbandry record keeping software company from a small community near Jackson,Minnesota in southwestern Minnesota. It is possible that Alliance-Controls will get funding from a group in Canada shortly and in turn might wish to propose a merger or joint venture with ManageTheFarm. The Elk River location would be good for the combined entity or the joint venture as it would need to be within the twin cities metropolitan area. Acera Biosciences is a prospect for the establishment of its operations in Elk River but not in the present incubator facility because it needs laboratory space and would have a large volume of water usage (that would upset the septic tank operations at the present incubator facility). We have helped to organize various meetings with Acera in order to help the company to agree to establish its operations in Elk River per se. The President of the company lives in Elk River so it has not been too hard a sell. However, his company is being courted by the Mayor of St. Paul and others that would like to draw companies like Acera (it is a licensee of the University of Minnesota) to their biotech incubator parks along the transitway between the Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses of the University of Minnesota. 41 TransMed a local company opeating out of the founder's garage in Elk River • remains a prospect for the incubator after it gets certain corporate transactions completed that are necessary for it to access the capital markets. We continue to monitor that situation. Respectfully submitted, Harlan T. Jacobs Genesis Business Centers, Ltd. 1110 S • • any of our expectations." --Members give the program good reviews T Insurers and employers consider disease because they are feeling better,Gold said."No ' l gi- , � c# awt management a most promising means to one likes to go to the hospital." curb steeply rising premiums and medical The program has achieved strong results klil faces ass tt# bills. That's because a small percentage of because it includes so many diseases, Gold patients account for a large percentage of said. Most programs only include a handful, F ,,:,:z.„--, ,,,,..„,,,,,._.....z...„_______ .., ; __;_�,_,,,,,� �, medical bills and keeping those people such as diabetes and heart disease, he said. ' " ' °'~~ healthy saves insurers and employers money. Blue Cross entered untested waters when it s ,,' 4110 The Blue Cross program strives to improve included conditions such as chronic back :. _ the care of patients suffering from one or pain."This was an experiment that is proving "" "' more of 20 chronic diseases,such as diabetes, to be true,"he said. communication heart disease,chronic back pain and asthma. , Of its 860,000 fully insured members, 130,000 ssmith@hi�joumals.com I(612)288-2107 r _ T • . .i d Bixby Energy scouting larger space -"-`, s) BY SAM BLACK i 'F.:: t _, � « STAFF REPORTER Rogers based Bixby Energy Systems Inc.is 16,000 square feet today.It is seeking a 50 Q : � fi x `.°" looking for a bigger home to accommodate square-foot headquarters i the northwestern s its growth. suburbs, and would like as much as 50,000 , :� I :::04,.'',The two-year company makes small square feet for future expansion. _ sn z .1� �_stoves that burn fuel pellets and shelled corn "I'm up to my rafters m people, Walker a!� � ;, for energy. said. .f,r ���� ' :. Bixby co-founder and president Bob Walker Bixby also manufacturers various types of -' . t t ,s,.�,sem ..� �� •11.'4,„,,,,-;_.1.-‘,-..,;_,,�..��*�r also is the founder of Plymouth-based bed biomass fuel pellets out of different materials. maker Select Comfort Corp. In 2004,Bixby will release its first central fur- He said Bixby's biomass stoves have been nate system for entire homes.The firm's prod- hot sellers lately because they offer cheaper ucts are sold through a national network of heat than electricity and gas. heating and fireplace stores and on the corn- , The fall 2002 product launch generated only pany's Web site. nominal sales for the company. This year, it Teresa Tschida, a broker at Rogers-based ,') F RA$.E R At Flint Hills Resources,. has received orders for about 6,000 stoves that Century 21 Christian Realty &Associates, is // _�?" ''"'"'••= honored to help childrer ak sell for$2,995 each,generating$18 million in assisting Bixby in its site search. their families by supporting the Music Ther 411. sales. program at Fraser.It's just one way we get to The 34-employee firm operates in only sblack@bizioumals.com 1(612)288-2103 energize our community and make life better foi .�� ...� �k�' '" °k � t 11:1-31-,',;:r,;., F- F:tte'� --,-;-,44,,,- xsrt 2004 .Second Edition January 17,ri0,---4,,i):„. ,. -":":1g;41,1i'''''41 'i.:1-311*-'11-'' - 1- 09.A:::',7;i4r: 2!:,,,.".',,il;;-!,1k,:',4i,,,4:::,-',i ,:::;:::At'll''''344 '-%-tr,-24iaT,'"''''t!:4-`-.,:2.',-I 4,. ';':*;';,11,1kt "‘"': '.",:i'l''');..,-,,,k,,,,,:''...4..,..4:-'z';,--;:','-v''''''' '' ,,,,,,,,wriv.:;,,,ka ' '' 4' l'';lity" :--- ",',' '" '.,(0'.`-'- lir ' ','4'°T. v„.,r,,,,'''',;;*;,,,":,,,F,Vir,s':4,'''''' ' ' ,,,,, „,,,us.:?..4:0:17,,,,,,--,z.. -•• r INSIDE THIS ISSUE: SOUTHERN MINNESOTA GIVES BIXBY ENERGY A WARM WELCOME Gas Prices Jump by Almost 50 Percent n Monday, De- - -.. '-� cember 15th` �s ��' �.. I, Bixby History and -,•44-''',V,- Contact Info Bixby President Bob Walker traveled to the _ NKEL note on city of Mankato in south ;w a;, , 5:j j ry ` Biomass ern Minnesota and spoke +.I to a group of state and ,eF" Crude Oillm orfs local politicians led by Rep II r p resentative Gil Gutknecht . Decline/Prices Go Up (Rep). Gutknecht has t k 4 Happy New Year from taken an active role in Con-'' ,r 'ixby Enemy gress in cosponsoring and supporting bills and initia - " lt, ' Comments from Bob fives that promote the use r * ,, of renewable energyre Walker ' sources and technologies, such as ethanol and other + forms of biomass energy. Bixby.President Bob Walker speaking to Representative Gil Gutknecht Among the other atten- (background)and a group of state and local officials in Mankato,Minnesota. deer were officials from the USDA's Rural Develop- rial generated by ethanol for the production of re ment Agency,the Farm plants can be used to newable fuel for the entire Service Agency,and the make biomass pellets for nation." Representative Faribault County Economic the Bixby system, locating Gutknecht also felt Development Authority. a pellet production plant strongly about the Bixby I t the meeting, Bob there would guarantee a technology: "This really is a Walker indicated steady, inexpensive supply the next chapter in produc- that there was of raw materials. Southern ing our own energy." roughly a fifty-fifty chance Minnesota also has an (Con ti�ued on page 3) i that Bixbyner S stems Y Energy Y extensive infrastructure of would begin construction railroad lines for moving of it's first pellet producing materials and finished a u- • plant somewhere in south- goods in and out. Eilxby ern Minnesota this coming he attendees of the � �rR , ,.;,e ., Spring. Southern Minne ' �¢ � sofa already has a strong ,.. presentation were Y g quick to offer their �� : Making Biomass Energy presence in the biomass support. "I feel real a Practical Alternative" '� �� industry,with several etha � no plants and other pro strongly about getting our ducers of renewable en- agency involved,"said '� �' Steve Wenzel of the USDA. � � ergy already located there. "I can see southern Minne- Because the waste mate- sofa becoming the center ,. ....,k . 1 Page 2 Second Edition NATURAL GAS PRICES JUMP BY ALMOST 50 PERCENT ccording to a Decem- rent natural gas pricing tion to see if there is any mar • ber 17th Associated trends. ket manipulation or price Press article,natural ;N he increase in natural gouging occurring. However, gas wholesale prices have gas prices has impli neither the Federal Energy climbed nearly 50 percent in ',. cations not only for Regulatory Oommission nor the first three weeks after the the home heating market, but the Commodity Futures Trad Thanksgiv also for our ing Commission,two organi ing holiday. nation's zations that closely monitor Previouslymarket- natural market,have this year, in reportedthe anygas evidence of any the Energy generaplacel. thing improper in the recent Information "At the spike in natural gas prices. Administra moment, ''- ccording to Energy tion had the price of ,i< Secretary Spencer estimated natural gas Abraham,weather that heat is serving has played a part in the price ing costs s , it is not for the av gleas largestthesin theincreaonlyefactor.but He further erage fam- brake on indicated that natural gas ily would be the U.S. —prices would continue to fluc $850 for economy," tuate if production were not • the heating according increased. season,but to Greg �r t is believed that the recent volatility and price Lebed.ev, president of the prices will stabi- jumps in the natural gas mar- American ChemistryCouncil.: « ketputs this number in jeop- lite after the • ...the price ofMany members of the ACC end of the heat- arrdy. The$850 figure already are part of the growing Indus ing season and , • represents a 6%increase trial sector that use natural return to their natural gas is over last season's heating s as a resource in makin 4� g previous levels, costs,and was based on as- other products,such as Pesti but in the short sumptions such as a normal cides and other chemical mi Serving as the winter and stable energy term the con compounds. sumer will have to costs. Priortothe recent Single largest natural gas price increase, i pinions on what has bear the burden. caused the price As American Gas 12; some experts had already , T T revised the 6 percent in increase are mixed. Association econo- brake on the U.S. crease to a 10 percent in Some members of Congress mist Paul Wilkinson crease,and even this number have already begun calling for stated it,"There's no » an investigation into the re- question...The prices today economy. - seems likely to rise given cur cent natural gas price infla- will get passed on." JLVeststS and otk e> friends Bixby Energy Systems was founded in f June of 2001 with the goal of`snaking are welcome to C�Bixby ,, biomass energya ractical alternative." + stun t a ' t Located in Rogers, MN, Bixby Energy time. r' is run b Robert Walker, the ounder a tr'''I'is':':':l:-;iZ y f f Fleas + oitct oii Select Comfort and inventor of the Sleep � ei" 1P�.d U BiI ? Number© bed Mr. Walker continues to a l his skills as a businessman Ii�tvesto>C , , 1© s, t 5OO 2g9O :or viae-i at 41111 and inventor in the development of ` Bixby Energy as a successful company. U2tt1n•w®bithye .e . o ,; 2 The Bixby Blaze Page 3 40 SOUTHERN MINNESOTA GIVES BIXBY ENERGY A WARM WELCOME (CONT) (Continued from page 1) ne means of as- Besides-being"a`pos sistance dis- silidehome_for a,_ ' s an incen- cussed was the ! Bixby Energy Sy's tive to granting of a large pellet"platifr locate amount of Fari'bault Zs also their plant in land, with li©me tc>�the Tilt a southern Min one proposed amiiseiment nesota,the city r location being in nark Ade. of Winnebago " direct proximity to an _ . go.. ..''-,,. '‘''Z has offered tw .• ethanol plant. This MplsiSt Paul i ion dollars would give the Bixby were tax incentives and in funds to as- ',.=i Biomass pellet plant government grants, as sist Bixby in the ManCcafn e.' easy access to it's well as many others. "dun md oft — ` " raw materials, For more information on Owatonna plant,and other `Nmne6aga while minimizing Representative Gil forms of assis- transportation Gutknecht and his stance tance and funding are in costs. Among other incen- on biomass energies, the works. tives and forms of assis- please visit his website at tance that were proposed www.house.gov/gutknecht. • •"The use of Biomass removed from the at- biomass feedstocks. 'The use of nergy has the poten- mosphere. The net The use of biomass tial to greatly reduce emission of carbon feedstocks can also biomass feedstocks our greenhouse gas dioxide will be zero as help increase profits emissions. Biomass long as plants con- for the agricultural can also hep generates about the tinue to be replen- industry."-(National same amount of car- fished for biomass en- Renewable Energy Labora- ZY6Creaseprofits Or bon dioxide as fossil ergy purposes. These tory 2003) f fuels, but every time a energy crops, such as To learn more about the the agricultural new plant grows, car- fast-growing trees and NREL,please visit their website at www.nrel.gov bon dioxide is actually grasses, are called industry. " CRUDE OIL IMPORTS DECLINE AS PRICES KEEP GOING UP .he nation's crude oil vey of industry low,there's inventories fell by 5.1 analysts per- no limit to million barrels in De- formed by the , what prices cember,to a December re- Dow Jones ( , can do." cord low of 272.8 million bar- New Service ., Sweet, light rels. The National Petroleum earlier this crude oil Council has defined anything year. futures for below 270 million barrels as he drop January •mg an indicator of low oil in were trading ipplies. This drop of 5.1 crude oil inventories as high as$33.77 a barrel at million barrels,or 1.8 percent, prompted New York energy this point,the highest they had was three times as much as broker Torn Bentz to corn- been this year since the start of what was expected by a sur- meet,"If inventories stay this the war in Iraq. 3 ,rifrt till ' ii:: fl4N ,T4� 9 .,_c-_ tr.„, .*,:.;:,:;:,,. : „:„ ,. „, _ -4. ,,„,,,,i,,, ;,::,,,,,r„,,,,t,,,_ __, t1,7„.,. , ,,, .F„,,1 TI! ' '1.-- 14' �.4 wa r 7�'T' €k �`' , .v� tt, "*I''''' �. +¢ AP, Z,l' r '''' ,,',: (4 , -;e4pA.''' ,, "' ''' .' AoH w*A --.*--". .- ; 1 . 0' "' "\' tr'. . ' ,ter ".*. n id9 61 e .1. nr alp" - .w.».."�"�' lit A. , sem_A A I ",,,:' —....,..— , Ar 07*# — 1 ' •' a ,._, , ry lAt ,";;" . — ,x P ':, JI ' .1 4* e aa SII. ; $44 ... r - + u 4'''''''.'!,,,, „,;',11470A1'' ” f w.7� w.r, . �Saf A ,ya ' �I sBr 4 LI ` »i "' ,�w , + t ��' 4�a�"" u: a 'xd0' `'. r•y�v }rtl :r `fi ' L�- s�e � -'47,:::...:". r zNs�' '.�L_ %60 6d 3 `^5a�� .5",�Lt� „.� ,531_a� _I'. ab.= -IL 2 L r >,F�'� Happy New year Frau+ sixt y �h¢rgy! Bixby Energy Systems COMMENTS FROM BOB WALKER 295 James Roadhe year 2004 in the market as the #1 demand 96,000 of those `.0.Box 7 promises to be unit avai• lable today. 250,000 Btu units which Rogers,MN 55374significant for ourcan provide them a 70% . 'e have been company. Oil &Natural working hard savings on their fuel Phone:763-428 1806 Gas prices have returned to develop sig- bills! Toll-free:l 877 500-2800 to record levels with •no nificant •relationships : mong our goals Fax:763-428-7903 indication that they will with leading ethanol pro- this year is to turn around in the near ducers. That work will provide informs- www.bixbyenergy.com future. (Oil went above bear significant fruit for tion to you on a steadier $34 a barrel and Natural us this year as we move as well as more compre- Gas is over$7.27 per towards the residential hensive basis. While 1000 cubic feet. The last furnace market. proud of what we were time we saw prices like e are in the able to accomplish in this was just days before " early stages of 2003, we believe that we the invasion of Iraq.) development could have done better. w. ustomers have with one of the largest a appreciate told us that our Turkey producers in the k 4 the continued Bixby Corn Stove United States to provide Pe "S.�r support and 6 provides heat like no a furnace with significant enthusiasm that we have other stove on the mar- savings to their energy enjoyed from you, our ket. Although we had bill. It's an organization shareholders.This year, some first-production with 12,000 turkey build- as we begin our major Bixby- issues(software adjust- ings 60' x 600' in size, development push,you ment,feeder wheel call- utilizing 2,000 Btu of will begin to see your „_� ' .t'.ST�`.� brating, etc.) requiring heat(That's eight company evolve as a ma- tweaking to get it right, 250,000 Btu furnaces jor player in the alterna- "Making Biomass Energy we now have a unit that per building!) This pro- tive energy market. a Practical Alternative" is ready to take its place ject has the potential to 4 The NetSudsTM Report The January 1, 2004 Issue: 7.0 Going to Great Lengths for Financing by Matt Noah with contributions from NetSudser6rlan Jacobs, TedGenesis@aol.com Cima Nanotech recently concluded a venture round with Japanese investors. Now that's great news for its shareholders, its management team, and the various other stakeholders in the company.The other side of the story, often ignored in the mainstream media, is the curious and problematic lack of local interest from the local venture capital community in companies like Cima Nanotech. "Local venture capital companies have not been supportive of the early stage high tech companies in general and have not been supportive of the materials sciences companies in particular", said Harlan Jacobs of Genesis Business Centers (a Minnesota based high tech incubator/seed capital program for start up companies). Jacobs sed know ash was responsible for the critical introductions that led to the financing o Cymbet Corporatio ($4.5 million from Finnish and Israeli investors) and Cima Nanotech (a merger with an Israeli company that led to the Japanese financing). Both of these companies are involved in the commercialization of advanced materials. Cymbet makes state of the art lithium ion polymer batteries while Cima Nanotech makes nano-metal particles for conductive inks that are used in printing smart cards and sophisticated electronic circuitry. • The problem locally here in Minnesota is that no one has ever made significant sums of money in the field of advanced materials.Without a precedent, it's hard to mobilize the institutional sources of venture capital here. Comparable to the herd instinct that is all too common and well understood when the excesses of Wall Street are chronicled in newspapers and magazines, there is a herd instinct at work here in Minnesota in respect of how venture capital is invested. Whenever venture funds have made money investing in implantable medical devices such as heart valves and pacemakers, money tends to flow into these same fields with relative ease over and over again over the last two decades. The same can be said for servers and storage devices as well as software and systems in the information technology field. Sadly, no one has made significant capital gains in materials sciences or biotech or bioinformatics and any number of other fields in which centers of excellence exist right here in Minnesota. What's lacking are the comparable centers of excellence with respect to the formation and allocation of early stage risk capital. In the case of both Cymbet and Cima, Genesis helped with the initial funding by organizing bridge loans that provide warrants and attractive conversion features to the early stage investors. The investment funds in both of these cases were largely provided by business angels and in both cases one of the first olives out of the jar was the Anoka Sherburne County Capital Fund and Anoka Investors,LLC (a business angel group). Genesis further assisted with introductions to institutional investors in Finland and Israel where the venture fund managers have no problem investing from a distance of four to six thousand miles. This is a refreshing contrast to the typical west coast venture capital fund that makes a point of insisting that it will not invest in a company that is more than a one hour drive away from its office • on Sand Hill Road in Palo Alto. It's also encouraging that these foreign based funds made their investment despite the lack of a local lead investor here in Minnesota. • Until such time as the local venture capital funds get more funds under management and regain their nerve especially in respect of making investments in uncharted territories such as biotech and materials sciences,the local companies here in Minnesota are at a growing risk of having to take flight to the west coast. Recently, FireVue received funding from Sequoia Capital and announced its decision to move to California.That's a good number of taxpayers that won't be here to help pay for the roads and services that the rest of us will have to fund. When will this change?When the limited partners in the local funds read about the ones that got away and either change the charter or change the management teams at these local venture capital funds,then capital will again flow to start up companies here in Minnesota. Until that happens, we'll just have to cobble together the resources that business angels and community based seed capital programs provide along with a few good overseas institutional investors. i r Welcome to LapTwo Technology Corporation Page 1 of 1 1 l + me to lap two technology interactive ",_:.: . tig , * ',' ''. lfr"!*"/ ,IC '-, '''' ,,,v Ihr can takes, tory'• >Home History Technologies Capata+iaties Customers Contactctt New Welcome to the web home o LapTwo Highlights Redabc1 ,1 t ,t r � ,r...t ��` Technology Corporation . Since 1976, our yew b cis , r, v���# e,: i.= staff has been creating software, electronic, hti u8tz So 1.L E,ss trd# nlr<sa 3ca r� Pelrieta 'd mechanical optical, and process , atwz c�aF !r„„E�r,,n sa t� E. alp secu eack r lrzgy \ technologies in fields from manufacturing tct prtl� � d ,, health care. °u, n .,n : F l z ;_B We have solved problems, developed € flf technologies, created products, and provided I-” , 24x7 su ort for customers in over 46 t 1�,.: , A 7 tma s t L sl z.^d i:§ pp i.9 , 3,:` i--tits c: countries. Our customer list includes IBM, AT&T, Fairchild, Boeing, Texas Instruments, Kyocera, Lucent, Bell Labs, Hewlett-Packard, we've devetooed and patented' MIT Lincoln Laboratories, and hundreds of i A r ,3,54i taecier r e rtsbotii smaller companies. manufact}ursrg machines far the cutting tool industry. Whatever custom technology Your company needs, if you need the highest quality results, then we should talk. LapTwo stands ready to analyze your needs, propose cost-effective designs, and deliver excellent engineering C 2004 LapTwo Technology Corporation. solutions and top-notch support. 16820 Highway 10,Suite 130 Elk River,Minnesota 55330 +1-736-633-9434 All rights reserved home I history technologies I capabilities l customers I contact • 2/2/2004 http://www.laptwo.com/index.htm N c+-1 O O O N N N to N cd a • Z:13 >) L o ' ° o a) a LL _ cs Eis a) ca a) : o vs o � o v C 0E C 0 ay ,_ 0 O C!) cr) 0 U O O o E T3 0 U) C) C) ' ate) e3 178 a) •Q Cf) ( n > 0 d 1111 0 > C C.T3 a) a LL1 a) C Cl co 0. C C 2 C& O ® � N "- (TsO C W at Ca.. ' C1. a) "LJ a) O7 O Q) .- rri J Oca a) _ O O _at >e � > ,.; O Q) w-. a) - =p X a) C c c o '5 C CC$ a) Y oC - a) . .-- '> C- a) E -c O "t7 a) CCS •s,... C . "'° ct7 l Y s_ 0, a) = _ U Cl C� > 5 C2 C) ca 0 C1 O CCS , ?� O 4n a) ca G) \� i30 .® +� O {ta Ca i Q) a3 E X 1.- C U (0 _c a) i "' C a) ad'o OCi C al O x tai > C Ca > O rn ° a).„.. cr) a) - o -" o) ...jo > C ; ccd fr) E CD >, --CO) cE o L) •- O O O Q 0 . C) a) . ra < >" 0 K- > 1.-,,c,-- O U - Eo0 � cooca > ot-, a) -o ° ° . C2. N0_ -rs : -��-' Q2 CO3 ° .8t) C35 s.,-Q --' 0 C O a) (a O a) .0 '.?+ us O .S > O- C •9 a) C co CO3 O C C 0) - :-)>".-9!' a o � 0 LJ a) = o) 0 -5 .2 C:sa> > ,> fn en � ueaa) otos ° ca res . on o a) > .U) )< -0 a) >, I- -0 a) 0 co `" c C Z5) O CJ O a) "- - 17) C~ '? E C • r- C C 1-- '- CHCS q) C Cl CO a-. > i C1J C -CI °+ C ®' C33 Ck CZ Ci3 CCS .,�. �" CCS a.Q ..Oco O 0. C '�>`s Cell 01:11 t O C)0 0 O •C al ® ®. - w. O)®,I a) C > Ch O a) 0 'co i O Via' v - •C? U CO U >; CD o> ca tt1 O >, N U ,, ca 0 o Ca '" U) O CJ 4a CL o a) .*.^' C '+- 'O a)- >. C:. . a) ca O C J ate) - .c o Ct3 CCi ,- v a) (' C VOO T3 O ? C1.. ( C U Q, = -. o, 0oo08) 0 cs o cu 's0enoE "-' EE) •v, ,-, U) •'' civ >, O O Ct) >, C . C L` �-° ai x O} Qom) {O3 2. ' O O ca 0 0 Q) C Ca o ,t, o cn � c o o o a) a cn d a) cv .- ° -c=..- oo a) ° = 0 E ° .- E.' 0 t U :- 0 -3 C_cy U E C3 _ a) a) a) Cl`=5 i CJ -C... C) .- C1. O 0 cco E t S C C a) y . C -2 o C E -.e a) a) )., a) of a) � = UC a) > aCoa :_ csarae� caa 0 -c 0a) o a -c o cQ = a) Q) C a x C x E O = F- : u_ h- o o h- .. Ca.. a) �.. a) a) a) ._ co { ca C3 O t� h- �i s) {- r ' ci +, $ R -ani r3 3 0, � zf '� c,a , O „, .2-s a w : Eu ¢ Lap Two Technologies Page 1 of 2 ,Lap Two's Technologies . it: g _toy_ Strong Home His ory ;:Tec hi�oVo ies p b, ti G s�a�r��ers csr tec LapTwo's staff is fluent in a wide range of technologies . Windows software development o Borland Delphi o Microsoft Visual Studio o Pascal 000 C o Visual Basic o x86 Assembly Language * microprocessor software development o 80x86/Pentium o Rabbit 2000 o Rabbit 3000 o 68HC11 o Z-80/8051 /8085 + CAD/CAM software development o 2D and 3D mechanical CAD system development • 0 cutter path simulation systems o Automated and user-aided CNC programming systems o real-time CNC translation systems + CNC manufacturing machinery o printed circuit driller/routers o Hitachi laser drillers o Behrens &Wiedematic punch presses 0 Hurco/Bridgeport mills Industrial robotic system development O Seiko/Epson o GMF/Fanuc mathematical/algorithmic method development 0 '"Traveling salesman" path optimization 0bit map image processing &vectarization O boilerplate cutter nesting This is a partial listing. In each case, we have developed custom products and systems in the named area or applied the named technologies to projects. • http://www.laptwo.com/Technology.htm 2/2/2004 N O N .-1 N N 0 tQ N al a • c us O a) 0)-•-,- 0 0 -cs -: ; '> cc .0a 5 a3 0 to 0 0 Cts 5,- O > H 0� c se O s CU 0a f L .76 E to N 0- "ash -0 Ca ci, 0 sic = a o eaa � aa o O � ° C.o as 0-Z,,:_- a o o c'" ZS as ca a) < o � ° Y � 0 0) c)„ C� cts c� c p ? a .0 CD () 00 srya to (.) qE.� aJ �. – _C: 0 0 O '�3 i. ,,,,.,0Q o (.5 CD > 0E E05o0 .cn voai o TO C? 0 CU i 0 E Ul ..c To C53 C) U ° n_ a' ca -0 . a> EE0 'o � o - s SI' — aa CD o ,.., u� U, a a � c D I, > a) a} 0 `0 J cc- a? 9 O -° aJ 0 co `ay ; Lap Two Customers Page 1 of 2 >Lap Two Customers I 4' I 4441WO t Latest Customers Home History TechrLologies Capabrilties ,LLCustomers Contact Ra o (../e„,Led rLow barcodo teeedirLy Lecnnoloow A partial customer reference list... . F ' NI1rnrSO 0,14Iude she 416. data cooLo L t,Ln 14% • Additive Solutions • Advance Circuits Incorporated =, ,, 1 • AT&T . a Boeing Capitol Reproductions n ;L I „ , L , • Cirus Controls, LLC • Excellon Automation • Hewlett-Packard We've daLi&opeci and patented- (15655,35-4) special—purpose robotic • International Business Machines manufacturing- machines for the • Kyocera/Tycom cutting tool industry= • Massachusetts Institute of Technology/Lincoln Labs • Neutron Solutions • Phoenix Precision Technologies • Sanmina • Siemens • • Strato Reprographics • Tyco • Viasystems • Zuken • http://www.laptwo.com/Customers.htm 2/2/2004 N 0 O 0 O N N N bA N cd • a> E al 2 ( u1 h.. B iii a)} U LI1 E c wyq- O a) . o ai 0a) a c 2 O _ 45 co O g } 0 c a t1 > ;` O c3 Ell (7) O t- W a7 G) O0 a3 ,c O O c " O .' y, O ,c. I°- Z3 N O Ct3 c 7 itJ 4. II .c.c LL 1.0 O O cc ac„,) -c 1'` '0 C 1- 537 i.: t7? ", C4! .- al OC D Y, O' O al 1 } OCf3ds U ci} 1- N1 N9`- ® N c O ¢- C. - Oco Y CDC O U 7 C O. L L1N11.1 (n (nWU Q h '''il: 4Z** Fi E 0 U 1=1- ai cd .€3m a 14"im ) a'''''' ".„ ;- O U ..