Fayetteville Tech Firm Signs Deal To Produce ‘Eco-Friendly’ Pickup Bags For Pups
by March 12, 2015 12:32 pm 113 views
A tech firm that got its start at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park has signed an exclusive deal to produce a line of eco-friendly waste pickup bags for pet owners.
Nhiem Cao, president and CEO of cycleWood Solutions Inc., said the company’s trademarked Xylomer lignin technology will be used in the production of the new “Green Pups” line for the Bags on Board brand by Dallas-based The Bramton Company.
“Waste pick-up bags are a perfect application for our technology,” Cao said. “We are able to substitute a sustainable alternative in place of plastic without sacrificing performance.”
“Our partnership with cycleWood Solutions will allow us to provide affordable, environmentally sensible bags that also do the job they’re needed for,” added Matt Smith, vice president of marketing for The Bramton Company.
Company officials said the technology to create the puppy pickup bags is an organic byproduct from paper mills and biofuel plants, with a compostable material. The leak-proof and odor-controlling bags will be available in pet specialty stores this summer
Cao incorporated cycleWood Solutions with co-founder Kevin Oden in the fall of 2011, and they maintain an office at the Fayetteville tech. They are both graduates of the University of Arkansas, each holding a bachelor’s degree in engineering and a master of business administration.
They developed the business concept for cycleWood Solutions in 2011 with other M.B.A. students in the New Venture Development class taught by management professor Carol Reeves in the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the university.
The National Science Foundation awarded the company a $741,221 Phase II grant through the Small Business Innovation Research Program last fall, just a few months after cycleWood Solutions launched its first Xylobag consumer trash bags.
Bags on Board and cycleWood Solutions will donate a portion of all Green Pups sales to the Arbor Day Foundation to plant new trees, company officials said. The companies also have committed to help plant at least 5,000 new trees in the first year of sales of Green Pups.