U.S. Submergent Technologies of Sarasota, Florida, was founded in 2011 by a civil engineer with decades of experience in the water infrastructure industry. Established as an LLC to restore the capacity of wet infrastructure (pipes and tanks) using proprietary technology, US Submergent has, since then, revolutionized infrastructure maintenance of hard-to-clean environments, particularly wet surfaces at the bottom of infrastructures. The company had 17 employees and gross revenue of $3.5 million when it applied for GrowFL’s System for Integrated Growth program. US Submergent's standalone Combination3 cleaning system is powerful and versatile enough to remove accumulated sand and grit material from a variety of structures in submerged conditions including tanks, channels, pipes, and similar environments in multiple industries. They are capable of restoring capacity to both treatment and collection infrastructure; their method significantly reduces the need for confined space entry.
The CEO’s decades-long experience in the water infrastructure industry in both the private and public sector, as well as his engineering degree, provided the opportunity for the company to innovate infrastructure maintenance solutions in hard to clean environments. A capital-intensive operation, as they expanded their capital investments the need to find new markets and customers became pronounced. However, because US Submergent operates in a niche market, leadership needed assistance in securing highly specialized and detailed market data, as well as some guidance on how to expand effectively.
The Company turned to GrowFL, part of the FloridaMakes Network and the MEP National Network™, and engaged in the System for Integrated Growth (SIG) program. The SIG specialists gave them the necessary strategic market information to weigh the costs and benefits between acquiring a competitor or creating a new division. Additionally, as part of their SIG engagement, the specialists provided in-depth information on markets, competitors, and technologies, as well as HR best practices. After initially contemplating the acquisition of a select few target companies, US Submergent eventually opted to create a new Division with a more focused solution (predictive maintenance solution that provides complete visibility in full wastewater tanks). In addition, to broaden their market reach they started a new division, Sedivision, allowing them to have a greater presence in the state and be closer to their larger municipal clients.
Through GrowFL’s SIG program we were able to articulate clearly the relationship between clarity of job descriptions to our employees’ skills, knowledge and competencies thereby creating holistic focus, increases overall efficiencies and production output, which then increases our profitability and industry recognition. The acquisition target work was extremely helpful exercise which informed us that we were better off spinning off a new and specialized division to focus on our core strength for a narrower but more profitable market segment.
— Denver J. Stutler, Jr. , CEO
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