Many companies struggle with developing new products. Not Comtech Industries, a regional company known for its innovative above-ground water storage tanks that treat flowback water in the extraction of natural gas.
So, what’s the secret ingredient? President and CEO Dean Grose points to a defined culture.
“We have core values and core business principles that we look for in each and every associate when we go through the hiring process, and when we on-board that associate,” he says.
The company is very selective. It puts candidates through numerous interviews to make sure everyone agrees that what they want reflected in that individual actually exists.
Otherwise it’s not going to be a good fit.
For instance, all of the employees recently completed personality profile tests.
“They came back and the lady said, ‘We’ve been doing this for 29 years and I’ve never seen a company like yours. You have more Type A personalities than any company I’ve ever surveyed,’” Grose says.
“She said ‘It’s a wonder the place hasn’t burned to the ground.’”
Grose says when you think of companies like Apple and Google, you think of whom they would hire. Comtech is the same way, on a much smaller scale.
“Every company has their own different culture and mindset, so we try to hire for our culture and mindset as well,” he says.
Here’s how the 120-employee company is serving the oil and natural gas and industrial industries through innovative products.
Finding solutions that don’t yet exist
Once you put the right people in place, innovation can start at the top and filter down, thanks to a strong leadership platform. The employees need to know they can take a chance and fail — without repercussions like getting fired or taking a pay cut.
And at the same time, Grose says you should value ideas that come up from the bottom. When he makes field visits, he constantly asks: “How can I help you? What would you do different? What do you think the customer wants?”
“Rather than providing solutions like one, two or three, we’re constantly looking for the solutions that people don’t even know exist, like four, five and six,” Grose says. “And we get that by everybody keeping their eyes open.”
Grose uses his life experiences with different products to generate ideas. When he worked for Nalco Chemical, he learned how steel is made, how paper is made, how chemicals are made and even how plastic wrap is made.
A good idea, however, needs to be executed properly in order to commercialize it. And that again comes back to surrounding yourself with the right talent who can continue to improve it, he says.
Comtech’s 1-million gallon tanks used to take 60 days to build. Now, with a new piece of equipment developed in collaboration with a long-standing corporate partner, Grose says Comtech can produce a tank in two days. The tank is actually installed on-site over another four days.
It’s a good practice to always invest in business development and the other pieces you need for executing and selling the idea.
Grose says in retrospect, Comtech was so busy innovating and deploying unique assets that he didn’t keep the pipeline going, as he should have.
