May 1999
The Business Journal
by Burt Bertollio

Central Valley inventors group helps budding entrepreneurs

Have a blazing idea for the perfect widget, but don't know how to start down
the marketing path? There is local help for budding inventors.

The Central Valley Inventors' Association, or CVIA, located in Manteca, was
created to help local inventors share their ideas and bring their inventions
to market. The non-profit organization was started in 1992 by Ann and John
Christensen, inventors themselves, who saw the community's need for a group
to help developing entrepreneurs.

Advertisements for organizations claiming to help inventors are common on
television and radio. The ads appeal to our sense of inventions, perhaps
even to our greed. A beginning inventor, or even just a layperson with an
idea, can be tempted to call one of the 1-800 numbers advertised so widely.
That would be a big mistake, according to John Christensen.

"Unfortunately, it is a mistake thousands of hopeful inventors have made in
the past." Part of CVIA's reason for being came about in order to combat
fraudulent companies that prey on men and women with ideas. They (the
fraudulent companies) start off asking for a few hundred dollars, and work
their way up to the thousands. By that time, most inventors can't afford to
continue, so they voluntarily give up. This may be legal, but it is
definitely not ethical. We have already been part of driving one of these
businesses out of the Valley," he declares.

CVIA meets the second Saturday of every month (except December) at the
Manteca Public Library and is open to the public. Meetings are mostly
focused around a guest speaker, but may also be brainstorming sessions. One
of the most important functions of the brainstorming meetings is to serve as
a sounding board for members' ideas in a safe environment of members who
have signed a non-disclosure form.

According to Christensen, "We keep our members on track with their ideas.
They can learn from mistakes and successes of others in the group and in the
community. Our members help each other achieve."

Ten years ago, John and Ann started Christensen Designs in Manteca. They
specialize in non-obtrusive cameras designed to film wildlife in their
natural habitats. Their inventions range from a camera mounted on a 50-foot
telescoping pole, designed to monitor treetop nests, to an underground
crawling camera that is able to go deep into the dens of burrowing animals.
They also [add value-added design to] a virtual reality-type monitor that
allows the user hands-free operation of the cameras.

"These inventions started from a love of animals and the environment,"
according to the Christensens, "but lately even security and law enforcement
firms have begun ordering our products."

In a recent meeting the guest speaker was Ben Ridge, who presented a way to
mold plastics, urethanes, silicone, and even pewter cheaply at home using
silicone molds. Ridge is a university graduate in plastic and metal
technologies, a former injection molding plant manager, and a vocational
plastics instructor. Many of his former students are responsible for the
special effects in the movies "RoboCop," "RoboCop II," "RoboCopy III,"
"Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," "Dragon Heart," and "Starship Troopers."

Ridge demonstrated the method of injection molding that allowed him to
successfully bring one of his inventions to market and start his own
business. His first product, a rifle butt-mounted device designed to improve
accuracy, was sold to a major gun manufacturer and has grossed him close to
a million dollars to date. Ridge showed how an inventor could produce a
marketable product literally in his or her garage with a minimum investment.

"You could produce a dozen examples of your idea," explains Ridge, "and
bring them to a meeting with a potential buyer. When you get the order you
could take it to the bank and get a loan for the mass production of their
order." He says many inventors make the mistake of producing a large amount
of their product, involving a huge investment in tooling and production.
Then they are faced with trying to sell this large inventory, before even
determining a market for the product. He advises "it is much more effective
to sell your idea before you produce. This method of molding allows you to
do exactly that, for a fraction of the cost of complete tooling and
machining."

Another presentation was by a group member, Barbara Arnold, a Modesto
inventor. Arnold's product, "Change-A-Robe" has been featured on Baywatch.
"Change-A-Robe" is a garment that can be worn on the beach, or on-set, and
allows the wearer to change clothes easily and discreetly.

"I actually thought up the idea on the beach in Monterey. I noticed signs
all throughout the parking lot and beach forbidding changing of clothes. All
of these poor surfers and scuba divers had no place to change out of their
wetsuits."

Arnold was fresh from one of her many television appearances, this time on
the "Sally Jesse Raphael" show. There she presented her products to a
national audience. "Change-A-Robe has spawned other successful products,
including "Handi-Robe" that can be used from a wheelchair. Arnold, true to
the ideals of CVIA, is currently helping produce products for one of her
fellow beginning inventors.

At any meeting of CVIA, one can witness dozens of great ideas just looking
for direction and a market. One inventor, Doug Rigney, drives from Contra
Costa County in order to attend meetings.

"There doesn't seem to be support for people like me in Contra Costa,"
states Rigney. "I would like to be a resident in your (San
Joaquin/Stanislaus) area. I also had the help of another CVIA member in
making the tooling for my invention."

Rigney's invention, the "Book Mark 'r' Caddie" was developed from an idea he
had while riding BART. "I noticed all of these students fumbling for
highlighters and pens while trying to hold a book and study. This started me
brainstorming for a product I could design to place the pens at easy reach."

The "Book Mark 'r' Caddie" clips to the back of a book or binder and has a
space for markers, pens and stick-em notepads. Rigney is at the point of
trying to bring his idea to market.

Dennis Metzger, co-inventor of the Chilipepper appliance device, is on tap
for an upcoming meeting. The Stockton-based HWS (Hot Water Saver) Ltd.
produces an under-the-sink device that speeds the delivery of hot water to a
kitchen, bathroom or shower while conserving cold water typically flushed
out of the hot water pipes.

CVIA can be reached at (209) 239-8090.