Columbia Falls company earns top honors
A Columbia Falls company earned top honors from Frost and Sullivan, a growth consulting firm that honors best business practices throughout the world, during a industry trade show in Germany.
ViZn Energy Systems received the 2014 North America Frost and Sullivan Entrepreneurial Company of the Year Award in September. The award acknowledged the company’s efforts to provide efficient, safe and reliable services in the renewable energy sector.
ViZn specializes in energy storage batteries and developed what it considers the world’s first cost-effective alkaline-based flow battery. The technology used in the battery ensures the optimum storage of energy.
“We are able take out fluctuations in the energy,” Vice President of Finance and Investor Relations Kevin Waldher said during the Columbia Falls Chamber of Commerce monthly Economic Development meeting. “Instead of the flow of energy cycling up and down throughout the day, we’re able to keep it as a steady stream.”
When the energy flows from the battery in a steady stream, there is no waste and the battery is guaranteed a life span of 20 years.
According to Waldher, most companies can only guarantee their battery life for eight or 10 years due to uncontrollable fluctuations, which doesn’t account for activities, such as discharging several times a day, that wear the battery down quicker.
ViZn builds high-powered batteries and energy storage systems for utility operators and thin-grids that have a significant renewable energy production component. Its main markets are outside the United States, especially island countries.
This year marked the first time the trade show added a batteries category to its awards. Judges looked at companies’ safety, operating range and cost and in all three categories, ViZn stood out above the rest.
“We were competing against billion-dollar companies, and we stood out,” Waldher said. “It’s always nice to get that third-party validation.”
Waldher attributes the company’s success to its small-business roots and ability to quickly innovate.
The company is headquartered on U.S. 2 between Columbia Falls and Kalispell and employs 44 people across the country. It was founded in 2009, with eight years of extensive research prior to the founding.
The award-winning battery, the Zinc Redox Flow Battery, is designed with a water-based, two-phase flow system that consists of a zinc electrode and an iron redox counter electrode. Because the battery is made with zinc and iron, it is safer and less susceptible to fire. The system can be completely shut down in under 15 seconds, drastically lowering operational risks.
In the future, Waldher predicts that energy sources will be moved closer and closer to residential areas because of high demands. Because of this, safety is a huge factor for the company.
Fueled by its recent success, the company has plans to continue to grow and expand.
“This market is big, and we have the ability to be a billion-dollar company at some point,” Waldher said. “We started slow, but we’re building a really quality team that will work well on a larger scale.”
The next step will be to hire software designers who can further the company’s current design, Waldher said. ViZn also will consider building a larger warehouse and operating center.
Even though the industry is large and very competitive, Waldher said the company is not worried about copycats or other businesses attempting to re-create its technologies.
“If you’re successful and innovative ahead of everyone else in the industry, you’re going to be able to protect yourself,” he said. “You want competitors to push innovation forward.”
Reporter Brianna Loper may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at bloper@dailyinterlake.com.