BY JOHN ECKBERG
The Cincinnati Enquirer
What's he supposed to do now?
Businessman Jay Mayer, a 47-year-old Mack resident, has what he thinks is a big moneymaking idea.
His product has patent protection through the University of Toronto -- an October 1997 patent that covers how structural integrity and strength can be infused to polymers and fibers from recycled products.
He thinks that a ready market awaits his OnSpec Composite building material made from scrap plastic mixed with waste sawdust and converted into deck boards. How could there not be a market?
Look at all those homes, all those backyard decks, all those docks across America.
"Every year, people have to wash, treat and stain their deck. With this product, you don't," he said. "There's about 3 million new decks put on houses each year. It's a large market."
He has a master's degree in business administration from Xavier University, a bachelor's degree in finance from the University of Cincinnati and a $100,000 extruder in a Hamilton warehouse. University degrees do not mean much at this point. He just wants to crank out joists and posts from recycled materials like milk bottles.
Nothing has been easy. Even finding the warehouse was a chore. "I went through every empty building in Hamilton," he said.
Mr. Mayer, involved in plastics sales or manufacturing for 26 years, developed a business plan with help from a development center at UC. His die was conceived with advice from the Edison Materials Technology Center-Manufacturing Extension in Dayton, but the price tag for development was $150,000.
"Prohibitive," he said.
The Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Sciences in Bond Hill offered low-cost space, but it was $6 more a square foot than the Hamilton warehouse. His company was turned down for loans twice by the Small Business Administration -- not that anybody is counting.
"The SBA felt it was too speculative," he said. "They said once I get it up and going, I can come back and they'd help me."
Once he gets it going? Why would he need help then, he wondered. He has no deep-pocket friends, has already put his house up for a second mortgage, and as summer closes in on autumn, Mr. Mayer is about out of options. Standing on the brink, Mr. Mayer calculates he is about $100,000 shy for his start-up.
"I went to the business modernization department in Indianapolis for a fund that invests in speculative businesses," he said. "I won't hear until November."
Despite the hurdles, the company has had some success: The Commercialization Technology Transfer Office at Ohio University in Athens built the extruder die. Even that came with a measure of scratch-my-back: "They have a software program they can sell if they can solve my production problem," he said.
He projects product price will compete with pressure-treated lumber, about $4.75 for an 8-foot-long 1-by-6-inch deck plank, but he can't be certain until after production begins. In the meantime, he is eating through savings and starting to load up on his Visa card. He finds comfort in one dynamic: Equipment bought in the past year has appreciated.
"I've been offered more money than what I bought it for. If I do fall on my face, at least I have that option."
John Eckberg covers small-business news for The Enquirer. Call him at 768-8386 or e-mail him at jeckberg@enquirer.com.
