|
Overview Statistics from several private & public agencies confirm that water safety in the U.S. is not at acceptable levels. A survey coordinated by The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) estimates that 41% of wells in this country may be contaminated with coliform bacteria. CDC estimates one million people become sick each year in the U.S. from consuming contaminated water. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has warned people with low immunity about the dangers of tap water. Their statistics show 53 million Americans have consumed polluted water. The EPA estimates that more than 40 million people in the U.S. use water that contains harmful levels of lead. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, 40% of municipal water suppliers have violated federal standards, causing 50 million Americans to use improperly treated or contaminated water. Water treatment facilities fail to detect harmful bacteria up to 15% of the time, & there are 150,000 violations of the Safe Water Drinking Act every year. In fact, it was disclosed in the July 1997 issue of Consumers Reports that the head of the EPA stated, "Unfortunately, at this time, we cannot take for granted the safety of our drinking water." History VLPI, incorporated in 1990 in NC, had its IPO 4/92. It manufactured & distributed two proprietary drinking water programs: The Drinking Water MachineTM (first in-store water bottling program), & The Raindrop ShoppeTM (in-store water vending). The company began installing self-serve coin-operated water vending machines on revenue share programs with Kroger, Eckerd, & K-Mart. It also installed drinking water treatment systems for home & commercial use, plus bottled water for home & office delivery under the name "America's Purist WaterTM." The cash from the IPO was depleted early in 1993, so chairman C. Wilber Peters removed the then existing management in 3/93 & personally funded operations. He brought aboard Donald R. Podrebarac, a water industry marketing expert to reassess & redirect the company. Podrebarac was named president & CEO 7/96. Under the name American Water Service, an extensive line of do-it-yourself water test kits called PurTestR was developed. They provided the road to solid profitability, & resulted in the turnaround that got my attention. In late 1996, the first PurTestR product, the PurTestR Bacteria Test Kit was launched. In 1997, the PurTestR Lead Test Kit was introduced. The PurTestR line of products gained national distribution in the fall of 1997. By the end of Q1 1999, PurTestR products were available in over 12,000 retail locations in the United States & in 11 countries worldwide. The pinnacle came when PurTestR was named winner of the 1999 Consumers Products Award & received endorsements by the American Groundwater Trust & the American Quality Institute. Business/Products VLPI markets & distributes its line of PurTestR, the only do-it-yourself water tests on the national market. PurTestR products test for a variety of contaminants including bacteria, nitrates, nitrites, lead, iron hardness, & pesticides. The pesticide test was introduced in 4/99 with a record-setting launch of over $100,000 in pre-production commitments. It allows anyone to monitor their water for hazardous levels of Atrazine, Simazine, Ametryn, Propazine, Prometryn, Terbutylazine, Desethyl Atrazine, Desisoproply Atrazine, 2-Hydroxy Atrazine, Cyanazine, Simetryn, & Atraton, & it retails for about $15. This rest of the test kits retail in the $6 to $30 range. This category of test kits is classified as the fastest growing water product in the country. The company's R&D program actively investigates new water testing kits that respond to industry & consumer concerns about water safety.
|
Orders & re-orders are rising in major building centers such as Lowe's & Home Depot, hardware stores such as Ace & Eagle, drug stores like Savon & Osco, & through all major water treatment dealers. Menards' first order was for over $350,000, about double what was expected. On 8/26/99, VLPI announced that HomeBase, the West Coast chain of home improvement centers, placed PurTestR kits in every one of their 87 stores. International sales have spread to Indonesia, England, the Dominican Republic, Bermuda, Japan, Canada, Mexico, Australia, Korea, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, the Philippines, & Honduras. VLPI also provides water treatment systems & products including the PuritronTM reverse osmosis technology which removes up to 99% of contaminants. It produces water free of sodium, chemicals, chlorine, & bacteria. It is guaranteed to eliminate all scaling & sediment buildup. The finished product is called America's Purist WaterTM & is ideal for drinking, cooking, produce misting, floral displays, humidifiers, ice machines, steamers, bakery proofers, prepared foods, fountain drinks, coffee & tea. America's Purist WaterTM machines provide service at over 1,000 locations. PurGuardR, another proprietary product, is a disinfecting unit sold nationwide through water treatment dealers & retailers such as Lowe's. Market VLPI has tremendous opportunities for growth. A survey by the Water Quality Association indicates that more than 50% of Americans worry about impurities in their tap water. An article published in US Water News 1/98 stated that over a two-year period in 1996 & 1997, 21,000 water systems violated major Federal Health Standards. About 45 million Americans were served by a water system that violated at least one federal health standard. The article reported that 12,246 systems had chronic coliform bacteria; 3,641 systems had lead; 2,726 had fecal bacteria; 1,478 had inadequate filtration & disinfection; 588 had nitrate; & 325 had industrial chemicals & pesticides. This situation probably will get worse because of the way we are polluting the planet & its water sources. As many of you know, I was an owner & officer of a reverse osmosis water purification company for several years, so am sensitive to water quality (Rosanne & I use bottled water for drinking). I expect that more & more people will want to have their water tested. The problem is that it costs a lot to have it done by a service, test lab, or municipality. It also takes a lot of time to get the results. I believe people will much rather do it themselves with a PurTestR kit -- it's less expensive, & you get the results fast. All this represents an excellent market for PurTestR kits. The company estimates that it would see revenues of over $7.5 million if a minimal 5% of private well owners in the U.S. were to buy test kits, & that doesn't include the much greater number of folks who want to know whether their municipal water is ok. The company is seeing increasing demand for their test kit products from home centers & other retailers. Major contracts are being announced. The demand for VLPI's water vending machines is also growing. In 6/99, for example, it entered into an agreement with The Pantry, a chain of over 500 convenience stores, for installation of its pure water vending machines. The potential of this agreement, once fully implemented, will be in the $1 million annual range. Other major retailers of the water products include Eckerd, K-Mart, Kroger, Harris Teeter, & Winn Dixie. VLPI's auxiliary water & produce misting systems are installed in over 100 grocery stores throughout the mid-Atlantic & southeast, including the Kroger & Harris Teeter chains.
...continued on next page, click here |
|
|
|
Disclaimer: The public companies featured in the Corporate Profiles listed in the "Special Situation" section on the Home Page of www.WallStreetCorner.com are our regular clients. Each such client pays an annual cash fee of $12,000, or alternatively, a monthly cash fee of $495 plus a negotiated number of Form 144 restricted shares for our service. We on rare occasions accept free-trading shares, but we usually hold such shares for the long pull - we do not engage in trading. Such fees are disclosed as part of the Corporate Profile prepared and posted on the particular company involved. The basic coverage provided to such clients primarily includes the preparation of their Corporate Profile, posting it here at WallStreetCorner.com, and the distribution of email alerts to our international database of investors and financial professionals when their Profile is initially posted, and each time their Profile is subsequently updated. We expect our clients to work with us in a team effort by calling us each time they have achieved a significant milestone. We then update their Profile and issue an additional email alert to our totally opt-in email database (as of July 2008, members of that database are from over 96 countries). The email distributions we make are a key element of our service -- those, as well as the updated Corporate Profile are what together are designed to achieve a gradual buildup of new shareholders who generally hold for the long term. If you are an officer at a public company and want the exposure afforded at WallStreetCorner.com, email Larry at up415@aol.com or call him at 843-645-2729. Information displayed by WallStreetCorner in its Corporate Profiles, and in its editorial or other columns, does not constitute an offer to buy, sell, or trade a security of any kind, including stock. Larry Oakley, and/or WallStreetCorner.com, Inc., does not recommend that any person, institution, or other entity make any decisions or form any opinions, etc. based on the information on this site. All visitors to this site are urged to do two things before investing in any stock: (1) Call the company and ask questions -- if there is anything you do not like regarding such call, pass -- our goal is to bring you a selection of what we feel are growth situations with good long-term appreciation potential, but you must accept the responsibility of making your own decisions regarding which situations to invest in -- do not give up that responsibility; and (2) Consult a qualified financial professional before taking any actions in regards to buying, selling, or trading securities (stocks or other forms of equity). Companies covered in Conservative Speculator, a newsletter accessed from WallStreetCorner, or in any of Larry Oakley's other editorial venues ("Opinion," "Stock Pick," "Comment," and "Bold Ventures" columns, and in any other editorial venue to which Larry contributes) do not pay for such editorial coverage; the companies Larry covers editorially have never, do not now, and never will be charged for editorial coverage. The only paid portions of WallStreetCorner.com are the Profiles and email distributions (email distributions are a part of the client's package, but occasionally are paid for separately by non-clients - if a non-client wants to utilize our email distributions, the cost is $2,000 for the first distribution, $1,500 for the second, $1,000 for the third, and $500 for all subsequent distributions made for the same company). On occasion, Larry Oakley shares his opinion regarding a private company or its product or service. Bear in mind that nothing at that special section is an investment possibility. To see that section, click where on the home page it says: "Click here to access our Special Emerging Growth Situations." See the introductory portion of that special section for additional information regarding the material covered there. |
|
|
WallStreetCorner.com |
