Kiger's Notebook

More on Clean Plus Inc. deal with the military

OK, earlier I kicked out some rough info about Clean Plus, Inc. of West Concord and a $125,000 federal contract it was awarded.

Late Thursday afternoon - between a trip to Rushford and the Rochester Area Chamber of Commerce's Business After Hours at Park Place Motors – I caught up with Matt Coy of Clean Plus to find out the details on what actually is going on.

Here's some from that story:

A West Concord company hopes to clean up now that the U.S. military has opened its to them.

Clean Plus Inc. of West Concord, Minn. was awarded a $125,000 contract Wednesday valued at $125,000 from the General Services Administration’s Federal Acquisition Service for cleaning equipment and supplies.

While the government uses the term “contract,” “It is not a slam dunk,” says Matt Coy of Clean Plus. “Without a pricing contract, it is very difficult to break into any pricing channels.”

This means the 22-employee Clean Plus is now on a list of vendors for the U.S. military.

“It opens up quite a few doors,” he says.

West Concord biz + $125,000 fed contract

Here's another local business that has landed a decent sized federal contract, according to info from the Targeted News Service.

The e-mail list of Minnesota businesses that received federal contracts today includes Clean Plus Inc.of West Concord, Minn. for a contract valued at $125,000 from the General Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service, Fort Worth, Texas, for cleaning equipment and supplies.

I talked to Clean Plus back in May 2008 when the then-22-employee company landed in $25,000 capital seed money from the nonprofit Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation.

Here's some from that story. I'll check in with the Coys to see if I can find anything about this new fed contract.

One of those "flavors" of biobusiness includes using corn husks and waste to absorb oil spills.

That's the plan of Clean Plus Inc., a company based in West Concord. 

"We've created it on a micro-mini level," says Matt Coy of Clean Plus. "This seed money will help us take it from small scale up to at least a pilot plant as a step to bring it to market."

The product is projected to absorb five times as much as the materials already on the market, and it is easier to dispose of, he said. If it makes it to full production, Coy says his 22-employee company definitely would grow.

And the success of such a product could be very rewarding.

"The market for this in the U.S. is in excess of $1 billion a year," he said.