Emission-control Device Manufacturer Enjoying High Rate of Sales

Santa Fe New Mexican - December 2006
By Bob Quick

The sweet smell of success CleanAIR’s newest product is a catalytic reduction catalyst for power plants. It’s designed to reduce nitrogen oxide.

In addition to developing new products, Santa Fe’s CleanAIR Systems is hiring more employees and about to relocate to a building adjacent to Valdes Business Park that will consolidate the fast-growing business under one roof.

Right now, CleanAIR, which makes emissions-control devices and this year expects sales of more than $5 million, is operating in three buildings on Center Place, off Airport Road.

“We’re looking forward to the move,” said CleanAIR president and CEO Michael Roach.

“We’re excited about staying in Santa Fe.”

The city is excited about the company, too.

CleanAIR has received a $200,000 grant and a $100,000 loan from the City of Santa Fe, all of which will be used to remodel the recently acquired property. The 30,000 square-foot building was originally built for Pecos Trail Jeans back in the 1970s and was later used by radia­tion- detection manufacturer Eberline and by Santa Fe Community College.

It was most recently Josie’s Best, owned by Morris and Ricky Montoya, from whom CleanAIR pur­chased the property.

“It’s really nice for us to get into such a big building,” Roach said, adding that the property consists not only of the building but also five acres of land that can be used for additional expansion.

The city of Santa Fe’s Economic Development Department is positive about the future of CleanAIR.

“They’re one of our star manufac­turing businesses,” said Craig Fiels, special projects administrator in the city’s Economic Development Department. “They’re doing a terrific job. We’re really proud they’re here.”

CleanAIR was approved for a grant and loan back in 2000, but Roach didn’t apply for the funds until more recently, when he was ready to move into the new building.

“It was when he really needed (the funding) and could work with it,” Fiels said. “I’m sure the mayor and the council appreciates that.”

When the move is complete, Roach expects the company to grow from its current 25 employees to twice that in 18 months.

“It’s difficult to find qualified people, but we’re willing to train them,” Roach said.

CleanAIR’s newest product is a catalytic reduction catalyst for power plants. It’s designed to reduce nitrogen oxide over a broader range of tempera­tures than previously possible and works with power stations burning fossil fuel, natural gas and wood.

The catalyst incorporates technology developed by Los Alamos National Laboratory and represents the first collaboration between CleanAIR Systems and LANL.

The Lab “has been very, very helpful” in the development of the catalyst, Roach said. “They pioneered the technology.”

CleanAIR is now preparing to begin producing the catalyst on a commercial scale.

CleanAIR’s most popular products, the ones that account for most of the company’s rev­enue, are ceramic filters coated with platinum that convert particulate matter and gases into essentially harmless emissions.

The filters are installed on diesel-powered trucks, buses and other engines, with the majority of sales in California.

Recently, Sweden has become a major customer.

One of the company’s larger deals was with BP, one of the world’s largest oil companies, which needed emission-control products for diesel generators used on its oil-drilling platforms in the North Sea.

As it turned out, CleanAIR was the only supplier with the ability to manufacture regenerating catalytic units of the size that were approved and tested on Caterpillar 3516 engines.

“They were very happy with our products,” Roach said. “It was one of our biggest sales.”

The company — in conjunction with the Japanese firm Itochu Corp. — is also developing a new truck-emission technology that automatically cleans out residue from exhaust systems.

To test the device, CleanAIR has imported a Japanese truck and hooked it up to computers in one of its buildings on Center Place. A similar truck has been installed at Itochu’s plant in Japan, allowing the two companies to coordinate experiments.

Many manufacturing businesses are moving overseas to take advantage of lower wage rates, but that’s not something Roach has thought much about.

“Most of our work is custom,” he said. “And our turnaround time in some cases is only a month. Overseas production doesn’t fit in with what we’re doing.”

Roach started CleanAIR in 1993 after moving to Santa Fe from Buffalo, N.Y.

“We checked out California and Arizona, but we didn’t want to live there,” he said of his wife and himself. “We came to Santa Fe after Thanksgiving, and we fell in love with the place” Santa Fe’s deficiencies — a lack of skilled workers, the high cost of land, the lack of infrastructure — were offset by city and state help in getting the business established, industrial training funds and advice about selling to buyers overseas," Roach said.

“New Mexico has a lot to offer,” Roach said