Engine Cleaner
Albuquerque Business Journal Outlook - February 2002
If it runs by internal combustion, Michael Roach’s company can reduce its emissions
In the mid-1980s, when Michael Roach was living in upstate New York, employed in the marketing division of Corning Inc., an idea formed that would eventually lead him to New Mexico.
It was a risky idea, he said, but the president and CEO of CleanAIR Systems, Inc. said the concept of carving out a niche market in emissions controls has begun paying off.
“At that time, emissions control was only required on cars. I knew that someday it (emissions control) would extend to every combustion engine made,” he said.
“I and my partner were betting on the right timing to go after the diesel market, and developed technology creating a catalyst out of platinum on ceramic housed in a stainless-steel canister. And, yes, the ceramic is still made by Corning.”
CleanAIR Systems designs and produces emission control systems for all diesel, gasoline, natural gas and propane engines. Its US market is growing rapidly, but 60 percent of its business is still overseas in countries with stricter standards than here.
Roach said picking Santa Fe for headquarters was a result of a pleasure trip to New Mexico.
“My wife, Louise, is an artist, and we came out here in November. There was a heavy snow in New York, and it was sunny here,” he said. “I figured I could make my headquarters anywhere, and you know what a great artists’ community there is in Santa Fe.”
He added with a laugh, “We still think it’s a great location, even for attracting new business.
“My other two competitors in this market are in New Jersey and Philadelphia, so when we fly executives out here for meetings, we try to make it over the weekend. With our great weather and skies, and by the time they’ve done a little shopping in Santa Fe, they usually leave New Mexico with a really good impression. And we’ve helped Santa Fe’s economy just a little.”
CleanAIR Systems initially focused on overseas markets, where stricter emissions standards than those in the United States were already going into effect.
“Sweden saw this problem early on, and legislation created a market for us there in 1998,” he said.
CleanAIR Systems also found willing buyers in Taiwan, thanks in part to New Mexico’s representative in that country.
“New Mexico participated in several catalog shows, where New Mexico companies would provide brochures and catalogs of products and services, and these representatives set up these shows in other countries to help generate business,” he said.
Also a contender from the beginning in the California market, where stricter air pollution standards were established early on, CleanAIR Systems experienced more than a 75 percent increase in sales in 1999 and another 46 percent increase in 2000.
He said he doesn’t discuss overall company revenue but offered that it should grow by 25 to 35 percent this year.
Roach said the company is just in the beginning stages of what will be a tremendous expansion over the next few years, as new federal Environmental Protection Agency laws become effective.
“The retrofit market is here this year, and in 2005, the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) market, like Caterpillar, Cummins, those guys, will all be required to comply.”
The available federal and state money, not to mention private dollars that will be spent bringing aging equipment into compliance, will be in the millions, he said.
Roach said EPA standards are continually changing, making compliance a tricky issue. “The ink is literally just drying on some of these standards. We calculated that if we tested for every possible (EPA) verification category, we would spend $1.1 million on testing.”
In fact, the sole responsibility of some company employees is to track new laws affecting the market and new requirements established by the EPA.
Having already cornered 40 percent of the current retrofit market in the United States, Roach predicted, the company will expand again by an additional 75 percent, eventually employing between 300 and 500 additional workers over the next five to six years.
“We’ll need metal fabricators, chemists, welders, along with a sales and marketing staff. And, being just down the hill from Los Alamos, we’ll have attractive positions for research and development.”
CleanAIR Systems is currently waiting for approval from Santa Fe County government agencies to begin construction on its plant and offices, to be located in the new Santa Fe County Business Park.
Roach said he is a little concerned by what he sees as a lack of support within the state and county government to provide incentives to retain companies like his own.
“We are a clean manufacturer – meaning we don’t pollute, we don’t use water, we provide opportunity for growth, and we offer employment for a wide variety of skill levels from clerical to Ph.D. engineers,” he said.
New Mexico is spending serious dollars to attract businesses from elsewhere, “and I have to wonder why they don’t spend a little of that money on what’s already here.”
Roach added that his company sells very little in New Mexico, although many neighboring states are either under contract or in negotiations with CleanAIR Systems.
“What worries me is that when I drive into Albuquerque and in Denver, you can see this brown cloud. I’m concerned with wanting to make New Mexico proactive. I’ve talked to a number of people in the state government.”
If it runs by internal combustion, Michael Roach’s company can reduce its emissions
In the mid-1980s, when Michael Roach was living in upstate New York, employed in the marketing division of Corning Inc., an idea formed that would eventually lead him to New Mexico.
It was a risky idea, he said, but the president and CEO of CleanAIR Systems, Inc. said the concept of carving out a niche market in emissions controls has begun paying off.
“At that time, emissions control was only required on cars. I knew that someday it (emissions control) would extend to every combustion engine made,” he said.
“I and my partner were betting on the right timing to go after the diesel market, and developed technology creating a catalyst out of platinum on ceramic housed in a stainless-steel canister. And, yes, the ceramic is still made by Corning.”
CleanAIR Systems designs and produces emission control systems for all diesel, gasoline, natural gas and propane engines. Its US market is growing rapidly, but 60 percent of its business is still overseas in countries with stricter standards than here.
Roach said picking Santa Fe for headquarters was a result of a pleasure trip to New Mexico.
“My wife, Louise, is an artist, and we came out here in November. There was a heavy snow in New York, and it was sunny here,” he said. “I figured I could make my headquarters anywhere, and you know what a great artists’ community there is in Santa Fe.”
He added with a laugh, “We still think it’s a great location, even for attracting new business.
“My other two competitors in this market are in New Jersey and Philadelphia, so when we fly executives out here for meetings, we try to make it over the weekend. With our great weather and skies, and by the time they’ve done a little shopping in Santa Fe, they usually leave New Mexico with a really good impression. And we’ve helped Santa Fe’s economy just a little.”
CleanAIR Systems initially focused on overseas markets, where stricter emissions standards than those in the United States were already going into effect.
“Sweden saw this problem early on, and legislation created a market for us there in 1998,” he said.
CleanAIR Systems also found willing buyers in Taiwan, thanks in part to New Mexico’s representative in that country.
“New Mexico participated in several catalog shows, where New Mexico companies would provide brochures and catalogs of products and services, and these representatives set up these shows in other countries to help generate business,” he said.
Also a contender from the beginning in the California market, where stricter air pollution standards were established early on, CleanAIR Systems experienced more than a 75 percent increase in sales in 1999 and another 46 percent increase in 2000.
He said he doesn’t discuss overall company revenue but offered that it should grow by 25 to 35 percent this year.
Roach said the company is just in the beginning stages of what will be a tremendous expansion over the next few years, as new federal Environmental Protection Agency laws become effective.
“The retrofit market is here this year, and in 2005, the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) market, like Caterpillar, Cummins, those guys, will all be required to comply.”
The available federal and state money, not to mention private dollars that will be spent bringing aging equipment into compliance, will be in the millions, he said.
Roach said EPA standards are continually changing, making compliance a tricky issue. “The ink is literally just drying on some of these standards. We calculated that if we tested for every possible (EPA) verification category, we would spend $1.1 million on testing.”
In fact, the sole responsibility of some company employees is to track new laws affecting the market and new requirements established by the EPA.
Having already cornered 40 percent of the current retrofit market in the United States, Roach predicted, the company will expand again by an additional 75 percent, eventually employing between 300 and 500 additional workers over the next five to six years.
“We’ll need metal fabricators, chemists, welders, along with a sales and marketing staff. And, being just down the hill from Los Alamos, we’ll have attractive positions for research and development.”
CleanAIR Systems is currently waiting for approval from Santa Fe County government agencies to begin construction on its plant and offices, to be located in the new Santa Fe County Business Park.
Roach said he is a little concerned by what he sees as a lack of support within the state and county government to provide incentives to retain companies like his own.
“We are a clean manufacturer – meaning we don’t pollute, we don’t use water, we provide opportunity for growth, and we offer employment for a wide variety of skill levels from clerical to Ph.D. engineers,” he said.
New Mexico is spending serious dollars to attract businesses from elsewhere, “and I have to wonder why they don’t spend a little of that money on what’s already here.”
Roach added that his company sells very little in New Mexico, although many neighboring states are either under contract or in negotiations with CleanAIR Systems.
“What worries me is that when I drive into Albuquerque and in Denver, you can see this brown cloud. I’m concerned with wanting to make New Mexico proactive. I’ve talked to a number of people in the state government.”
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