14 February 2012
BCC: MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release:

MEDIA RELEASE: Clearing the wood from the (fruit) trees

A Levin company specializing in forestry tree loppers has just been awarded a $10,000 grant from the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MSI) to design and develop an innovative lopper for use in the fruit tree industry.

Lakewood Products are a successful supplier and exporter of forestry loppers to Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil, Guatemala, Australia, Canada, United Kingdom and Spain. The loppers feature a unique ergonomic design that enables users to work more efficiently than traditional loppers, reducing physical fatigue and potential for repetitive strain injuries.

Lakewood Products current challenge is to come up with a lopper suitable for fruit trees. While trunk pruning is the sole requirement in forestry, pruning fruit trees requires completely different functionality, including the ability to tip and middle branch prune. This requires a smaller, lighter lopper with a refined action. The MSI investment will enable Lakewood Products to evaluate the component costs to provide the weight reduction capability required and modify some of the functionality to incorporate the differing needs of fruit tree pruning.

Martin Goodyer, Commercialisation Manager at the BCC facilitated the MSI grant process for Lakewood Products. “the funding and support allows Lakewood Products to get on with the project faster and focus on carefully developing an innovative and leading design that will lead the market” he said.

For Ken Scott, Lakewood’s Managing Director it wasn’t the first time he’d looked at applying for government funding but he’d always previously been put off by what seemed liked laborious processes. “Over the years that I have been in business I have applied or looked at applying for grants or similar government loans, but virtually all were beyond the normal person’s ability to understand the information that was required. Quite often the information required did not even resemble what you were applying for!"

“In contrast the MSI application process was to the point, asking relevant questions in a format that was easy to understand. This was backed up by support from BCC’s Martin Goodyer who was a great help and the combination was an excellent result for us. We are excited about the new product and having the extra finance will be a great help."

MSI supports businesses with a range of funding products and services for research and development projects, focusing on the creation and commercialisation of new technology that will lead to job and export growth.

According to Martin Goodyer, with several other projects in the pipeline it’s looking to be an exciting year for innovative companies.

ENDS

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