Signaltape® Nears Commercialization
Excavation Alert Systems, LLC Hopes to Bring Product to Market in April
Richmond, VA – Excavation Alert Systems, LLC is hoping to bring their innovative buried utility protection system product, Signaltape, to market as early as April of this year. Signaltape is a buried utility protection system designed to alert equipment operators and construction site workers to the presence of buried utilities such as natural gas lines or fiber. Signaltape is designed to pull to the surface to alert equipment operators that utility lines are below. A second version of the product, aptly called SmoketapeTM, emits APWA color coded smoke to ensure that operators can quickly react before striking vital infrastructure. Smoketape is expected to be commercially available by the fourth quarter this year.
Mike Parilac, Owner of Planet Underground said, “Signaltape breathes new life into a standard industry product while tremendously enhancing excavator safety.”
Excavation Alert Systems, LLC currently employs three workers at their facility in Arvonia, VA and that number is expected to expand to five workers in the near future as production ramps up. The Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission supported this project with a $1,500,000 Research and Development grant in 2013 and recently approved the purchase of a high-volume lamination system that will allow production to take place in Buckingham County at the Arvonia location. The Tobacco Commission worked with the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center on this project.
David Matlock, Executive Director of the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center added, “We are always excited to work on projects that will bring jobs and investment to our region and we look forward to working with the Tobacco Commission as we seek to attract new companies to Southern and Southwest Virginia.”
The Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission is committed to bringing jobs and investment to Southern and Southwest Virginia. Projects like Signaltape and Smoketape that offer a compelling product designed and manufactured in our region are a perfect example of our commitment to developing a diverse economy in the areas we serve.
Chairman of the Tobacco Commission’s Southside Economic Development Committee, Delegate Thomas C. Wright added, “EAS and Signaltape show that new and innovative products can be developed successfully and manufactured right here in our region. I am pleased that the Tobacco Commission supported this project and look forward to their continued success.”
Contact: Jordan Butler
Telephone: 804-786-7692
Cell: 757-692-0878
Email: jordan.butler@tic.virginia.gov
Website: www.tic.virginia.gov
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
2/9/17