Safeguarding utility workers:
UI grads create device to reduce electrocution deaths
This news article appeared on August 19, 2018, from The Spokesman-Review (www.spokesman.com). This excerpt was reprinted with permission from Becky Kramer, the author of the article.The article highlights Brothers Brandon Bledsoe (2017), Tim Ledford (2017), and John Thompson (2015) of Epsilon Kappa/Idaho.
Thirty thousand dollars seemed like a fortune to the three University of Idaho graduates.
Tim Ledford, Brandon Bledsoe and John Thompson developed a safety device that utility workers clip onto their hard hats. It beeps and flashes when workers approach a high-voltage electrical source, reducing the risk of electrocution.
During their senior year, the men racked up multiple honors and $30,000 in prize money in business entrepreneur competitions. The graduates figured the money would cover the initial costs of launching their startup, Safeguard Equipment Inc.
“We were three 21-year-olds with money in the bank,” said Ledford, Safeguard’s chief executive. “We thought we could bootstrap the company.”
From L-R: Tim Ledford, John Thompson, and Brandon Bledose
But getting the product to market was harder – and more costly – than they anticipated.
After graduation, they all took other jobs. Ledford put in 50-hour workweeks at Boeing while finding extra hours for Safeguard. Bledsoe designed the company’s website while moonlighting as a bartender. Thompson was in graduate school and interviewing for engineering jobs.
Seven months after they graduated, Thompson called a Skype meeting. The partners needed to devote their full-time energy to Safeguard Equipment, or give up the dream of running their own company, he said. Ledford and Bledsoe concurred.
“If we could raise some money, we agreed that we’d quit our jobs and John would quit school,” Ledford said.
The Skype meeting in January 2017 was a turning point for the young company. Shortly afterward, the Spokane Angel Alliance invited the partners to make a presentation. It awarded the company $300,000 in early stage financing, allowing the partners to quit their other jobs, file for patents and develop product prototypes.
Safeguard Equipment made its first official sale in July – there were a few small sales in late 2017, Ledford said. The company recently landed another round of investor funding from Avista Corp. and Cowles Co., the owner of The Spokesman-Review. The partners will use the seed money to scale up operations and develop additional products.
“What started out as a passion for us turned into a funded company,” Ledford said. “We realized we could make money and save people’s lives.”
Family connections
Ledford and Thompson have grandfathers, uncles, brothers and cousins who work, or previously worked, in the utility industry. Three of Thompson’s brothers are linemen. The partners knew the statistics.
Utility workers have high rates of injuries and deaths from electrocution. In 2015, 26 workers died on the job while installing or repairing power lines, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
“They are the unsung heroes,” Ledford said of utility workers. “No one really talks about it outside of the industry.”
Ledford and Bledsoe, both 24, met their freshman year at their fraternity, Theta Chi. They both majored in operations management in UI’s Business and Economics Department and took classes from George Tanner, an instructor in entrepreneurship.
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