April 2020 Accelerate Magazine

APRIL 2020 MAGAZINE For an avid runner with a passion for tidiness, a disorganized laundry room is a large problem. Jim Lutz has been hang drying his clothes since college, never finding a product to meet his needs. When Jim and his family moved to a new home in 2000, he designed what would be the first DryAway product in his own laundry room. With an engineering background and immense passion, the concept for DryAway was born. There was plenty of trial and error along the way, however, in 2009 Jim was able to design a product that could attach to any ceiling or custom cabinet. After 5 years of redeveloping, Jim patented his product and it was off for its first production run. One of Jim’s many successes has been the use of bamboo for flexibility of the frames. The DryAway consists of six frames each attached to a mounted bracket that allows the user to slide them in and out of the home’s chosen nook. The hassle of air-drying three loads of laundry disappears, literally, with use of DryAway. An out-of-sight out-of-mind concept. After being introduced to the Waukesha County Center for Growth, Jim’s start-up became much easier. Finding a bank that will loan to a small business without a large tacked-on interest is difficult. Lucy Waldhuetter, Business Consultant for the Center for Growth, helped Jim reach his goals. Lucy also provided thorough business planning, sound advice and an undeniable belief in his potential. Jim is confident that starting up his business would not DRYAWAY: OUT OF SIGHT, OUT OF MIND SMALL BUSINESS SUCCESS Jim Lutz Owner/Founder, Dryaway DID YOU KNOW… • The average family in the U.S. does 400 loads of wash a year. Based on this usage an electric dryer costs $160/year and a gas dryer $80/year to operate. • The dryer is the second highest consumer of energy of appliances in the home behind the refrigerator. • Heat damages the wicking ability of micro-fiber apparel and locks in odors. • In the U.S. alone gas and electric dryers cause more than 12,000 residential fires annually. 9