A Plymouth man, whose business idea is to turn a problem into a product, was awarded second place in the NEW Launch Alliance Pitch event hosted by New North, which fosters collaboration among private and public sectors in 18 Northeastern Wisconsin Counties.
Tyler Rezachek, who also took second place in the Accelerate Sheboygan County competition, won $1,000 for his idea to turn the Great Lakes zebra mussel problem into a commodity used in manufacturing. A service-disabled Iraq war veteran, Rezacheck entered his prototype-stage company into the contest, which was won by Hang 10 Poke’ of Fond du Lac, which aims to make the Hawai’ian raw fish delicacy Poke’ a hit in Wisconsin.
Rezachek, though, wouldn’t turn his aquatic pest into food, but his company “AntiMussel” would instead remove the invasive zebra mussels from public and private waterways and convert them into the world’s only source of renewable calcium carbonate, which is used in products like paper, paint, pharmaceuticals and plastics. That, Rezachek says, could help address the $1.5 billion dollar tax bill that’s spent annually to repair infrastructure damage the mussels cause.
The Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation says that AntiMussel will carry out a pilot program this coming spring, conducting a full-scale cleanup of a mussel infestation. That work will provide a real-life case study Rezachek hopes will help attract future engagement and investment.
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