ElectriPlast: Are We There Yet?

The


Question




By Vince S.
ElectriPlast Blog Editor




Robotic demands from the back seat are no less compelling to the driver!

For all you long-suffering parents who have taken a long trip by car with impatient kids kicking the back of your seat (knock it off, junior or I’ll unplug your iPod), you’ll surely recognize their near robotic demands from the back seat, “Are We There Yet? Are We There Yet?“

Juvenile impatience was a stage we all went through (some never got over it) as we bounded through those early years. How naive we were! On long family drives, we back seaters had no concept of how long it took to drive from Atlanta to Altoona, Butte to Bellingham or Jacksonville to Jasper as long as we weren’t bored.

In many ways, our journey as investors in this company is analogous to kids on a long family drive. As shareholders, we “kids” have been sitting in the back of the Integral Technologies “car,” kicking the back of the drivers’ seat demanding to know “Are we there yet?”

How do you get from Jasper to New York? Think ElectriPlast and LEO!

When one contemplates the trip from Jasper to New York (Wall Street), it is a metaphor for our “go-to-market” year, and this is the year, John Q. Babyboomer! That “promise” was made to us twice. Now, it’s your turn to say, “Are we there yet?”

The first of the two promises was made when 2006 was but three days old. In a message to shareholders, the CEO said this is the year we are going to market. That was followed by the historic meeting (the second “promise”) on 6 June in Jasper, Indiana. At that time, the Boyz from Bellingham said there should be “four to five” more licensing agreements before year end, with Fortune 100 companies accounting for “one or two” of them. Suffice it to say, any licensing agreement with a Fortune 100 company will validate ElectriPlast, engender competition among manufacturers to use our IP, stimulate the signing and announcement of other agreements in the pipeline, and put our PPS in a low earth orbit along with the US Space Shuttle!

Yeah, but are we really there yet?

The distance between Jasper and New York is about 711 miles, as the crow flies, so your average set of wheels should make the run in 12 hours, notwithstanding speed traps and road conditions. Our wheels (a 2004 ElectriPlast) are custom built and have been upgraded a few times along the way, but, yes, we are getting there, folks!

And at this stage of the trip, the road signs are many and compelling. Among a few of the salient ones:

* Our relationship with QuanStar has ushered us into corporate executive suites previously closed to us. QuanStar has also introduced us to the US Defense sector.

* The National Plastics Exposition (NPE 2006) placed us on a global stage, and we are responding admirably to our new international audience.

* Many of the “40 or 50” companies with whom we have been working are validating their belief in ElectriPlast by buying share blocks.

* Our Intellectual Property portfolio continues to expand (soon to approach 20 patents granted or allowed) as the “Wizard of Bellingham” continues to work his magic. Each patent represents many-fold licensing opportunities.

* And last, but not the least of the road signs, two licensing agreements have been inked.

Launching a new concept, particularly one that has the potential to be as disruptive to the consumer electronics market as the automobile was to the horse and buggy era, is fraught with delay and can be as risky as a blindfolded funambulist! But like the fabled wire-walkers of Barnum and Bailey, once launched, there is no turning back. Alexander Graham Bell once said, “Before anything else, preparation is the key to success.”

Our journey may have started on a bumpy country road many years ago, but the last leg of this part of the trip is coming to a close. The route is smoother, the drivers are more confident, and the "kids" aren’t kicking the back of the seat as vigorously as they did. There is palpable excitement in the back seat because the “kids” know this "drive" isn’t about the destination; it’s about the journey.

As we get closer to the Big Apple, and we see the distant outline of skyscrapers pointing skyward, we “kids” no longer ask, “Are we there yet?” Now the catch phrase is, “Look how close we are!”

Time to break out the ITKG T-shirts, the Tom Aisenbrey bobble-head doll and that expensive bottle of bubbly stuff?