Thursday, January 6- Join us today as Rita Hansen with Onboard Dynamics, Inc joins Jim and James.
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Episode Transcript
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Jim: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to this riveting episode of “Coffee with Jim & James.” You know what I did there, James? [0:00] [0:00]
James: No. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: I have to tell you. You know why I’m excited today? I’m going to tell you. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Oh, you broke the cardinal rule. He said excited within the first five seconds. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Shoot, I did. OK, I’ll rephrase that. Why I’m energized today, a couple reasons because I have spent so much of my life in the energy business, and also focus a lot and alternative fuel CNG LNG. And I love all that technology, right? Anything to do with that. [0:00] [0:00] So today, I am waiting for the time where you say to me, “All right, Jimmy’s just geeking out on stuff that he loves. I’ll just sit back and do this.” So that… [0:00] .[0:00]
James: It happens. It does happen, you know. A lot of the time no other way, but today I feel like it’s going to live more in your world. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. I really am. I love these discussions. And with that, let’s bring in our guests, who we actually met at AGA in Orlando. [0:00] [0:00]
James: We did, we did. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah, go ahead. [0:00] [0:00]
James: I feel like we’re longtime friends now because honestly, then we saw you again in Charlotte at the SGA conference. So… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: What happened on Charlotte at the SGA? Did somebody won an award? [0:00] [0:00]
James: I’ve heard about that. We will lean into that later. No, but we got to meet Rita at AGA and then we got to hang out again at SGA. Rita, welcome to the show. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita Hansen: Well, thank you James and Jim for inviting me. I think this is great to follow up on that brief little session that we had down at the AGA in Orlando. So you threatened that you would get me onto this Coffee with Jim & James. And so here I am. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Was that a threat? [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: [laughs] [0:00] [0:00]
James: No, here we are. We lived up to our end. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: Yeah, here we are. It was a threat. It was an invitation. It was all of those things that I completely embraced and because you heard me saying then and I still say to you now, I love telling our story. So I do thank you for giving me this opportunity. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Jimmy, did you notice? [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yes. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Look at Rita. Rita is like in a live office. We’ve recorded so many of these things, Rita, where people are gone night stands for, you know, working out of there, their kitchen table or in their… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Back of pickup trucks? That’s a true story. [0:00] [0:00]
James: And, and look, those are real live people. That is not a… [0:00] [[0:00] crosstalk] [0:00] [0:00]
James: [inaudible 02:57]. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: Yeah, now there’s, there’s real‑life people over there. I don’t know, Abbie, Mitch, Karen. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: There we go. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: [inaudible 03:04]. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: So we have real people. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Carman. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Was that Karen? [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: That’s Karen. That’s our CFO. She and I kind of bunk together here in the in the war room. We call this the war room, where well, especially over the last few months, we’ve been working through a major transaction as you all know and this really was the war room. So. So we now continue to call it the war room. [0:00] [0:00]
James: It’s refreshing to see folks getting out there and getting to work still. See a real‑live office and action. We have blessed our way. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: Yeah. No, and actually, this is the boring part of our operation because the real stuff is happening just a couple doors into the shop, where there’s, where there’s, where there’s product being tested. Even there’s a product, there’s customers here today, and there’s product being tested and so it’s pretty exciting to be, to be coming to work. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: I like that. I think that almost opens up the envelope for a future episode, maybe from the shop. [0:00] [0:00]
James: And like it. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: Totally. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: It’s sorted out there. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: I think I’ll take up my laptop and go out there. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: But I can save for that today. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: We’ll walk you through it. [0:00]
[0:00] [0:00]
Rita: OK. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: You know what? Let’s, let’s dive in. One thing James and I talk about a lot is that over, we’re nearing 100 episodes and we’re blessed to be doing these for over a year‑and‑a‑half and, you know, and touching people’s lives with Coffee with Jim & James. [0:00] [0:00] But I tell you the stories of always get us, are those we started in a garage, or we started out of the back of a pickup truck, or we started out of this. And I’m not saying you did that, but we would love to hear how you all began where you are, and where you are going. I mean, and again, please tell us a little bit about yourself too, Rita, just so our audience gets a little bit more comfortable with everyone. [0:00] [0:00]
James: What is the Rita Hanson Onboard Dynamics origin story? [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: There we go. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Like “Spider‑Man.” [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: [laughs] Well, it’s not as exciting as Spider‑Man, but I can tell you that. So this beautiful off, Office and, and location is in Bend, Oregon. So Bend, Oregon Central, Oregon High Desert. You walk out our front door and you see the Seven Peaks of the Cascade volcanoes. [0:00] [0:00] And I moved here in twenty‑, about ten years ago. Actually ten years ago, but I have been I’ve known about Central, Oregon. I’m a climber and so climbing is a big part of my life and there’s a world famous area called Smith Rock, just north of here about, you know, 20 minutes, 10 minutes from my house. [0:00] [0:00] And so I came to bend with my husband, 10 years ago, kind of Quasi retiring, ha, that’s the joke because that didn’t happen. I was introduced to a professor at Oregon State University Cascade. So, the Origins of Onboard Dynamics was that meeting.. Meeting Dr. Chris Hagen, and he had just recently, moved to Bend, Oregon to lead the Energy Systems Engineering Department at Oregon State University Cascades. [0:00] [0:00] And when he when he joined the, the team here at OSU, he brought with him an award, a Seedling Award from ARPA‑E, the Advanced research Projects Agency for Energy. And that award was associated with, Jim, one of your favorite topics, how do we address the critical lack of natural gas refueling infrastructure in the United States? [0:00] [0:00] Because back in that time, it was just 2012, 2013. The Department of Energy was really focused on, well, how do we break this? How do we…Can we drive adoption of natural gas vehicles in the US? [0:00] [0:00] And so it was really a movement within the Department of Energy addressing, you know, our dependency on foreign, foreign oil when we had abundant supplies of natural gas and were just being, you know, known and we were 19th in the world ranking around using natural gas as a transportation fuel. [0:00]
[0:00] [0:00] And so they were really focused on trying to address all the barriers. And so the, the professor, Dr. Chris Hagen, had this idea around, around harnessing the power of the internal combustion engine by leveraging its ability to work as a compressor onboard the vehicle. That was the premise. [0:00]
[0:00] [0:00] Our premise was, how do you put instead of plugging in your vehicle for charge electrical charge for an EV? Why not Plumb in your vehicle into your barbecue line and be able to refuel your vehicle using your own engine onboard your vehicle. So that was the sexy idea. That was the seedling that he had received from the Department of Energy. [0:00] [0:00] I moved here to Bend, Oregon. I hooked up with my other co‑founder, Jeff Witwer, who actually helped hire Chris at the school. And the three of us together were…I was introduced to Chris because he was really looking for how to commercialize this technology. [0:00] [0:00] He had the ideas about how to develop the technology within the university setting, but it was really down to how do you commercialize it? And so, he was connected to me and Jeff. And the three of us in 2013, you we weren’t in the garage, but we were huddled around the kitchen table. [0:00] [0:00] I think it was maybe Jeff’s house, or maybe it was a Christmas house and, but it was in Bend, Oregon and we were thinking, “OK, well, there’s something here. There’s something here and there’s great backing from the Department of Energy. So let’s do it.” And so, that’s where we formed the company. That’s when we formed the company. That’s why we formed the company. [0:00] [0:00] And Jeff and I were able, through our financial means, were able to do some of the initial funding of the company in the first year of its operation, until we, Onboard Dynamics, were able to follow up Chris’s Seedling Award with another major ARPA‑E Award, which resulted in, eventually $6.5 million of funding to develop this whole idea around leveraging, the power of the internal combustion engine, to perform the function of compression and combustion. So that was sort of our…That was the beginnings of our story. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: And it goes right into the what James and I love is hearing that organic origin story of how you know, great companies in our industry, you know got their start and, and where they’re headed. So thank you for sharing. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Rita, and you kind of hit dates along the way, but just to kind of make the timeline, all this transpired with Onboard and how much time is? [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: Yes, so, we had the, we were working under the ARPA‑E Award from 2014, but Chris had his award, which finished and his with, with the university. We basically spun the technology out of the University into a private company. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: And then we started with ARPA‑E funding in 2014 through four years to 2018. In 2018, we launched our first product into the marketplace, which was the GoFLO CNG80 compressor. And, and our first partner was SoCalGas. So we actually had, we deployed the technology with them and a couple of project demonstrations. [0:00] [0:00] Our first real customer was Northwest Natural. Our own natural gas utility in our backyard, who’s been… Huge, shout‑out to them, since they, you have always been supporting us. And still today, support us through their very innovative forward‑sneaking operation. [0:00] [0:00] And then from there, we moved into Fleet operations. And we 2018 is, when we really commercialize the GoFLO compressor and in 2020, we introduced a companion product to that, which is called the GoFill Refueler, which together the GoFLO, the GoFill make up a complete refueling solution because it has the dryer. It has the refuel‑, the filling post. It has everything you need. That when you combine it with the GoFLO compressor, you can do time‑fill refueling for up to four vehicles. [0:00] [0:00] But it was the, it was another utility partner who had experience with our GoFLO that came to us and said, “Well, we think your technology your cross‑compression technology can help with pipeline evacuation or the evacuation of natural gas in pipelines.” And so, they wanted to try it out. [0:00] [0:00] This was last summer. It was the summer 2020. We’re all in pandemic times. Hard to sell your products when you’re early stage, working with early adopters over Zoom calls. That’s what super. Yeah, that’s where we were during the pandemic. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Not as easy as a podcast. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: Not as easy as a software. Not as easy as…I mean, you know, it was, it was very, very difficult for us as a company at our stage, but we were plowing ahead. And we were, we had great early adopter customers. And, you know, we were just, we were learning quickly, adapting quickly. [0:00] [0:00] And it was this utility partner that said, “Hey, can we try this? Can we use your GoFLO compressor in this situation, in this application,” which we knew very little about, and “Why not. You know, why not? Why, why? Let’s go for it.” [0:00] [0:00] So we did the project with them. It was…He called. I remember Alan coming down and say, “Well, I just got a call from so‑and‑so and so‑and‑so.” And he was just raving about how successful this project was because it was high visibility. It was like alongside the freeway, and they had to go in. [0:00] [0:00] And they were performing maintenance on the pipeline there. And they were able to evacuate the gas using our GoFLO compressor to do that. But there was many, many, many things that we had to work around. [0:00] [0:00] And then we realized at that point, “OK, we should really have more customers already utilities. So why don’t we start talking to [inaudible 14:24] to get connected to the right people in the utility organizations. Start with Northwest Natural SoCalGas and all the others, and really, really find out.” Do serious customer discovery work. [0:00] [0:00] And this is where I also put in a huge plug to being an innovator, being an entrepreneur, having that background around, how do you do customer discovery work? You have to have those meaningful conversations so that they can tell you, you what does the product need to do. It’s what…? Tell us what it needs to do to solve your pain‑point. [0:00] [0:00] And so, we took all that information and worked with Engineering. I got board approval. So this is what we need to go after this market. This is a really…We all know, we all knew Ngv, natural gas refueling. We knew that, but this whole new market around pipeline evacuation… [0:00] [0:00]
James: So really we’re moving. Rita, you, we talked about this at AGA. I’m not the smart swear. I just have a good memory. But, Rita, you, you’re talking a language that a lot of folks out there dealing with right now, which is that thing mitigation, right? SGA, so y’all moved kind of into that world. [0:00] [0:00] And from what I remember that. So that is, so that story you just told us, really morphed into and I’ll let you say the product, but the newer, GoVAC. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: GOVAC. Right. And our first product is called the GoVAC Flex. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Right. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: Because the, the product, it can do everything the GoFLO can do plus the pipe‑to‑pipe transit. We can take gas out of the pipeline and either compress it up to 3600 PSI to put it into a tube trailer, or to put it into a sphere, or to put it right through into refueling your vehicles, which is actually one of our first customers of the GoVAC. That’s exactly what they’re going to do. [0:00] [0:00] Imagine a utility now saying we’re going to, we’re converting all of, of our fleet vehicles over to natural gas. And we want to be able to use your GoVAC Flex product to do natural gas vehicle refueling at night and pipeline evacuation during the day. I mean… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: That’s a win‑win. That’s a win‑win. [0:00] [0:00]
James: We used to go back to fuel the GoVAC, please. You know, I loved it. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: [laughs] [0:00] [[0:00] crosstalk] [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: I could… [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: We… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Go on. Keep on. I’m sorry. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: No, no, no. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Keep on. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: We just…As you can see, for me, all you have to do is just hit play and I just start talking. So you got to like stop. You got to stop, stop me when you have some questions. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Well, I have a comment. I think I want to just…I looked at this. So it was probably 2010 or ’11 at the company I was with at that time about doing just that. You made utility in Southern Louisiana, had pipes that needed to be evacuated or taken out of service and they didn’t want to invent them in a major metropolitan area. And so we looked at it and, and this that or the other thing didn’t work out. [0:00] [0:00] And I have so much admiration for your company, that to get to the point where you are right now to have a product that is that is I mean, it’s just so needed right now. And it’s so nice to see that your technology is where it’s at. And again my Kudos and hats off to you. I mean, that’s absolutely wonderful. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: And, and, Jim, I can’t…Just listen to your customers. Just listen to your customer. It is listen to our customers. I mean, it’s great to come up with sexy ideas, but it’s really understanding that what are the pain‑points of the customer? [0:00] [0:00] And so, then, you know, I think the word pivot is overused a lot, but it really truly is. It’s taking, you’re in it. You’re, we have the innovation DNA in our system. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yes. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: But innovation, I mean, ARPA‑E has this great phrase, if it works, will it matter? Let’s assume it works, the bottom‑line is will it matter? [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: And it’s only going to matter if people are going to buy it and use it. Yep. And that’s what I think is what I mean. That’s what drives me every day. And it drives my company. It drives my team. It’s we want to build things that people really are going to use… [0:00] [0:00] And kudos to the fact that it also is addressing a much bigger problem that happens now is on now on the lips of everybody’s, you just hear people talk about it. Now is though, it were part of our day‑to‑day language is global methane emissions. What are we going to do about it? [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yep. Yep. Absolutely. [0:00] [0:00]
James: I was looking through a book. I’m going to find it, while y’all dive into the next topic. But I keep a book on my desk out getting real and it’s a It’s really a technology, you know kind of…Even the title says, “Web application.” [0:00] [0:00] But in there, they talked about how important it is to get a product out and that customers will tell you exactly how to make it better, whether you want it or not. So you might as well begin to listen and build around that. Put it out, they’ll tell you what you did right, wrong, and then go from there. So it’s it is always interesting to see it in practice and see it working. So Kudos there. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. Yeah, well, you’re while you’re looking for that, Rita, and you hit a very interesting point, where people could be consciously incompetent or unconsciously incompetent. Meaning they know what they know what they don’t know, or they don’t know what they don’t know. [0:00] [0:00] And, and that brings up to, you know, everyone’s journey into methane mitigation, ESG, you know, all that. And I think it’s important, you know, you touched on it with relationships in the industry and listening to people and having conversations. [0:00] [0:00] What about people out there that are watching this and say, “Hey we want to learn a little bit more”? What’s, what do you recommend that they do to learn a little bit more, especially about Onboard Dynamics? [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: Well, first of all, you got to go to our website. [laughs] I think that we have, we have, we have a new director of marketing at. We’re super excited about it. But he’s been with us, you know, part‑time for, for a while, but now he’s Onboard full‑time, onboard, onboard. We always joke about being Onboard, Onboard. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: There we go. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: And, and so, you know, onboarddynamics.com is one way to learn more about our products, the good. We’re not running away from natural gas vehicle refueling. That’s sort of where we started. We have customers. We have great fleet customers that are excited about our GoFLO and GoFill solution. And will continue to build those, support those. [0:00] [0:00] Our focus is on the GoVAC and so there’s a, you know, a whole page dedicated to the GoVAC Flex. That’s not going to be our only product. We are innovators and our, we will continue to manufacture. Our business model is all around… [0:00] [0:00] We’re we have done some direct sales directly to utilities, but we are moving more with the backing of our new equity sponsor BP Energy Partners into a leasing model. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Oh, I see. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: And also one of your basic servicing. So, so we’re definitely learning to grow and scale quickly to meet this demand. So I would say start first with our website if you want to learn more about, just the whole cross‑compression, using that kind of technology. There’s been several articles and speakers that have talked about this through the AGA, through the SGA. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yep, yep. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: And, and we are also trying to compile a really good reference around, you know, these thought, these thought pieces, people who are doing it. There are certainly some utilities that have already embraced this, this type of technology in their day‑to‑day operations. [0:00] [0:00] And now with the Pipes Act and, and the Just the very specific language around not allowing intentional methane releases during pipeline maintenance and operation… [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Right. Right, right. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: …the day is coming. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: And so we are… [0:00] [0:00]
James: I think they’re talking about it right now while you’re behind the curtain. And Rita, we saw it firsthand at AGA and SGA. I think we’re so because it was some of the first events back, you know, over the last 18 months. And the amount of sessions about these topics were exponential. [0:00] [0:00] And Rita, we’re coming up on a, on what I believe will be some, likely some of our one of our biggest travel years and in the last couple of years with the pandemic in play. And I would expect we’ll see you around and on panels and, and you know… [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: That’s… [0:00] [0:00]
James: I like to say, shaking hands and kissing babies pretty soon next year. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: [laughs] Yes, we plan on being at all. We just, we’re putting together our budget right now for 2022. So as we’re moving into the New Year, depending on when this podcast is playing, I know that we’ll already be well, we’ve already identified the conferences for next year and how we plan on being present at those conferences and trade shows. [0:00] [0:00] And I think that webinars will always be now part of our day‑to‑day learnings, as well. So, so as soon as we…We were building on case studies, you know, we’ve been doing projects now, for since we launched, we launched the GoVAC. [0:00] [0:00] And one of the things I just I, um, I have to say is because you heard me say our very, very first demo, our first time we tried doing something with our core‑technology platform in 2020, was with the GoFLO. Started, got board approval, started talking to customers, and by the… [0:00] [0:00] So we did that project probably in August of 2020. And then by December, we had a full plan that I was getting board approval to say, let’s go do this. Let’s, you know…Even though we were capital star by said, we got to go after this market, and because we think there’s something. There is a really big opportunity here. [0:00] [0:00] And then we immediately took a product that we were building a GoFLO on the line, and we said, “No, let’s take that and let’s make that a GoVAC. Let’s do everything we need to do on the engineering, on the software that controls.” [0:00] [0:00] There’s like there was a lot we had to do to take to go from the GoFLO to the GoVAC, and then launched it. Did our first demo with Northwest Natural and then we did…Then we immediately started scheduling demonstrations. We’d already built up this demand, and we already had utilities lining up. [0:00] [0:00] And, and so, and we officially launched the product in June. Sold our first one within 30 days, and then we were at the AGA on October as you know. Then the BP Energy Partners found us. So this was all happening this summer. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah, for screaming maybe at AGA. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: This was like…Like I kind of felt we were a little bit of the belle of the ball there. But, yeah, I think we had a really good location. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: You had a great location. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: We had a great location. And having the GoVAC there was just wonderful. And so, and so I’m just, I am just the storyteller. I have to, have to, have to call out my team. They are…I am I just, I’m the lucky one because I get to tell the story, but they’re the ones that are putting in the long hours, and the grit and the sacrifices to really, and be out in the field. [0:00] [0:00] And, and doing those first few demos, I mean it was…Then the first few projects. Early, customers and a team and, and great technology, I mean, when it all comes together, it’s magical. And so I just, you know, thrilled that. And then I then you guys get to invite me and I get to talk about it. That’s why I’m the lucky one. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: You know, Rita, if you went and talked to that group that’s them, you know, you’re right. The people behind the scenes do so much work. I mean, and all the places that throughout this industry, but if you were to go talk to them, they’d be thrilled to have the storytellers too. [0:00] [0:00] You know, it’s that team dynamic that really ties us together. And that one, you know, we don’t have the other. But it’s been awesome to see, see your face light up telling the story today. Rita, we, in the show we’re kind of giving folks a platform. [0:00] [0:00] You know, you can use it for a personal agenda. You can use it for an industry agenda. But really, just one of our things we kind of build on here at Coffee with Jim & James is that we like to give it all away. [0:00] [0:00] You know, like, it’s something that if we can pass on some knowledge, if we can share something that’s, you know, helped us in our careers or along the way, that maybe we learned later the third, the mistakes that we made ourselves or whether it’s a high point, giving it to others is something that we’re really passionate about. Rita, is there anything you want to share with our audience or, or with Jim? [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: Yeah, you know, [laughs] thank you. Thank you, James and Jim for giving me that platform. I certainly feel the scars on my back, you know, for all the mistakes I’ve made and everything. [0:00] [0:00] But I guess what I would say is that, to you two and to your audience, that I believe, we believe that the time is now for, you know. That there are smart market‑ready solutions, good mousetraps. I mean, we believe we’ve built a good mousetrap that are key to addressing the, the climate challenges that we’re facing right now. [0:00] [0:00] And I believe in the natural gas grid. I’m just going to go out there and say that. I think that that to walk away, walk away from the natural gas grid is, would be one of the biggest mistakes that our society could make. [0:00] [0:00] We’ve made a significant investment in this infrastructure. We are lucky. We are blessed to have this infrastructure, and it can be decarbonized demethanizer, just cleaned up, greened up, whatever you want to say. But it can be and there’s tools. [0:00] [0:00] There’s market‑ready solutions available. We happen to have one of them or suit of them. But eventually a suite of them, but we have a market‑ready solution. It’s not sexy. It’s just a really good functional tool that we want to put into people’s tool boxes that they can use. [0:00] [0:00] And that we should really…The whole industry should be embracing these market‑ready solutions. And Energy transition to some, to the other side, 30 years down the road is it means taking steps today? [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. It doesn’t happen. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: It’s a big freaking mountain that we all have to climb, and we just got to start taking those steps. That’s what I want… [0:00] [0:00] That’s what I want to leave with you is that I, I, live a great life where I can wake up every day and know that what we’re doing, and what I’m doing, what I’m spending my energy on is something that my grandson will be able to tell his friends down the road. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Is that wonderful. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: My grandma did that. Now, [laughs] you know, I felt a little egotistical and I don’t mean to ruin it now. [0:00] [0:00]
James: No, no, no, no. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: I just feel like people need to take the steps now. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Yeah. Yeah, it doesn’t happen overnight and there’s a lot of smart solutions now in the near, mid, and long‑term future to that we still need to explore and keep looking at this. And one of the best applications for all this is energy choices. [0:00] [0:00] I mean, there’s, there, just like with anything. I’ve been valued the whole diversity of court for…Sorry about that. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: The dogs have chinned in. [0:00] [[0:00] laughter] [0:00] [0:00]
James: That’s Coco. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: James, take over for me. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Yeah. Rita, I will say one thing about our industry as a whole, but specifically the buzz at AGA and even at SGA, again the group that is spearheading, you know, and sit…I’d like to say sitting at the table at these discussions. There’s so many awesome folks out there that are innovating. They’re looking for solutions, you being one of them, Rita, but you saw it. [0:00] [0:00] There are a lot of folks out there that…I mean, we’ve had two years to really work on some amazing things in to see that begin rolling out. And you’re right. If you’re not talking about these things right now, you’re behind the curve right now. Like that’s reality. That’s not, it’s not… [0:00] [0:00] You should probably catch up or you should catch a session, you’re behind and, and we would love to help facilitate those conversations as well from our audience. So anything we can do, connect with Rita. She’s a great resource and, and we’ll do our best to share those messages as well. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: Yeah. Well, the other thing I always tell people, when I’m, after I give a presentation or I do a pitch or I do talking to customers, I, I let people know that once you’ve heard my story, our story, you are now christened as ambassadors. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: There we go. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: Onboard Dynamic store. [0:00] [0:00]
James: Champions. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: You, you, I look to you to and to your audience to go out and spread the word. I mean really is that you are now an ambassador of Onboard Dynamics. And so I’m empowering you to tell our story as well. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: Well, what does that pay? Did you ask, James? Two things I’m going to say and I apologize for the dog Melee. It’s like a, it’s like a zoo. [0:00] [0:00]
James: We’re not a practice. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: But I will say this though, that, one, James, you and I need to go visit their facilities when we’re out in that neck of the woods. So that will be one. [0:00] [0:00] But two, not only is the product services solutions what we need and all that. The one thing I want to highlight on is the thought leadership, how you really embrace that. How you embrace the trade shows because of the relationships and hearing listening, talking to a communication. [0:00] [0:00] Again, kudos to you all, Rita, you and your entire team. Again, thank you for everything that you’re doing. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: No, you’re very welcome. No, it’s a pleasure, actually,. [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: It is. Let me wrap. Let me wrap this up. Again, Rita, thank you for joining us today. It’s been a pleasure to have you on Coffee with Jim & James. I absolutely love your technology, and your solutions. I cannot wait to be an ambassador, and for James and I to spread the word, either on this platform or when we’re out meeting, the probably thousands of people this year at trade shows and such as shaking hands. [0:00] [0:00] So, thank you for joining us. Until next time on Coffee with Jim & James. If you are on the LinkedIn platform, please, follow Onboard Dynamics. Please, connect with Rita. Please, ask questions. Please, explore. Learn all of your options. And until next time, as I always say, stay safe everyone. [0:00] [[0:00] background music] [0:00] [0:00]
Jim: We’ll see you next time. Thanks Rita. [0:00] [0:00]
Rita: Bye. [0:00] [[0:00] music] [0:00]