This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Rick Latella, president of Samaritan Shield.
Latella, an entrepreneur and former engineer for Motorola, is a graduate of the Milwaukee-based Water Council’s BREW startup accelerator program. He discusses his Illinois company’s ties to Wisconsin through distributors and contract manufacturers, as well as his experience with developing its products.
Samaritan Shield sells a surface cleaning and protectant agent, based on a zinc-based material that was developed for use in sensitive environments such as hospitals, nursing homes, daycare centers and more. It can be widely used for various applications, including cleaning electronics.
“Basically what we thought was, there’s got to be a better way of cleaning surfaces without degrading the surface of the thing you’re cleaning,” Latella said.
Along with its cleaning applications, the company’s agent is also used in water purification applications.
He discusses the scientific process that went into developing the agent and later testing it through universities and other third-party groups, as well as the company’s current approach to marketing to businesses. Latella aims to expand with distributors to hospitals, as well as the possibility of international sales.
“We’re looking to grow from that perspective,” he said, adding “I do know that there’s an awful lot of people out there that are looking for something green that they can feel safe around their children and their pets.”
Latella also notes the company was “lucky enough to be able to work with students” at UW-Whitewater and a biosciences teacher there who helped out with validation and testing.
“They’ve done some posters, so we’ve supported this work and they’ve supported our work,” he said.
Listen to the podcast, sponsored by UW-Madison:
