Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com August 21, 2017 • Hartford Business Journal 3 Boston healthy food vendor startup targets Hartford By Matt Pilon mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com I f you're looking to make your workplace more employee friendly, a Boston-area startup is hoping to help you. LeanBox, which sells to employer office spaces high- tech, self-serve kiosks stocked with fresh food and bever- ages, has turned its gaze toward Great- er Hartford. The startup, which says it has served about 400 custom- ers in New England since it was founded in 2013, has chosen Great- er Hartford and Chicago as its two target markets for expansion. Co-founder Shea Coakley said in a recent interview that the company plans to open a distribu- tion center in or around Hartford in the next three or four months. LeanBox hasn't yet picked the location for its Connecticut office, but Coakley said it would be leased space that would start out with about 15 employees. LeanBox has approximately 60 employees in Boston. LeanBox is trying to cash in on the recent popularity of cold brewed ice coffee, which major retailers like Starbucks and Dunkin' Donuts added to their respective line-ups last year. LeanBox brews and kegs cold brew in Massachusetts and its customers can lease cold brew taps and take deliveries. Coakley said investment manage- ment firm Conning just became Lean- Box's first Hart- ford customer. Coakley said he is hoping to replicate some of the success LeanBox has had placing its self-checout retail machines in office parks in the Greater Bos- ton area. Accounting firms, mar- keting agencies and others are part of a "growing tidal wave of offices wanting to improve cul- ture," he said. "Hartford we thought was interesting in that it's pretty close Swedish manufacturer opening U.S. HQs in Berlin By Scott Whipple Special to the Hartford Business Journal S teelwrist, a Swedish-based international manu- facturing company, will open its U.S. headquar- ters this September in Berlin. Speaking by phone from Stockholm, Sweden, Steelwrist CEO Stefan Stock- haus said the company chose Berlin for its centralized location and the convenience of shipping its products to an accessible East Coast hub. "There's only a six-hour dif- ference in terms of service sup- port from Sweden to Connecti- cut," Stockhaus said. Established in Sweden in 2005, Steelwrist develops, manufactures and sells til- trotators, quick couplers, accessories and attach- ments for excavators. The privately owned company also offers spare parts, field service and service agreements. With annual sales of $40 million, Steel- wrist currently employs 75 workers and is a world leader in developing, manufacturing and selling equipment that increases excavator efficiency. The key to the company's growth is its tiltrotator, an attachment that makes other excavating equipment more efficient. The til- trotator spins, tilts and acts like a steel wrist attached to a worker's hand. This instrument can handle tasks in civil engineering, construction and landscaping. Stockaus, 52, a graduate of Sweden's Uppsala Uni- versity and the Harvard School of Business, says the demand for his company's tiltrotators has increased in recent years. "Twelve years ago, we at Steelwrist saw a huge oppor- tunity in the international market for our tiltrotator," he said. "Currently, the three Swedish companies that make tiltrotators control 95 percent of the world's market. Recently, Steelwrist began operations in South Korea." Stockhaus said the com- pany's product market share in Scandinavia is 90 percent. In the U.S., it's approximately 1 percent. "However, in the past two years we have seen an increase in interest from the U.S. on our website [www.steelwrist.com]," he said. "We started to get requests for [price] quota- tions from companies in various states." General Manager Christian Yanes, who will head Steelwrist's U.S. operations, said the tiltro- tator is key to customer interest in America. "It's the one product that can increase productiv- ity by up to 35 percent," he said. "The more complicated the job, the higher the produc- tivity. If you can do a job in four days rather than seven, you're saving your company money." Yanes, who is acquiring a U.S. Visa, said the Berlin office will be located at 576 Christian Lane in 6,500 square feet of rental space. Steelwrist's official U.S. headquarters will drive company operations in all 50 states. Products www.kelsercorp.com 43 Western Blvd, Suite 150 Glastonbury, CT 06033 860 610 2200 Make sure students have earned their grades, not hacked them. Educational institutions have unique cybersecurity challenges. We have solutions. www.kelsercorp.com/defendeducation LeanBox's high-tech, self-serve kiosks are stocked with fresh food and beverages. The Boston-area startup is targeting Greater Hartford for expansion. Shea Coakley, co-founder, LeanBox Continued Continued P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D Steelwrist's tiltrotator, seen left attached to an excavator, is the company's top sell- ing equipment. It spins, tilts and acts like a steel wrist, helping to improve the efficiency of larger excavating equipment. An outside shot of Steelwrist's new U.S. headquarters in Berlin at 576 Christian Lane. The company is spending $500,000 to renovate its 6,500 square feet. P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D P H O T O | C O N T R I B U T E D

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