2020 Emerging Business Winner
EMP Shield, LLC
EMP Shield, LLC, is an engineering design company and manufacturer of the world’s first devices to protect houses, businesses, and larger installations from high-altitude electromagnetic pulses – such as those that can be generated by solar coronal mass ejections – as well as from more ordinarily occurring power surges and lightning strikes. They have developed and tested technology that can defend electronics in less than a billionth of a second.
Tim Carty founded EMP Shield in 2017 when he was trying to develop a new energy source based on the capture of solar electrostatic waves. This led to his researching existing surge protectors and discovering that there were none on the market that could protect against all three phases of a high-altitude electromagnetic pulse, a.k.a. HEMP. This inspired EMP Shield’s original product design – a surge protector that could defend electronics from all phases associated with a HEMP and protect the property of the everyday public. Developing real solutions to potentially devastating problems is core to EMP Shield’s mission.
The team at EMP Shield first contacted the Kansas Small Business Development Center in July of 2018 because they had heard about the upcoming Encountering Innovation conference. Within hours of being assigned to work with Tom Byler as their Tech Coach, Tim and Peter Keegan, General Manager of EMP Shield, were sitting in his office, eager to get to work on whatever they needed to do to succeed at Encountering Innovation. The team heeded Tom’s advice and also took full advantage of every opportunity at the conference. The significance of the company’s technology and the management team’s ability to back up its claims were well received by the tech scouts, and the conference was such a positive experience that the team attended again in 2019.
2019 was a big year for EMP Shield. The company added over 20 full-time employees, leased a building in Burlington, KS, and by the end of the year was in the process of expanding and upgrading the manufacturing facilities with a $1.25 million fully automated pick-and-place line for building circuit boards in a cleanroom environment. After completion of this state-of-the-art facility in the HUB Zone of Coffey County, EMP Shield plans to expand into a second building in 2020. According to Tim, one of the things that makes the EMP Shield team so strong is that they hold each other mutually accountable to their purpose. “When we finish a meeting, having gone through our checks and balances, we have tasks to be done, actions to report back on, solutions that we have agreed on. We have a lot of accountability. Everything is purpose-driven and mission-driven.” Advisors at the Kansas SBDC round out that team. “The whole support of the SBDC to us has been impeccable, and we are so very, very blessed to have them as an extension and part of our team at EMP Shield and are very grateful for that.”
fab fa-facebook@EMPShield
fab fa-twitter@emp_shield
210 S. 6th Street
Burlington, KS 66839
fas fa-phone(620) 412-9978
fas fa-envelope-squaremarketing@empshield.net
The Kansas SBDC at Emporia State University serves the following counties: Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Coffey, Cowley, Elk, Greenwood, Lyon, Marion, Morris, and Osage. Contact the team at ksbdc@emporia.edu, or call them at (620) 341-5308. Kansas SBDC Advisors: Tom Byler & Laurie Pieper