2019 LYCOMING COLLEGE LC MAGAZINE SPRING

“I invented E-Roller, The Ergonomic Paint Roller, for one main reason — painting hurts. The E-Roller is what I consider to be the first true alternative to the traditional paint roller, which everyone has, everyone uses, and everyone complains about. After you start painting using the traditional paint roller, you start feeling discomfort in your wrist, quickly turning to outright pain, which stays with you for days. I have always loved the ability to have an idea and then make it come to life. Inventing a new product is a basic example of that. Through both my career and education, I have sought out positions where I would have an opportunity to express and implement ideas in a number of ways. Lycoming provided me with incredible opportunities to build myself as a leader and help find the confidence to believe and eventually invest in my ideas.” “I started cutting grass when I was 16 and would field gardening questions — where to find a plant, where to plant it — from just about all of my clients. I told myself that gardening for the average consumer has got to be easier. That is the mission of BloomBox: to make gardening accessible to anyone who wants to garden. As a landscaper, I would spend hours of my day travelling from greenhouse to greenhouse to find and locate plants and shrubbery and faced high minimums, unfriendly staff, and all-around hassle. The horticultural world has not changed since the 1970s. I was appalled at the corporate life of my previous job of nearly five years out of college and decided I wanted to quit and start my own business within two years. “The inspiration behind Poka came at two different moments in my life. The first was when I was working as a continuous improvement director at the Leclerc cookie factory. When eight mechanics left the company in under two months, their knowledge was lost because it wasn’t documented anywhere. I searched for a solution in the market but found nothing. The second moment of inspiration occurred when my water heater was broken. I went on YouTube to search for a way to fix the problem and within two minutes of watching a video, I knew what to do. I then recognized the impact videos could have for trouble-shooting problems on a factory floor. Anyone can buy equipment. What distinguishes one manufacturing company from the next is expertise. Poka helps manufacturers to document and share this know-how. Our web and mobile app is designed specifically for the factory floor to support on-the-job training, knowledge building, and communications. Our mission is to provide companies with the ability to use and share their best practices, thoughts, and knowledge — anywhere at any time.” t Lycoming College, we empower our students to think deeply and act boldly. They form lifelong friendships, discover talents, follow their passions, and build an academic and social platform that launches them into careers of significance and lives of meaning. It’s no surprise that our students carry these skills, values, and experiences with them long after they pass through the Metzler Gate at commencement. Lycoming is proud of our alumni and the marks they have made and continue to make in this ever-changing world. Many have demonstrated not only their desire but innovation to improve lives, and we are pleased to highlight a few who have inspired us by their entrepreneurial spirit. Zablocki (R) Alexandre Leclerc ’11 Majors: business management, international business, marketing www.poka.io Co-Founder & CEO, Poka Inc. Inventor, The E-Roller Planter-in-Chief, BloomBox Ryan Brooks ’05 Major: business management www.eroller.com David Zablocki ’11 Majors: business management, marketing www.getblooming.com Lycoming prepared me by what I call my personal professors. It was a great benefit for me to have such small class sizes. The range of education from psychology to accounting that I received is put to use every day. Fun fact: my business capstone project is now essentially my business, just e-commerce. I still find myself looking over that original business plan I wrote in my final business class.” 21 www.lycoming.edu