Like the most fortunate of entrepreneurs, Charlie Gilmore identified a need and met that need in an  innovative manner. It just took a little longer than he anticipated to get to market. His TooLink(R) coupler is a quick-hitch device that turns a six- to nine-hour job into a two- or three-minute task at a construction site. But he needed to get the 2,000-pound device in front of potential prospects and investors. That’s when Mike Colwell of the Business Innovation Zone (BIZ) worked with Gilmore to apply for a grant from the state and the Iowa Department of Economic Development. 

“A really good operator can make the change in under a minute,” says Gilmore, owner of Gilmore Manufacturing Inc. “It usually takes more than three hours to take a stick work tool off and another three to six hours to put it back on. Plus, you need to have a service truck, an operator in another machine, two or three people beating the pins in plus an assortment of hand tools.”

It was a claim that demanded a demonstration, so the BIZ helped Gilmore secure a product demonstration grant for $150,000 from the Iowa Department of Economic Development. The funds were used to develop marketing and promotional materials and, in September, bring in 300 people from all over the country to see the demonstration. A second demonstration in October brought in more prospects and potential investors. 

“The visitors saw the product in action during a two-hour demonstration; then we fed them lunch and spent the next four hours answering questions,” Gilmore says. “Since then, I’ve had 200 to 300 calls and letters from interested parties, including four or five investors.

That would have never happened without the demonstration where they could see it physically work.”

Gilmore has more than 30 years experience working for Caterpillar, where he was developing tools to speed the clean up at railroad derailments. There were no solutions to go from a shear to a grapple to a clamshell tool quickly and efficiently. He was told that what he had in mind was impossible.

He started a research and development company in 1982 and the idea for an elbow joint coupler emerged. In 1998, he patented the idea and had a prototype built and tested extensively by a Detroit-area contractor. When it was disassembled and evaluated, there were no apparent problems. The only problem was that it was way ahead of its time, according to Gilmore, so he spent the next 10 years working for others as he waited for market conditions to change.

The market has finally caught up. The construction industry went through major consolidation and diesel fuel prices rose dramatically, increasing the need for a quick-turn coupler in which the hydraulics, electronics and pneumatics couple automatically with fewer workers, reduce risk of environmental contamination from hydraulic spills and fewer accidents. 

“Versatility is the key feature,” Gilmore says. “The TooLink coupler reduces operating costs because there’s no redundancy in the equipment needed on the job and the associated fuel costs. Ultimately, it’s safer for everyone.”

Since 2007, Gilmore has been focused full time on making the TooLink coupler a reality. Right now, he’s reviewing several investment proposals that would allow him to start building a production plant.