By Lydia Dishman
Contributing Writer

CLEMSON -- “You are standing on a piece of sacred ground for my partner and me,” said Jim Oswald, CEO of PinPoint GeoTech, LLC., to those assembled Monday evening at Clemson City Hall. 

Gesturing to a window over his shoulder, Oswald thanked Rick Cotton, the city’s administrator and other Clemson public works employees for helping generate the idea for the PinPoint technology.

Oswald’s speech was part of an acceptance ceremony for a $200,000 grant awarded from SCRA affiliate SC Launch! that will further develop PinPoint GeoTech’s marketing and sales efforts. The company has already received $75,000 from private investors.

As he took the check, Oswald credited the city for being “a development partner since day one.” Clemson agreed to test drive the PinPoint-Public Works product suite, a GPS based software that saves time and cuts fuel costs by allowing more efficient debris removal. 

Cotton asserted that the technology saved the city a significant amount of money in fuel costs and reduced liability expenditures, but also noted improved customer service that could not be measured in dollars. “It used to take two to three weeks to get items marked and picked up,” said Cotton who added that everything from brush and leaves to sofas are marked automatically and taken away the next day.

To show their gratitude, Oswald and his partner and Chief Technology Officer Taji Richardson offered the city of Clemson two more units for their use.

For a typical city with four trash trucks, the system with software and equipment usually costs about $22,000, Oswald said. Clemson has two units operating currently, and Cotton said the sanitation department loans those out to other departments.

Union and Gaffney also are using the PinPoint system. Union has reported a 42 percent reduction in fuel costs over the last five months according to data compiled by Perry Harmon, the city’s public service director.

Oswald said he anticipates that the Georgia Municipal Association will become another strategic partner, one that would market GeoTech to their 502 municipalities as a preferred vendor. “We would like to grow this system from the Southeast out to the rest of the country,” Oswald said.

Dave McNamara, senior vice president of SCRA and director of SC Launch! said he it was rewarding to see PinPoint GeoTech’s “success in progress,” noting that SCRA has funded around 95 companies. “In three years, I am pleased and encouraged by intellectual property that is out there,” McNamara said, adding that venture capitalists are now looking at South Carolina as greenfield opportunity. McNamara said PinPoint GeoTech’s success will have a far-reaching impact.  “More entrepreneurs will be interested in coming here.”