Today we’d like to introduce you to Walter Cromer
Hi Walter, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
After earning my bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural engineering, I worked as an ag research engineer before I moved to Knoxville. When I moved here, I left engineering to pursue a career in IT for 28 years. I was fortunate to work in companies that started in Knoxville, and though well beyond the founder’s garage by the time I joined, they all still had the entrepreneurial spirit. I eventually led IT in two companies and reported directly to the CFO several times. I learned a lot about business during this career, from working with the CFOs and other business leaders and business processes by installing and operating the business systems. I love learning and did my best to soak up all I could. And I made great lifelong friends along the way.
I needed to make a change, so in 2018, my wife and I started Eden Concepts to work on precision agricultural technology development. My wife’s background is in math and computer science, and my focus areas are instrumentation and control systems. I’ve always had a passion for problem-solving, innovation, and invention. Starting this business to develop a new way of doing things feeds that passion well.
The first few years were spent learning about entrepreneurship and getting re-acquainted with the ag industry. Thankfully, our Knoxville Entrepreneur Center, LaunchTN, and AgLaunch were incredibly supportive. I wrote and submitted Small Business Innovation Research grant proposals to the USDA and National Science Foundation. We were awarded both of those and a matching grant from LaunchTN. That enabled us to open our R&D office and add to our team.
Our goal is to develop and commercialize a novel way to grow commercially fresh vegetables, beginning with tomatoes. Many of these crops are transplanted with expensive, heavy, diesel-powered equipment and use a lot of scarce and expensive labor. Finding and retaining the quality labor required is a big issue for growers. We project that our autonomous systems will eliminate the labor requirements by up to 96%, eliminate on-farm fossil fuel use in the planting process, and improve soil health because they are lighter in weight.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Many plant science research projects have proved our approach, but that was some time ago. However, engineering was never done to create a commercial solution. So, most farmers and current industry experts aren’t aware of this approach and are very skeptical at first. It takes quite a bit of conversation to get them to understand it, but when they do, most get very excited about the potential.
We have been fortunate to win 3 of the four grants we applied for, so non-dilutive funding has been a great benefit. However, waiting to hear if you’ve won and keeping the doors open and lights on during those periods has been stressful! Every startup struggles with cash flow, and we’ve had a taste of that, too.
On a personal level, when it’s just me working on a technical problem, and there’s no one to shoulder up with to discuss it, it can get lonely and tiring. And then I do solve it and there’s no one to celebrate with!!!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m an engineer with a typical problem-solving mindset, but I also think I work well with people. Some have said I’m an extroverted introvert, and that’s probably true. I love solving problems and like to work with others, but I’m also very comfortable working alone.
My first post-grad school job was as an ag research engineer for the University of Georgia Coastal Plain Experiment Station in Tifton, Georgia. I was the ‘high tech’ engineer and provided engineering service to any project on campus, both UGA and USDA, that requested my help. I was juggling requests from multiple people all the time, and I think that experience helped me develop my communication skills. Both listening and sharing. I’m still not an expert at this, but without that skill, I know I would not have been successful. With so much being handed to me, I learned to keep track of things well and prioritize. Those kills were instrumental in my career.
At the company I moved to Knoxville to join, customer service was drilled into us. We were a private company, and I was the 89th employee. I worked there for almost 12 years and made lifelong friends there. I was hired as the first full-time IT employee to manage the company’s computer networks and software product releases to manufacturing. We were growing so fast that in six weeks, I was head of IT and had my first employee. But I believe the customer service mindset drilled in made a huge difference. One very cool thing about the experience with that company is that for the first four years we were a private company, then we went public and for four years I worked for a public company. Then were bought by a global conglomerate and I got a taste of working for a huge company for about four years. And all without changing my parking space!
Finally, I am grateful for all I’ve learned from others. Even e really, really hard lessons.
Any big plans?
USDA has awarded us an SBIR Phase II grant, and LaunchTN provided matching funds, which will fund our work for two years. Our big goal is to have our first commercially ready planting system for the fresh tomato market by 2026, so it will be heads down and all hands on deck for the foreseeable future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://edenconceptsllc.com/
- Instagram: @walterceden
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/company/eden-concepts-llc
