Stronger Systems, Stronger Support: An Interview with Carl Thompson

In this episode, we sit down with Carl Thompson, VP of Sales and Business Development at Infiltrator, to reflect on the first year since the Orenco acquisition. We talk through the benefits of bringing two industry leaders together, the exciting innovations from our combined R&D teams, and how our customers are already seeing stronger support and better wastewater solutions. Finally, we share how teamwork, progress, and future innovation are shaping decentralized wastewater systems. 

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction
• 1:39 Combined Strengths
• 4:06 Better Together
• 6:26 Looking Forward
• 9:51 Conclusion

Transcript

00:08

Angela: Hello, and welcome to Make It Clear, a conversational podcast about all things related to water and wastewater.  I'm your host, Angela Bounds, and I'm joined by my co-host, Shawn Rapp.  In each episode, we'll tackle a relevant topic with facts and expert opinions and make things clear. 

Hello, and thanks for joining us again. Today, Shawn and I are joined by Carl Thompson, who is the vice president of sales and business development at Infiltrator.

00:38

So hi, Carl. 

Carl: Hey, Angela. Shawn. Glad to be here.  

Shawn: Thanks. 

Angela: We're actually, we're all in the studio together today because Carl's out here visiting for what we call a tech symposium. So we've got a bunch of our technical staff, our engineers out learning all about the different product families that we have now and what we have to offer. So we're really glad that you're out here. 

Carl: Yeah, glad to be here. It's just a great opportunity to do some cross-training and have some

01:08

team collaboration, little team building as well. 

Angela:  Yeah. Lots of team building activities and gorgeous weather. 

Carl: Absolutely. 

Shawn: Oh yeah. 

Angela: We're in mid-September and we're still in the eighties. 

Shawn: We're loving it. 

Angela: So we really wanted to sit down and talk to Carl. You know, it's been almost a year since the acquisition and we wanted to sit down and kind of talk about the benefits and, and changes and

01:36

how things have gone. So, Carl, why don't you tell us what benefits does the combination of IWT and Orenco bring to the wastewater industry in your opinion? 

Carl: Yeah, I think the joining of Infiltrator and Orenco brings a couple benefits and they're really benefits now and in the future. you know, already our combined group is doing a lot more together than we ever could have done as separate companies. We're able to make,

02:06

make it easier for wastewater designers and their clients to select a more complete, high-performing wastewater system. you know, now the system can include a tank and, you know, soil dispersal components from the leading manufacturer of those components, infiltrator, and that system can also include collection and treatment and controls and even composite buildings from

02:34

the leading manufacturer of those systems, Orenco. So what I'm excited about is the result is really well integrated, well engineered systems from one company standing behind that system to support it. And that can mean design support and installation support and operations support. that's kind of what we're seeing already. We're seeing that this week here. at

03:04

Orenco in Oregon.  that's kind of the now and in the future, what excites me is what we're going to be able to deliver going forward. So both Infiltrator and Orenco have had this really strong history of innovation. And now what we've done is we've merged the R &D teams of these two innovative companies. So we've got this single team of R &D engineers

03:31

And we're taking these separate ideas that we had and we're making those ideas better. And we're just super excited about the new products that are in the pipeline. 

Angela: Yeah. I do have to agree that I think that the expansion of the product lines and expansion of services is really one of the biggest benefits that we've seen come to fruition through this whole process.  Offering more products, offering a larger array.

04:01

Being able to service customers all in one spot. 

Carl: Right.  

Angela: So what changes are you seeing in the two companies and what positive effects  are you seeing in the industry?  

Carl: So we're here this week working on some of those changes. So we're already seeing our systems engineering team and that's the group of wastewater engineers who do the design support for these commercial and municipal systems and our engineering system consultants. That's our sales engineering team.

04:31

We're seeing these teams develop liquid only sewer systems that combine the best infiltrator and Orenco technology. this is these liquid only sewer systems. I really believe that's the next wave of technology that we're going to see. You know, so I had the opportunity to meet with a bunch of the Orenco dealers last week in Kentucky to talk about, you know, how we can combine these systems together.  And we're

04:58

We're already seeing how our dealers are merging the systems to make better systems overall for their clients. saw two different Orenco dealers give presentations on how they've taken products from Orenco, both tanks and dispersal systems, and merge them with treatment systems and buildings from Orenco to deliver a better, more complete package, a more cost-effective package

05:28

for their clients. So the result is just a higher performing system with one team to stand behind that system to support the system. 

Angela: Yeah. And we do really have that, you know, you mentioned liquid only sewers and we do have that shared passion around the solutions and where the future is going, right? And what we really see on the forefront, we share a desire

05:56

To provide the best solutions possible in the industry for the need that's there. 

Shawn: that integration just seems to make sense. 

Carl: Yeah, I'm really excited about, you know, us together becoming the hands down leaders in the decentralized wastewater system industry. We're taking nice steps to be there right now. 

Angela: Because individually we were seen as leaders. 

Carl: Right. 

Angela: Right. And together we're doing more and more to lead the industry.

06:26

So speaking about the future, what do see for the future as we move forward? 

Carl: Yes, I mentioned that the new innovations on the product side, the many systems that our combined R &D team is working on.  So even this week here at Orenco, we've got members of the combined R &D team working together. They're working on how we can evaluate new technologies quicker.

06:55

And these products are really gonna be some game changers going forward. So we've got innovations on the product side, but we've also got innovations coming around on how we're gonna serve our customers. we're actively working now on projects that will allow us to deliver design proposals more quickly to our dealers, to our consulting engineers, and to our project’s owner. So we'll also see more complete support from our

07:23

customer-facing team members. We mentioned we've got our systems engineering team here together, and we're really working with them on cross-training. We want them to be uh fully equipped to answer questions, provide solutions and proposals. And I think coming out of this meeting this week, we really are gonna be better equipped. Now it's gonna be a process we're learning every day, we're learning about each other, but the result is gonna be

07:53

better solutions, quicker turnaround times. And I think those that we work with in the community are going to be pleased by that.  And I would say overall, I'm excited about the future.  And I think at upcoming conferences, we're really going to have the ability to have in-depth conversations with the people that we work with in the community. So I would say for those of you listening that are going to be coming to some of these industry conferences in the future, we are

08:23

We're excited to talk to you about what's going on. So please stop by and visit us. 

Angela: Yeah, 

Shawn: Absolutely.  

Angela: I'm reminded of the phrase there's strength in numbers, right? And so, know, as we went through this whole process, everyone would remind us that you got to work through the kinks. 

Carl: Right. 

Angela: There are kinks that you have to work through when you go through any type of merger acquisition or just the merging of companies period. It's,

08:51

you gotta work through the kinks. what I'm seeing now that we're coming up on a year, probably by the time this is released, it will have been a year,  is that as those kinks get worked out, that strength in numbers is really coming to fruition because things are moving ahead  in the organizations at a faster pace  because you've got more people who are like, wait, we really need this. We need to help the customers more. We need to get this for them. If we had this for them, we could do this. if the company had

09:21

this tool, then we'd be able to do business more efficiently. And I'm seeing things change for the better at a more rapid pace. And I really think that that's attributed to that strength in numbers, the number of people on either side that are really seeing the benefit. And I can't wait for everybody outside to see it too. 

Carl: Me too. Super excited. We really are better together. So… 

Angela: Yes, we really are. It's not just a phrase people.

09:49

We really feel that way. 

Shawn: Yes. 

Angela: All right. Well, is there anything else that you want to add? 

Carl: No, I think that hits some highlights of where we are right now. I'm looking forward to sharing more things as we go forward. 

Angela: Yeah. All right. Well, thank you, Carl, for joining us today and thank you all for listening.  

We want to thank you again for joining us today.

10:13

Before you go, don't forget to subscribe where you listen to podcasts so you're notified when new episodes are posted.  Also, you can leave your comments or suggestions through the contact link on our website, www.orenco.com.  Until next time, have a great day.