Crain’s Chicago on OWC
by Raman Chadha, Crain’s Chicago Business
Back on the Radar: Other World Computing and going green
Posted by Ann D. at 5/13/2011 10:23 AM CDT on Chicago Business
Larry O’Connor, founder of Other World Computing in Woodstock.
By Raman Chadha
How many business owners do you know who have truly made their facilities green?
I don’t mean a recycling program or motion-detection light switches. I mean a renovation or a new building. If you’re like me, the answer is few, if any. The costs are higher, the returns are long-term, and most business owners already have enough new initiatives and challenges.
Meet Larry O’Connor, founder and CEO of Other World Computing, a $70-million manufacturer and distributor of storage solutions, hard drives and accessories for computers and mobile devices. Larry founded OWC in 1988 at the age of 14 (yes, you read that right) in Woodstock, a far northwest suburb. The company has seen steady growth, more than doubling its employee count since 2007. And Larry remains ambitious, shooting for $1 billion in annual revenue within five years.
In 2008, OWC’s team moved into a newly built 37,000-square-foot facility, which earned the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum certification. There are 335 LEED-certified projects in Illinois, according to the U.S. Green Building Council, which developed the program. Only 19 of those received platinum certification, the highest possible rating for new construction and major renovations. And as one might expect, most of the platinum projects are owned by large organizations, including government, institutional, academic, and corporate entities . . . not entrepreneurial firms.
OWC’s facility features geothermal heating and cooling, permeable pavers instead of a retention pond and a 500-kilowatt wind turbine, the kind that you increasingly see sprawling across America’s countrysides. That helps produce far more energy than the facility uses and, combined with drastically lower energy utilization, results in some serious gains.
OWC’s wind turbine (image from the OWC website)
Larry and his team pursued the eco-friendly facility for a number of reasons.
First, like all smart business decisions, it had to make economic sense. Larry acknowledged that financing and government incentives helped the project’s feasibility, but the additional costs had to be justified by an appropriate return on investment. After all, going green doesn’t increase the appraised value of the building. And while the ROI is long-term, OWC has already seen “substantial energy savings,” which can have a big impact on a manufacturing and distribution firm’s bottom line. In fact, Larry says the facility uses less energy than a building one-third its size.
Second, he said the decision to go green was aligned with the company’s product philosophy. You see, OWC’s specialty is extending the useful life of computers and devices by helping customers invest in systems they already have rather than buying new ones. By putting off the requirement for new systems, often by 12-24 months, their customers are able to spend less, get more for their money and, obviously, do the environment good. Larry saw the eco-friendly facility as yet one more way for the company to advocate renewal and sustainability.
Finally, Larry says that going green was simply the “responsible thing to do,” pointing out that the facility has had an impact well beyond the environment. “We wanted to be independent of the local grid. It’s been a huge boon for the environment, created a positive atmosphere for employees, and raised the engagement with our community. It’s clear that they’re glad to have us.”
That part is surprising, given how so many communities oppose large structures that change the visual landscape. Needless to say, the turbine serves as a landmark for the town of Woodstock in addition to a higher profile for OWC. But Larry explained that the facility’s overall impact, the fact that the company’s growth continues to benefit the community, and its long-term relationship with the area made a difference.
“I grew up out here. I’ll do anything I can to preserve this countryside.”
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