Situated between Silicon Beach to the south and the innovation of Cal Poly to the north, Santa Maria isn’t exactly known as a hub for technology along the Central Coast.
However, TechBrew is planting the seeds for a more tech-driven industry in Santa Maria. On Oct. 24, Moxie Café hosted the city’s first TechBrew.
No, TechBrew has nothing to do with beer, although beers were available to drink. Instead, TechBrew is a monthly gathering of people interested in local tech projects. Each meeting offers a different subject and a different speaker.
The meetings have been occurring on a monthly basis for at least the past five years in San Luis Obispo. Between 30 and 50 events are held each year on topics such as robotics, women in technology, etc. They’re co-organized by Bob Dumouchel from Softec, a nonprofit with the mission “to advance business formation and growth in the technology sector,” particularly through events throughout the Central Coast. One of the goals of the gatherings is to create “Softec moments”—when people and technology come together.
Dan Freer—a former U.S. Navy aviation electronics technician, who now works for Edward Jones—leads TechBrew in SLO.
“The driver for this is that we had this core in SLO and we felt like we weren’t serving our mission because we said that we were Central Coast,” Freer told the Sun. “We felt we were lacking a little bit in Northern Santa Barbara County.
Think of TechBrew as a networking event with a TED Talk-style presentation by local techies showing off their ideas. On Oct. 24, Santa Maria Mayor Alice Patino and other city officials were in attendance, sipping beer and snacking on vegetable trays while attentively listening to the featured speaker.
This particular TechBrew featured Arroyo Grande resident, business owner, and innovator Tom Kosta, who came up with an idea to remove pesky gophers from your garden or golf course. It’s called TacticalRC and it’s a remote-controlled Humvee with a Russian-made, automatic CO2-powered, laser-sighted BB gun mounted on top.
Kosta said he came up with the idea after watching his wife’s tomato plants slowly reduced to stumps by a hungry gopher. He capitalized on the opportunity to buy parts and manufacture an RC car from scratch. He spent nearly $10,000 for parts, including discontinued plastic Humvee shells from China, and a gun mount—plus a suppressor, after-market tires, a lift kit, posi-traction, an IP camera, night vision, and more. The gun mount alone cost upwards of $4,000, Kosta said.
It may sound like a 4×4 hobbyist’s dream, but on a miniature scale. Being a former employee for IBM, Kosta put some of his coding skills to work on the software side of things.
After months of building and testing, Kosta eventually lost the prototype to a fire caused by an unstable battery. He’s thinking about building a second model with some upgrades, including the addition of virtual reality.
Kosta isn’t sure the idea is ready for mass-market appeal—at least not yet. For one, it would be too expensive, and two, it has limited applicability.
“TacticalRC failed as a business,” Kosta said at the meeting, although he added that the project had some promise if it continued to be developed. “However it opened doors. People know about TacticalRC.”
If anything, the presentation demonstrated the development process of a new idea.
“Either you invent something through amalgamation of other inventions or invent something completely new to solve the problem,” Kosta told the Sun. “Necessity is the mother of all invention.”
Along with TacticalRC, the Orcutt native also owns Peak Wifi, a wireless internet service provider that provides internet to the residents of nearby Edna Valley and Arroyo Grande. He’s able to deliver fast and reliable service to his customers using a series of solar-powered repeaters scattered throughout the area.
“We’re in the next evolution of the internet right now,” Kosta said. “Everything is going to be mobile.”
And as far as the growing interest in tech along the Central Coast, Kosta added that Santa Maria isn’t too far behind.
“Santa Maria is changing,” he said. “It’s becoming more techy. It’s only a matter of time.”
TechBrew events are free to the public, but they ask for a $20 “caloric contributor,” Freer said, which goes to pay for snacks. Meeting invitations are emailed to members who sign up for the group’s newsletter.
The nonprofit is hosting tours of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant, from Nov. 15 to 18. Tours are available to those on the mailing list on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information on TechBrew, Softec, or to register for a tour, visit softec.org.
Highlights
• Murray and Murray Insurance Agency announced on Oct. 25 that it is affiliated with Leavitt Group, a network of insurance brokers. Dan Lillard, a team member of Murray and Murray, will become a co-owner and managing principal of the agency. Murray and Murray is a full-service agency and has been providing insurance solutions to the Santa Maria and Central Coast area since 1949. Visit murray-murray.com for more information.
• November is National Lung Cancer Awareness Month. In recognition, Dignity Central Coast hospitals, including Marian Regional Medical Center, offers lung cancer screenings and urges those who are at risk to be proactive in getting treatment. Screenings use CAT scan technology, which is covered by most insurance providers. For more information, visit dignityhealth.org/lung-cancer-awareness.
Staff Writer David Minsky wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, email, or mail.
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2016.
