Entrepreneurial Spirit | Easy Adapter Inc.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio — Dozens of entrepreneurs in the Mahoning and Shenango valleys navigated the challenges of the pandemic to launch a new venture, proving the entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well.
For Growth Report 2, The Business Journal spoke with owners of six local businesses who shared their experiences. They include Devyn Bellamy of Geras Home Solutions; Amy Javens of Cycle Life Studio; Lindy Lauro of Lindy’s Lunch; Monique Davis of Beloved Guardians Home Health Care; Sara Lee Grandelis of Lotus Art Center; John McDonald and Joe Driscoll of Easy Adapter Inc.; and Benjamin Warren of Big Benz Towing & Repair.
Each will be spotlighted separately online.
Easy Adapter Inc. | John McDonald and Joe Driscoll
Electrical safety has been on John McDonald’s mind since he was young, after learning that his maternal grandfather died by electrocution in a work accident.
Today, he and his business partner, Joe Driscoll, are working on bringing to market their new electrical mounting system though their company, Easy Adapter Inc. in Warren.
“It’s a really, really neat concept. We get a lot of great feedback on it, too,” McDonald says.
McDonald and Driscoll envision their invention as potentially the new standard for electrical hookups.
The Cortland contractors and founders of Easy Adapter Inc., who use space at Brite Energy Innovators in Warren, began work in early 2020 on their interchangeable electrical mounting system.
Lights and appliances such as televisions affixed with their electrical connection adapters can be mounted on compatible wall-mounted electrical fixtures.
In addition to all the electrical connections being contained and not exposed, appliances using the connections can be easily removed when it’s time to paint walls, Driscoll says. Lights using them can be taken down to be cleaned and then put back.
After initial development, the partners received a provisional patent, which “gave us time to design and build it how we wanted it,” McDonald says. The company recently sent 18 prototypes to Underwriters Laboratories for testing.
The entrepreneurs say they faced a couple of challenges as they launched Easy Adapter, including a common one during the pandemic: shipping delays.
Parts for the adapters are being made in America but the molds they ordered were made in China.
“When they got shipped over, they got stuck at sea,” McDonald says.
The biggest challenge, though, has been securing capital, although discussions are underway with local investors looking into the company.
The partners are also in discussions with the Lowe’s hardware chain for use of Easy Adapter in its stores.
“Our vision is that one day, it will be a standard,” Driscoll says. “People will start putting these in the house in certain areas, like your living rooms or whatever, or your front porches and back porches. And they’ll be interchangeable. They won’t be stuck with that same old light that they had picked out in the beginning.”
Read more of these stories of entrepreneurship over the next few days, or read George Nelson’s story in Growth Report 2.
Pictured: John McDonald and Joe Driscoll of Easy Adapter Inc. show their invention.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
