Equipois Inc., designer and manufacturer of the awardâ€winning zeroG® exoskeletal arm technology, opened its new 12,000 sq. foot Los Angeles headquarters and manufacturing facility last week. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, addressed hundreds in attendance at the grand opening event and heralded the company as one of the region’s most exciting and innovative young ventures. Utilizing Equipois’s zeroG® arm to maneuver a huge aerospace cutting tool, Mayor Villaraigosa officially cut an oversized green ribbon to officially welcome Equipois to Los Angeles.
"Equipois’s expansion is a testament to the City’s commitment to supporting the specialized needs of small businesses and retaining and creating the highâ€tech, innovative jobs that come with them," Mayor Villaraigosa said. "The creation of the City's first ever small business team has strengthened our commitment to helping small businesses like Equipois reach their fullest potential and to addressing their needs at City Hall."
On pace to triple its revenue from 2010 to 2011 and to increase its staff by 50% this year, Equipois had outgrown its Hollywood, CA facility and was approached by numerous cities in the Western U.S. to relocate. “e chose to stay in Los Angeles because the culture of innovation, the immensely talented labor pool, the manufacturing base and the support network all make the city an ideal place for highâ€growth companies,”said Eric Golden, Equipois’ president and CEO.
Presenters at today’ ceremony also included entrepreneur Dr. Patrick Soonâ€Shiong, the sponsor of the Los Angeles Business Journal’ innovation award bearing his name and Missy Brost, senior manager of ergonomics technology for The Boeing Company, a longâ€time Equipois customer. “quipois presents an incredible opportunity to take innovation and technology from one discipline and morph it into another," said Dr. Patrick Soonâ€Shiong, chief executive officer of NantWorks. "Equipois, along with other companies, are starting to form ‘ilicon Beach’and we fully support their efforts to keep innovation in LA."
"Our priority is to keep our manufacturing team safe, secure and happy," said Missy Brost, senior manager of ergonomics technology for The Boeing Company. “e found that the Equipois arm met our requirements for a number of workplace processes. And it has the potential, with some adaptation, to be used in some other applications.”Evolved from the awardâ€winning Steadicam® camera stabilization system, Equipois’ zeroG® technology lets workers maneuver tools and other objects as if weightless, but with unparalleled freedom of motion. It enables companies to reduce workplace injuries and increase quality and productivity, with annual returns on investment that can reach 200â€500%. Many of the world’ top companies in aerospace, automotive, metal finishing, and other manufacturing industries have adopted zeroG® as a new best practice.
In the last year, Equipois has emerged as one of the U.S.’ most innovative young companies. The company was profiled as one of America’s Most Promising Startups by Bloomberg Businessweek; was named Most Innovative Company, North America by the 2010 International “Stevie” Business Awards; received the Los Angeles Business Journal’s 2010 Patrick Soonâ€Shiong Innovation Award and BritWeek’ 2011 Business Innovation Award; and was featured on CNN Money’ Innovation Nation, among other honors. Its new Xâ€Ar™exoskeletal arm support technology was also covered on CNN in its “Big I” segment, which highlights “big new ideas and innovations to help with big problems.”
