Week 3 – Happy 22nd Anniversary to BioSurfaces!

Hope all is going well.  It feels like forever since my last blog.  March was such a busy month that I didn’t want to overshadow all of the good things going on at the company.  Cameron was churning out a lot of updates, which received a lot of attention.  I want to start this week out by welcoming our newest team member Jamie Rangel to BioSurfaces.  Jamie will be focusing on evaluating the interaction of our Bio-Spun™ materials with various cells for different applications.  For everyone’s first week, we always provide an overview of all the different programs we have ongoing at the company.  For a little company, we have A LOT going on.  And this is not just lip service.  Our new employees look like a deer standing in the headlights as I’m presenting all of the projects on the whiteboard. I tell everyone who hears this overview to give it time and that as they begin to start in, it will become more and more clear.  This advice has not failed yet.  It is fun to watch as it all begins to fall into place.        

It is funny that I have been writing this blog for several years now and when I do not send one out, I miss it.  I am sure it’s hard to believe since it is more work, but I’ve always enjoyed writing.  When I first started, I was writing a new blog every week.  Both Cameron and Tina pulled the reins in on that, knowing that it was becoming a little too much.  When I write each blog, I feel like I am updating a long-distance friend that I know has some interest in how things are going with us and the company (maybe not in that exact order but you get the gist).  Last summer, I started writing a book about our journey with BioSurfaces.  It is always something that I wanted to do.  I am completely under no delusions that people will be interested in the story, but it is a good way to chronicle this crazy journey.  I almost have the first chapter done, but it just takes a backseat to everything else going on.  I also think that if by some strange chance that what we learned, both the easy and hard way (mostly the latter) could help one person, that would make me happy.  I am hopeful that I can get back to it this summer.  I enjoy writing on the beach.  No better place to relax and unwind to write down some thoughts.

As I began thinking about a topic for the blog, I almost forgot that we are closing in on our 22nd anniversary on April 26th (technically it is the 29th as listed on the registration but we submitted the paperwork on April 26th).  I was able to find the original business registration certificate we filed with the town, which was neat to see.  It is nice to be able to share it with you.  I cannot believe this time has gone by in a blink of an eye.  This document brought me back to the day.  I can still remember walking down to town hall and dropping off the registration.  In that moment, we were small business owners.  Did not have a clue what we were getting into.  We understood what we had with our technology, but no idea what we needed to learn to really make the company a business.  There have been so many peaks and valleys, tears shed and happy times that it is really hard to really to capture all of those emotions down on paper.            

This year has started out busier than at any other time in the company’s history.  We are starting to see the fruits of our labor to grow our IVRT product line.  Similar to everything else we’ve done over the past 22 years, nothing has come easy.  We have learned a lot along the way.  This year, all of the plans we put together and subsequent execution of these plans is starting to pay off.  I am so proud of all the hard work our team has put into to bring this business into its own.  We continue to develop new applications and share this data with our customers.  We work to share this information to   We couldn’t be more excited!  We are anticipating still more announcements to come related to IVRT. 

We have also been very busy with our cell therapy delivery line as well.  We continue to internally develop our Bio-Spun™ Cell Chamber for various applications such as long-term biotherapeutic delivery and diabetes treatment.  Our customers/partners are evaluating our Bio-Spun™ materials to deliver their specific cells for their own applications.  We continue to receive interest from new customers in this space as well.  We also believe there will be more announcements in this area in the near future as well.  Lastly, we are starting to see interest in devices that we developed internally, some of which have been waiting for a potential partner.  We have generated a significant amount of data for these devices and it is nice to see inquiries coming in.    

As we close this week’s blog, I cannot help think about the loss of Pope Francis.  He lived his life in service of people who were in the shadows or not well off economically or socially.  Tina and I were very moved by a quote that  read from him recently “We are all born to help each other.  No matter how difficult it is…Life is good when you are happy, but much better when others are happy because of you.”  With all that is going on in the world, I think these simple words could really make a difference, regardless of your religious beliefs.  Tina and I believe that these are inspirational words to try to live by for both our personal and business perspectives.  For BioSurfaces, nothing would make us happier if our technology would be able to help people in some small way.

Until next time!   

Matt