I sat down with Chris Brin the CEO of HASA and we went over a few pressing issues in the pool service industry today. Of course, the elephant under the rug is the recent acquisition of Orenda Technologies by HASA.
I end the podcast with that question but I will start here with what it means for Orenda Technologies now that they are under HASA’s wing. According to Chris Brink, “Nothing will change with Orenda Technologies.” HASA will keep its online courses intact as well as its entire product line. They will just be the parent company in the background much like how KIK Consumer Products runs Comet, Natural Chemistry, BioGuard, SeaKlear, Prestone, and other companies.
Chris says that acquiring Orenda will change how HASA operates more than HASA changing how Orenda Technologies is run. The reps will stay intact, the distribution and product line will also stay the same. It’s not exactly a non-factor with HASA in the background because of the money HASA can pump into Orenda to expand the Orenda brand. Probably not an accurate analogy but it is like Harvard purchasing your local community college and pumping their resources into that school.
The issue of non-EPA-approved chlorine being sold on the internet is an issue first brought up by Lelsie’s Pool Supply. These unregistered chemicals hurt everyone and especially the pool pro. Try selling a customer a legitimate bucket of trichlor tablets when the customer confronts you with a cheaper bucket of tablets (non-EPA registered) that he has found for sale on Amazon. It’s bad enough with all of the knockoff pool equipment being sold online and then now having to deal with cheap unregistered chlorine that hurts all of our bottom lines. Besides being completely unsafe the fight against these companies should be a united effort.
California is not known as the Nanny State for nothing and the new bill called SB 676, “Responsible Pool Disinfection and Water Conservation Act: local tax authorization” illustrates this perfectly. It is a proposed .30 cent tax on Trichlor, a tax per tablet or pound is being discussed. The money from this tax will be used to educate pool owners on the effects of cyanuric acid on their pool water and more to promote water conservation. Thus far it is only a tax on the retail sale price. The education mandate from the tax is fluid but it will be aimed at the proper use of chlorine types like Trichlor and Dichlor which we in the industry know contribute to high CYA in the pool water which leads to more draining of the pool water. With the drought declared over in California this legislation may not have a very solid footing going forward.
I appreciate Chris Brink’s transparency and I think HASA has the pool pro in mind with many of their actions, including the acquisition of Orenda Technologies.
Visit my Website: http://www.swimmingpoollearning.com/
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.