Washington Business Winter 2019 | Washington Business | Page 29

what’s working
The company is working steadily to
help 1 million people in 30 countries
gain access to clean water with this
innovation.
expanding access to clean
water
Still, there’s plenty of work to do. Of
the roughly 7.6 billion people in the
world, about 780 million don’t have
access to clean water, the Centers
for Disease Control reports. About
2.5 billion lack access to improved
sanitation, such as a sewer system,
septic system or composting toilet.
While MSR Global Health creates
new products, perhaps just as
importantly, company officials have
figured out a better way to deliver
them to the people that can use
them. Organizations like PATH,
World Vision, Operation Blessing
International, the Washington Global
Health Alliance, Stanford University and others help create the
relationships and on the ground connections that allow the new
products to be put to use.
MSR’s expertise lies in the creation of new technologies and
bringing them to market. But the partnerships are critical.
“We prefer to do what we do really well and then form this
matrix of partnerships where we let each player in this web of
partnerships do what they do best,” Diller said.
“They state flatly that the Thunderbird saved their
lives twice in self-arrest when their crampons
wouldn’t hold on a 45 (degree) glare ice slope at
13,000 feet. They were sure that their old-style
axes would not have stopped their falls.”
— Larry Penberthy, MSR founder
There are more innovations that make life easier on the ground
for people living and working in tough conditions. Other examples
include the DayOne Response Waterbag. This has delivered safe
drinking water to thousands of natural disaster victims. By using water
purifier packets and a filter, people can simply fill up a water bag with
dirty water and let the filters get to work. This product was supported
by a grant from the Office of Naval Research, one of the many strong
connections between Cascade Designs and the U.S. government.
Another example is the Guardian
purifier, which was developed for the
armed forces. It allows soldiers to
drink safely from contaminated water
sources while on the move. Today,
backpackers and hikers can buy one
for about $350.
manufacturing in the city of
seattle
A recent visit to the factory floor
showed all of these products in
motion, from raw material to finished
product.
Workers assembled the bright blue
and red Ascent snowshoes, which
are lightweight and have big metal
teeth to cut into snow and ice and get
you up the mountain faster. Another
production line put together the
water purifier, which has an advanced
hollow fiber core that removes viruses,
the tiniest threats to clean water.
On the other side of the factory, one woman put parts in a
tumbler, a large tub of wet rocks that polishes the rough edges off
metal parts before they are assembled.
Another worker managed a huge machine that once stamped out
parts for Model T Fords in Detroit. He used it to cut raw materials
to make snowshoes. And others put together the final pieces of the
legendary WhisperLite stove.
Cascade’s Seattle operation also includes sewing stations, where
seamstresses make better wheelchair seating systems, back
supports and cushions for people with disabilities under the
Varilite brand.
All of this came from three friends who started
experimenting with sleeping pads in 1971.
Jim Lea and Neil Anderson were engineers at Boeing.
They were laid off, and connected with their friend John
Burroughs, a mountain climber. Together they invented
Therm-a-Rest, and the rest, so to speak, is history.
The story of Cascade is spreading, slowly but surely, as
these products and the people who make them continue to
deliver, day after day.
Somewhere, right about now, there’s a soldier on patrol who
needs clean water. Or a climber above timberline who needs to
melt snow to stay hydrated. There’s probably a doctor or two in
developing nations that need clean instruments to deliver babies
and give immunizations.
The men, women and innovations of Cascade Designs will help
them finish their mission.
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