Poweram Inc

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Bill Koser of Poweram, Incorporated in Barron, WI is doing his part to move the current U.S. trade deficit towards the positive side of the balance sheet. Koser and his wife, Mari, now into their 41st year of manufacturing in Barron, have just completed a deal that put one of their Poweram hydraulic pipe pusher-pullers into service across the Atlantic Ocean to the coastal city of Accra, the capital of Ghana, West Africa.Poweram designs and markets hydraulic equipment used mostly for installing and replacing underground utility lines.Koser said his African business venture began a couple of years ago, when a representative of the state-owned Electricity Company of Ghana contacted him through his home page on the Internet at www.poweram.com. One thing led to another, and the long-distance negotiations culminated with an order for one of Poweram’s Model 1915 Hydraulic Rod Pushers. The Poweram package included a power pack, fueled by a gasoline engine, which connects to the hydraulic machine that pushes a string of steel rods through the soil and then pulls a utility cable or pipe back through the boring. Accessory items, in a steel tote box designed for them, included push rods, push heads, expander cones and pipe couplers. An electronic locator system was also supplied. The Poweram equipment was purchased to install new utility lines (up to 8″ pipe) beneath the streets of Accra. The Republic of Ghana, with a population of nearly 24 million, is an English-speaking country located in West Africa. Accra, the capital since 1877, is a growing, bustling city approaching 1.7 million residents. But how to get the equipment from here to there? And who would instruct the utility workers of Accra how to use it? The haul to Accra proved to be a circuitous. The equipment was shipped to Montreal, where it was loaded onto a boat headed for the Netherlands. From there the Poweram unit was loaded onto another ship, which headed south to Ghana. The equipment spent more than two months in transit. The order was received in June, and preparations began. One key element was to find someone to go to Ghana to train the customer’s workers to use the equipment. According to Koser, the best man for the job was Darren Bjustad of rural Barron, who had owned and used Poweram equipment extensively in conjunction with his excavating business. Last year Bjugstad traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah, to instruct a customer on how to use Poweram equipment. “The client was very pleased that we sent Darren,” Koser said. “They couldn’t say enough good things about him.” So Bgustad answered the call to go to Ghana. He left in mid-December, but began planning for the trip much earlier. “I had several immunizations to take, including one for yellow fever. They won’t let you into the country without that,” Bjugstad said. “The rabies immunization was optional, so I passed on that one.” Bjugstad didn’t get his Visa until just before he left. “You can’t get a Visa until all flight preparations have been documented, and that set the trip back a full day,” Bjugstad said.

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