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BATTERIES AND POWER TRAINS Brammo set to double or triple 50-person staff after garnering $58 million in contracts By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Follow @@GregMTBusiness MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Follow @@GregMTBusiness Posted Apr. 26, 2016 @ 4:05 pm Updated Apr 26, 2016 at 4:18 PM By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Follow @@GregMTBusiness Posted Apr. 26, 2016 @ 4:05 pm Updated Apr 26, 2016 at 4:18 PM » Social News p bs:newslist StartDate="20121121" EndDate="p bs:datecalc Months="3"" DateSort="1" UseObjects="1" ObjectClass="81" Taxonomywords="2325,665" ExactTaxonomyMatch="1" Image="1" Count="4" --> TALENT — Craig Bramscher knows all too well the frustrations of carrying an idea to fruition, the bumps in the road, twists and turns, even the box canyons. He poured more than a decade into developing the Brammo electric motorcycle before hitting a fork in the road in late 2014. He parted ways with his motorcycle business, selling it to Polaris Industries. Bramscher veered in a different direction, pursuing new markets and hoping to unleash the possibilities discovered while developing lithium batteries and electric vehicle power trains for the motorcycles. Sixteen months after letting go of the electric motorcycle and whisper-quiet racing prototypes, Bramscher finds himself leading a company with far greater prospects than the Empulse and Enertia cycles could have ever afforded. Brammo now has a minimum $58 million worth of signed contracts and potential for far more once production hits full throttle in 2017, which is when the company anticipates doubling or tripling the present 50-person staff. "We've pivoted into a lot of markets that we can address with our technology," Bramscher said in an almost stop-me-if-you've-heard-this-before tone. "Having had many plans that have changed, I've talked a lot of numbers, to the point I'm a little leery." But in black and white, real-to-the-touch essence, Brammo is surging into its new iteration. "We've never had a $58 million backlog before, and I'm more confident than ever," he said. "We've never had more than a $5 million backlog." That figure could double or triple by the end of 2017, he said. The exponential factor stems from the fact that the global market for electric motorcycles topped out at about $2 billion. Brammo is now fanning out into markets with combined potential of $20 billion to $30 billion globally. Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc. Executive Director Ron Fox said the contracts confirm Bramscher's choice to let go of the electric motorcycle line. "They speak to viability of the technology they've developed for energy-storage devices and controlling the flow of energy," Fox said. "The strategy Craig developed to spin off the motorcycles and concentrate on devices that used the batteries and battery control systems puts them in a much bigger commercial segment. Battery-powered lawnmowers, industrial forklifts and such are many times larger than the largest expectations they could've had with electric motorcycles." Brammo now refers to itself as an energy storage, power train and engineering services company. Its new range of pursuits covers utility task vehicles, from golf carts to industrial plant runabouts; snow-clearing machines; turf management; motorcycle battery and power-train systems; specialty vehicles; neighborhood electric vehicles, such as the Polaris Ranger; and vehicle starter systems. "One or two of those we can't even talk about yet," Bramscher said. "Partially because we're looking for customers not just looking for battery technology, but an electrification strategy for all their products." Its customers are typically mature companies with strong brand recognition and extensive distribution. The critical component tying all the markets together, he said, was that Brammo designed and built its technology for motorcycles. "We're working something that has to be energy dense with a lot of power in a small package, cost-effective and rugged," he said. "Once we developed Brammo technology, we could scale it for other markets quite cost-effectively." The company is still producing lithium batteries and power trains for Polaris. But the quantum leap will involve installation of robotic production lines providing ultrasonic welding and packaging cells that go into modules. "At the volumes we're talking about, we believe it is part of the quality assurance," the entrepreneur said. "Robotic automation is much more flexible than it was even a few years ago. We can run products for multiple customers during the course of a week and get great results." The advantage Brammo has now is its ability to develop hardware quickly, taking customers' concepts and producing something they can test quickly. That, in turn, he said, builds momentum to pursue projects involving the company. Bramscher is in the process of securing working capital for the next phase — challenging, yet easier with contracts in hand. "Funding and fueling growth is almost as hard as fueling research and development, which was an ongoing thing for a number of years," he said. "We can feel the progress now, and it's very comforting." The economic benefit for the Rogue Valley, Fox said, will be measured by the type of hires Brammo makes as it ramps up for production. "If half of those 50 or 100 jobs go to engineers and highly skilled technicians," Fox said, "it's equal to a hundred jobs compared to some other businesses. The average wage of those kinds of tech jobs are substantially higher than wages in the area." Reach reporter Greg Stiles at 541-776-4463 or [email protected] . Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/GregMTBusiness , on Facebook at www.facebook.com/greg.stiles.31 . By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Follow @@GregMTBusiness MailTribune.com By Greg Stiles Mail Tribune Follow @@GregMTBusiness Posted Apr. 26, 2016 @ 4:05 pm Updated Apr 26, 2016 at 4:18 PM » Comment or view comments Terms of Service /* $( document ).ready(function() { // Jquery mobile is trying to style the button and leaving a blank gry button on top of a white button $("#viafouracoms .vf-comment-controls li.vf-right").html(' Submit '); });*/ » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. calendar Connect with MailTribune.com Facebook Twitter RSS Back to top Reader Services Reader Services Home Subscriptions Subscriber controls Contact us Submissions Photos Events Letters to the editor Corrections Announcements Obituaries Story ideas Since you asked Alerts Email Alerts RSS Feeds Text Alerts Advertise Media Kit Home Products and services Ad rates Advertising contacts Propel Marketing Mail Tribune Daily Tidings The Nickel Shop Our Valley Blogs Mobile Site Stay Informed Email newsletter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. 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