Episode 136: The LaMotte Company - A Century of Innovation with Richard LaMotte

Episode Summary:  Today’s guest takes us way back to 1919 when his company was started by his grandfather just after the Great War. He walks us through the many innovative ideas and products that the LaMotte Company has had over that time, what sparked those ideas, and the amount of work that it took to make it all happen.  We go through LaMotte’s pretty incredible list of accolades, including everything from blood kits, soil kits, phenol red, DPD, colorimeters, test strips, to their WaterLink® Spin Touch®.  Richard LaMotte became involved in the family business in 1984—another LaMotte on the long list of 15 family members who have been actively involved so far—and today he serves as the V.P. of Sales and Marketing.  Topics Discussed:  01:31 - How The LaMotte Company began  08:37 - Introducing the first portable pool test kits in the U.S.  10:58 - Steven Seagal using LaMotte test kits  15:56 - The original use for soil tests after the Dust Bowl  19:30 - Phenol red and why LaMotte began producing it  22:31 - Making the switch to DPD for drinking water and swimming pools  27:33