Shawn Warner of Altoona, PA, isn’t a seasoned inventor, but when he saw a need to protect his daughter from getting shocked from pulling plugs out of a wall outlet, an inventor was born. Through research he couldn’t find a product for sale that would solve his common household problem. “None of the products allowed me to easily change and unplug items without using a screwdriver to remove a large cover,” said Warner.
Instead of giving up and using a product he didn’t want, Warner invented Secure Connect, a nylon adjustable yoke that keeps electrical plugs secured in wall receptacles. Along with the new product, Mr. Warner also started a new company Warners Innovation Solutions, Inc. to market the product as well serve as a business development resource for other inventors and companies in the region, state and country.
The product celebrated its launch in May by receiving the Good Housekeeping Seal of quality along with a full page ad in the June issue. The product will also be featured during the October 5th episode of ‘Designing Spaces’ on the Lifetime Network. “A product like this has never existed before.” said Mike Kessling, Chief Branding Officer for Warners Innovative Solutions. “To have a single product that can protect children, pets, appliances, and have uses for commercial contractors is very rare.”
One of the first stops for Mr. Warner after coming up with the idea was to meet with Matthew Fox, Marketing Manager for the Altoona-Blair County Development Corp. “To see the evolution of this one-of-a-kind product from my first meeting with Shawn to the final packaged item is a testament to his passion and commitment, as well as the outstanding resources and network of business development resources here in the Blair County region,” stated Fox. “It is an honor to have this local innovation and to have assisted with its current and future successes.”
Through working with ABCD Corp. the Secure Connect product was connected to a number of local businesses and resources including; the Ben Franklin Technology Partners for product research and funding options, the Small Business Development Center at St. Francis University for business plan development and Actuated Development in State College for engineering, testing and rapid prototyping.
Through the new company, Warners Innovation Solutions, Mr. Warner and his team continued to push forward working on all of the details necessary to not only produce the product, but also to market and sell it as well. “We went through a number of prototypes refining all the little details and testing to make sure it was a quality, safe durable project,” said Warner. The next steps were extensive meetings, research and just good old-fashioned hard work with sales meetings, certifications and more to produce the final project available for sale.
The team is proud to have a truly Pennsylvania product that was invented, developed, tested, produced and headquartered in PA with recycled materials. The end products are produced by Erie Molded Plastics exclusively for Warners Innovation Solutions and the company is headquartered here in Altoona, Blair County, PA. “It was critical to us to have the ‘Made in the USA’ stamp on the package and not outsource production overseas,” stated Mr. Kessling.
For more information on the product visit the product’s website at www.SecureConnectS.com
