Published August 2001

Former Pentagon official joins KEECO

By John Wolcott
Herald Business Journal Editor

Developing a better way of handling toxic wastes, like building a better mousetrap, should guarantee success and prosperity for the inventor. But in the real world, the key to successfully marketing new ideas often depends on finding an experienced supporter who has the right connections — a wizard of sorts.

Gary Vest, who recently joined Lynnwood's Klean Earth Environmental Co. (KEECO) as its Senior Adviser, doesn't consider himself a wizard. There's no magic in his briefcase. But he does have top-level global environmental and government connections that may make him look like the wizard KEECO executives know they need.

"I'll be looking at how to take the core capability of KEECO — its Silica Micro-Encapsulation technology that converts the world's most toxic wastes into harmless materials — and generate contracts and sales," said Vest, who was formerly an Assistant Deputy Under Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon, responsible for implementing worldwide environmental programs for the military.

After leaving his executive government post, Vest approached KEECO about representing the company as its Senior Adviser, saying he believed he could take KEECO's impressive successes to the global marketplace.

The event, according to smiling KEECO executives, was exactly what they needed to move their company's growth to the next plateau.

"We are extremely pleased to have Gary Vest join our dynamic team," said William Anderson, KEECO's COO. "KEECO has expanded its operations globally in 2000 and this year significantly. KEECO is now conducting remediation activities in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, China, South America and the Philippines. We wish to ... expand those opportunities as rapidly as we can to meet the demands for dealing with worldwide issues related to heavy metals contamination."

Vest, a graduate of the University of Idaho and University of Washington, has been a practicing environmental, planning and public administration professional for more than 30 years, according to KEECO officials. He has participated in international affairs with such organizations as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the United Nations, the European Union, the European Environmental Agency and the Organization for Stability and Cooperation in Europe.

A few years before leaving his government post, Vest had met KEECO's Executive Vice President, Jim Roma. He never forgot what he learned about the environmental impact of KEECO's technologies. In a market like the former Soviet Union, with its vast pollution problems, Vest said, a basic application of KEECO's technology could "literally make a quantum-leap difference."

"KEECO right now has had enough projects and enough success," Vest said. "The confidence level can be so high because of their track record so far. This company is right on the threshold of potentially very incredible success."

Roma says that Vest's experience will help get KEECO's ideas in front of decision-makers.

"He'll help us in getting to the right people to get the technology evaluated. He's not going to work miracles," Roma said.

Not miracles, maybe, but watch for signs of marketing wizardry at work.

For more information about KEECO, visit the company's Web site, www.keeco.com; call Roma at 425-778-7165; or send e-mail to jroma@nwlink.com.

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