1029 Third Street S.E.
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401 USA
Phone: (319) 213-2051
SoyaWax International News
Big Sale on Soy Wax for Small Biz Candlemakers
SoyaWax International is pleased to announce our own Small Business Stimulus Package... 10% or more off single or multiple cases of our PhytoWax brand container or pillar/votive blends of candle wax now through March 15th. That's $58.50 per case on orders of one to five cases.
Purchases of six or more cases get an additional 5% discount. That’s $55.25 per case on six or more cases! Interested in half-pallets and more? Let's talk so we can make you very happy.
We're doing our part to help create or save Green Jobs. Candlemakers using SoyaWax are on the Front Lines of our Economic Recovery.
Our product pages reflect the 10% base sale price, and the additional 5% discount on multi-case orders will be shown immediately when you enter these purchases into your shopping cart. Check out our C-1 Container blend and our PV-1 Pillar/Votive blend product pages for more information.
Have questions? Use our convenient Request For Quote form, or call us at 319-213-2051.
New Lower Cost Shipping for Small Orders
Microenterprise, small business, and hobbyist candle-makers will enjoy lower UPS shipping charges on new orders. We are pleased to announce that our new rate structure with United Parcel Service will provide significant savings for single and multiple-box orders.
Our eCommerce shopping cart system provides accurate, real-time shipping quotes from UPS. So if you have ordered in the past, or if you've considered ordering in the past but were frustrated by our shipping cost, please check out our new, lower shipping costs. Simply add your actual or test order to your shopping cart, enter your destination zip code, and request the shipping quote. A quick server-to-server transaction will get the information you want from direct from UPS. If you like the price and the shipping expense, don't hesitate to go ahead and make your purchase. Most orders are filled within 24 hours.
While our 50-pound boxes are not that large, they do weigh a lot... like 50 pounds per box. This means that for small orders -- depending on the distance to your destination from our location in Cedar Rapids, Iowa -- shipping costs could sometimes approach the cost of the wax itself! With these new rates, our low-volume customers get an improved cost structure. And in these tough times, every little bit helps to improve the bottom line.
SoyaWax Intl. Showcased at Iowa State IPRT Legislative Breakfast
3 March 2009, Des Moines, Iowa – SoyaWax International was one of six companies invited to attend this year’s annual Legislative Breakfast hosted by Iowa State University’s Institute for Physical Research and Technology (IPRT). About 55 Iowa state representatives and senators came to see firsthand how state funding provided to IPRT programs provides essential assistance for new and developing Iowa businesses and positively impacts the state's economy.
The SoyaWax International management team had an excellent opportunity to showcase its first generation soywax products and to excite our visitors about the next generation of soywax products that are being commercialized through our company’s collaboration with the University. SoyaWax International has been selected to receive an Iowa Department of Economic Development Demonstration Fund award to help fund this commercialize initiative. The IPRT staff has been instrumental in coordinating the research, technology transfer, and commercialization activities that have resulted in SoyaWax’s new products.
The hands-on nature of the breakfast’s “meet and greet” conversations turn an otherwise routine line-item budget item into a living story of jobs created, businesses succeeding, and communities benefiting from the often overlooked role of the University’s support for its non-student constituents and local communities. Legislators were particularly interested in the impact of IPRT services in support of businesses, like SoyaWax International, which are dealing with post-flood recovery in addition to the challenges of small businesses competing in a global economy.
The Institute for Physical Research and Technology, (IPRT) is a group of scientific research centers at Iowa State University. IPRT’s mission includes helping Iowa manufacturers and entrepreneurs solve technical problems, create new products, and increase productivity and quality. We encourage you to visit the IPRT web site to learn more about this valuable state asset. And for our Iowan neighbors, we encourage you to let our state legislators know how important it is to sustain and hopefully increase the funding for IPRT programs and services.
SoyaWax Intl. Earns EDC New Business Creation Award
"The Entrepreneurial Development Center is a unique and valuable business development resource in Iowa." said SoyaWax CTO Jim Salmons, "In over thirty years of my entrepreneurial career, I can enthusiastically say that I have never been involved in a start-up where we had such a breadth and depth of on-demand, high quality mentoring, technical, and strategic assistance. The EDC has been inspirationally effective in helping us to fast-track our business growth."
All members of the SoyaWax International management team - Mike Richards, Timlynn Babitsky, and Jim Salmons - were on hand at the awards ceremony and networking event.
Over 170 entrepreneurs, community leaders, vendors and investors were in attendance.
"The number and diversity of the folks attending this 5th anniversary event are a testament to just how widely recognized and appreciative we all are that Curt Nelson and his staff have dedicated their efforts to developing such a wealth of business acceleration services for Iowa entrepreneurs," said SoyaWax founder and soywax inventor Mike Richards.
SoyaWax International has been a client of the EDC for five months. During that time, the EDC has provided exceptional service. "Having been a core team member of various high tech start-ups, I know that one of the hardest challenges for a new business is growing the management team." said Jim Salmons, "Under the time crunch and limited resources of a start-up, it often happens that you bring the wrong person on board too early or you take who you can get rather than who you need. The EDC's 'virtual executive' service has proved invaluable to us. Glenn Wiltgen, our EDC-supplied virtual CFO has been instrumental in helping us to structure our financing and negotiate our local banking relations."
Learn more about the Entrepreneurial Development Center.
Learn more about Glenn Wiltgen and B2BCFO services.
SoyaWax Intl. Awarded $150,000 Iowa Grant for New Products
11 August 2008, Des Moines Iowa - SoyaWax International is one of nine Iowa businesses awarded a Demonstration Fund grant by the Iowa Department of Economic Development. The $150,000 award, the maximum amount available for a single competitive application, was made on the strength of SoyaWax International's proposal to commercialize a new generation of soywax products
"Our new soywax technology has been engineered to have the flexibility and cohesion that will allow soywax to compete in expanded applications in the candle industry and to open new applications in paper-coating and packaging." Mike Richards said, "We are very excited about this award and thank the Iowa Department of Economic Development for this important vote of confidence in our business and new products."
SoyaWax International co-funded research at the Center for Crops Utilization Research (CCUR) at Iowa State University that resulted in the new bio-ag product. A patent on this next generation (or G2) of soywax has been applied for and is held in the portfolio of Iowa State University. SoyaWax International has perpetual, global rights to commercialization of this new generation of soywaxes.
"This is an excellent example of how Iowa entrepreneurs can successfully work with world class researchers in our state university system to create new products that help our state's economy." said SoyaWax COO Timlynn Babitsky. "All successful businesses have an impact on their local economies by paying taxes and creating jobs. In addition to these typical contributions, a portion of all profits from our G2 soywax commercialization will come back to Iowa State University as royalties to support and expand its research and teaching programs."
Link: Press release announcing Iowa's Demonstration Fund awards.
Link: More information on Iowa's innovative Demonstration Fund program.
Little did we know we'd be hit by the Flood of 2008
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SoyaWax International Inc. is located in, and plays a prominent role in the life of, the New Bohemia arts and entertainment district of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. With Jim Salmons and Timlynn Babitsky joining Mike Richards on the management team and with innovative new products in development, the exciting times ahead and new chapter to be written in our company history were all positive and upbeat. We had no idea, like most other folks and businesses in Cedar Rapids, that a flood of unimaginable proportions would soon change our lives. The Flood of 2008 crested at over 31 feet in Cedar Rapids! That's more than eleven feet higher than the previous worst floods on record in 1851 and 1929.
The proverb says that a picture is worth a thousand words. In this context then, you will find many thousands of unanticipated words expressed in the photo collections we've posted on Flickr. One set of photos tells the story of "SoyaWax Intl and our historic Matyk Bldg BEFORE the Flood of 2008". Two more photo collections tell the tales of "SoyaWax Intl. AFTER the Flood of 2008" and "The Matyk Bldg AFTER the Flood of 2008".
Mike Richards appointed to Flood Recovery Task Force
Mike Richards is well-known in Cedar Rapids as an active and energetic leader and participant in many area organizations and initiatives to promote community economic and social development. So it was only natural that the state of Iowa tap Mike for membership on the Economic and Workforce Development Task Force of the Rebuild Iowa Advisory Commission. Each Rebuild Iowa Task Force is charged with developing and setting out a plan for action in a specific issue-area integral to Iowa's rebuilding efforts following the Great Flood of 2008 and other natural disasters that have hit our state this year.
"I am particularly pleased to be named to the Economic and Workforce Development Task Force." Mike Richards said, "Rebuilding lives, businesses, and our neighborhoods after such a monumental disaster as the flood is, at its core, a creative and entrepreneurial effort. My goal will be to contribute new ideas for innovative approaches to local economic and workforce recovery initiatives both here in Cedar Rapids and in Iowa at large."
"In my past work," Mike said, "I've won national awards for welfare-to-work and homeless work programs of my former Candleworks company. In many ways we face similar life-rebuilding challenges in Cedar Rapids and Iowa. These disasters have puts thousands of our families, friends, and neighbors into economic hardship and out of their homes. I want to be sure that our flood recovery efforts at the State level maximize the opportunities for people to find and expand their entrepreneurial self-support spirit. We have an opportunity to create a lot of new microenterprises and small businesses as we get on with the challenges of rebuilding Iowa together."
Need wax now?
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Our Phytowax™ C-1 Container Wax blend has a melt point of 130 degrees.
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Our Phytowax™ PV-1 Votive Mold Wax is ideal for molded candle products, including votives and pillars.