Making a difference: Jim Casper
80 years, five generations, two families, same recipes
May 14, 2024
GREEN BAY – Entrepreneurs know that with any successful business, you have to change with the times and add new products.
Vyper Industrial – located at 2545 Larsen Road in Green Bay – is no exception.
After seeing high success with its chairs, the company is now offering the Vyper Rolling X32 Utility Tool Cart.
“The response has been great,” Vyper CEO Dayne Rusch said. “It’s a modular cart you can essentially customize how you want. We have these different accessories you can attach on the side. There are slots down the four legs, and you can attach accessories on there – whether you’re a detailer, a welder or an automotive enthusiast working in your garage.”
Rusch, who started Vyper by selling one or two chairs a week out of his apartment, said “the new cart has massive six-inch casters.”
“It can roll over cords, tubes, etc.,” he said. “It’s made of 16 gauge steel, so it’s extremely strong. It can hold more than 1,250 pounds. In testing, we stacked a car on top of it – it held it.”
Rusch said the cart has been in the works for about two years.
“We had a design and prototype made, but we were so busy at the time – we didn’t have a team that could (market and sell it), so we put it on the back burner,” he said. “We took the time to redesign it and make sure it was what we wanted. People love the durability of it. It’s a product we can advance, too. Maybe we can put drawers in it and add other options to enhance the experience of it.”
Exponential growth
Last fall, Rusch said Vyper had 35 employees.
The company is now up to 40.
“We’re growing into more business-to-business versus being solely online – building some strategies from there,” he said. “We’re building our sales team – each member will be specific to a demographic area, such as automotive and detailing. They will be specific to that target audience. They are making outbound calls to see if there is a want or need for our chairs and carts.”
Rusch said Vyper hopes the cart receives the same interest the chair has – including from the likes of comedian Jay Leno and professional wrestler Bill Goldberg – who has 10 of Vyper’s chairs in his garage in Texas.
“We’ve also done work with Donut Media, SpaceX, Rolls-Royce, Hendrick Motorsports (Chase Elliott, NASCAR) and Chip Fuse,” he said.
Rusch said it’s common for customers to come back to a particular business for other offerings – something he hopes for with the X32 cart.
“We’re trying to build this ecosystem,” he said. “It’s where we have this loyal client base that will continue to support us through any products we produce. Our biggest thing is, we want to supply our customers with 100%, American-made, high-quality products that solve their problems.”
During a recent tornado in Indiana, a business owner said, “while digging through the rubble of my destroyed shop, I uncovered one thing that remained unscathed – my Vyper Chair.” Submitted Photo
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Rusch said, the majority of Vyper’s customers have experienced “all the issues our products help prevent.”
“We’re hoping we can hit that touch point for our customers,” he said.
For more information on Vyper Industrial, visit vyperindustrial.com.
Vyper Energy on hold
Inspired by Dayne’s brother Dylan’s struggles with Type 1 diabetes, the brother duo introduced an energy drink – Vyper Energy – last summer.
Needing to put more energy into the industrial part of the business, Dylan said, “we put Vyper Energy on pause.”
“The reason being, we wanted to focus on the industrial side of things with the chairs, carts, etc.,” he said. “Where we generate revenue in the company is with our industrial products. That’s where we have our main team.”
Rusch said with Vyper Energy, “it was separating our team.”
“It basically split our team in half,” he said. “Half of the day was spent on Vyper Industrial, and the other half was on Vyper Energy. I’d rather have everyone focusing on the bigger picture and making that one. It was two completely (different) areas of focus – one was an energy drink in the beverage industry and the other manufacturing/industrial shops.”
Rusch said consumer packaged goods like Vyper Energy are a “very competitive market.”
“One, we aren’t big enough (yet), and two, it’s a lot of competition,” he said. “We saw it was taking our eye off the ball, and we wanted to take that back and focus on what’s working.”
Rusch wouldn’t close the door on bringing Vyper Energy back in the future.
“With what we have going on with the industrial side of things, I’d say if it’s future, it’s in the long-term future,” he said. “There’s an ego side of things where you have to realize if something isn’t a good fit, you have to pause it. All the money we put into Vyper Energy, I mark it down as tuition.”
