Local inventor gets city's backing

Posted 8/26/10

Cozzens came before the council seeking a loan from the city of Powell's Economic Development Fund to help market the product, cover patent maintenance fees and acquire materials for a large pending order, among other costs.

The traditional …

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Local inventor gets city's backing

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As uncomfortable as it may be to talk or write about catheter leg bags, Deidre Cozzens learned years ago that wearing them is plenty uncomfortable, too.That's why the Ralston resident invented the Catheze, a device she created to comfortably support catheter leg bags.

Cozzens came before the council seeking a loan from the city of Powell's Economic Development Fund to help market the product, cover patent maintenance fees and acquire materials for a large pending order, among other costs.

The traditional catheter leg bag straps around a thigh with latex straps. In her experience, Cozzens found that, as the bag filled, the latex straps twisted and pinched her leg and the bag slid downwards, painfully pulling on the catheter tube.

With the Catheze she created, the leg bag still is secured to a thigh, calf or ankle with a strap, but the bulk of the weight is supported by a waist belt from which the bag hangs. Further, the straps are made of a soft Velcro-type material. That means no painful plastic straps and no worries about a urine-filled bag sliding down and out from underneath a pantleg.

“It allows people to feel completely secure,” Cozzens said.

The Catheze, she said, is unique and has very good prospects of catching on.

City councilmen unanimously approved the $15,000 loan from the city's economic development fund, commending Cozzens on her ingenuity.

“I have a lot of confidence that they (Catheze) will fulfill their obligation with the city,” said Councilman Jim Hillberry, adding, “I think they have a very good product.”

“I think it's definitely a worthwhile endeavor, and you definitely have your ducks in a row,” said Mayor Scott Mangold.

The loan is being offered with 4 percent interest and a five-year payback period to the city. The money comes from a fund the city established decades ago to support small businesses as they begin or expand.

According to Catheze's business plan, some 70 million leg bags are sold each year, and Catheze hopes to capture 1 percent of that market. In the next 12 months, Cozzens expects Catheze to have more than $107,000 in gross sales.

Catheze already has sold hundreds of leg supports, and currently has a purchase order for 1,500 units, Cozzens said.

Council Don Hillman asked how many people are employed by Catheze.

“Right now it's only us, but we're overwhelmed,” said Cozzens of the company she formed last summer, clarifying, “‘Us' would be me — (and) my family's helped me a lot.”

A bookkeeper also works at the office one day a week, and Cozzens said she expects to use local folks as need demands — such as for legal services and additional bookkeeping. She said she sees gradual growth for the operation.

The units will primarily be manufactured by inmates in the state penitentiary in Rawlins through a contract with the Wyoming Department of Corrections. They also primarily ship from there, but Cozzens said she's hoping to involve individuals at Powell's Big Horn Enterprises in tasks such as packaging.

“I feel passionately about using places like the prison, and vocational rehabilitation, and Big Horn Enterprises,” said Cozzens. “So I guess that we'll really employ one person, but I feel like it will help a whole bunch of people.”

The Catheze can be sold by medical retailers, and Cozzens also sells the device through her website, www.catheze.com, where it retails for $26.

To market the device, she's targeting urologists, online medical retailers, home healthcare companies and individuals who could use the Catheze.

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