Reducing Smog One Bucket Truck at a Time

By Mike Switzer

Published September 9, 2020 at 5:30 AM EDT

Have you ever noticed a utility company bucket truck lifting a worker into the air and wondered why the engine was running? Many of these vehicles need the engine to power the hydraulic lift. This can significantly increase the cost to operate the vehicle, not to mention the environmental effect of the engine exhaust. Our next guest’s company decided to tackle that issue and in the process has been awarded a grant from SC Launch.

Mike Switzer interviews Mark Ferri, president and CEO of Viatec, Inc. in Greenville, SC.

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Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

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