Zurn launches Edurus Tools at the cutting edge of flooring installation innovation
With a new patent produced every three days, a strong spirit of innovation has emerged among a number of highly creative and driven entrepreneurs that call Sheboygan County home.
One of those innovative entrepreneurs is Eric Zurn of Sheboygan-based Edurus Tools, who has invented a pair of patented flooring installation tools that are poised to take the marketplace by storm.
Zurn has been involved in the flooring installation industry since he was a youngster helping his father lay flooring at the tender age of 8. While working at his brother’s flooring installation business, Precision Floors and Décor, in 2011, Zurn ran into a problem one day while installing a hardwood floor, which led to his first tool invention – the Magnum Floor Driver hardwood flooring hammer.
“I was on a hardwood flooring job one day about seven years ago and I couldn’t get the boards together,” Zurn said. “I got an idea in my head at the time, which I thought would help to fix the problem I was having. I drew a picture of the tool on the way home and showed it to my uncle, who immediately said that we had to make this tool and put it to use.”
Zurn was on the verge of patenting and producing the tool for mass distribution, but the project failed to get off the ground at the time due to the projected $18,000 production cost for casting a die for the tool.
After using the tool himself with much success, a friend inquired about the tool a short time later and offer to make a modified version of the original plan for the tool for a much more economical price.
“I got a much better deal for producing the tool and went to work on researching the patent process,” Zurn said. “My job was to get out and sell the tool, but when I tried to get the tool to market, no one would buy it because I was a start-up company with no reputation in the flooring tool industry.”
After a chance meeting with the owners of Bullet Tools of Hayden, Idaho, Zurn was on his way to marketing his first tool invention.
“Shortly after my first meeting the owners Bullet Tools owners in July 2016, they agreed to license the Magnum Floor Driver through their Bullet Tools brand and in April 2017 we did our first trade show featuring the tool in Phoenix, Arizona” Zurn said. “The first show in Phoenix went really well and since then, I’ve been to four more trade shows for Bullet Tools and they’ve had me run their booth with them at each one.”
Zurn’s latest flooring tool invention is the Edurus Tools Big Block, which is designed to assist installers in gluing down hardwood flooring.
“My inventions fill in the gray areas in the flooring tool industry like combining the tapping block and hammer into one,” Zurn said. “My goal is the innovate the flooring industry to having a tool for every purpose, along with products outside of flooring.”
Zurn recently enlisted the services of the Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation to help guide him on his flooring tool invention and marketing journey.
“Sheboygan County has this great history of hardworking, forward-thinking people,” Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation Business Counselor Ray York said. “Our strong Midwest work ethic is intrinsically linked to innovation. This is because Sheboygan County has people like Eric Zurn, who see an opportunity to create efficiencies and expand services through a strong work ethic and ingenuity to create something new.
“Our forward thinking is the reason Sheboygan County produces a patent every three days,” he said. “With our new FreshTech Innovation District coming online, we will have another tool in Sheboygan County's tool belt that will help drive our creative entrepreneurial spirit. Eric Zurn, who is literally creating new tools under his brand Edurus Tools, is a great inspiration for our county's future industrious infrastructure.”
As for the future, Zurn has big plans for his Edurus Tools brand.
“There have been a lot of bumps in the road, but I feel everything is on track to build Edurus tools a major success,” Zurn said. “I’ve traveled the country five times in the last two years to spread the word about these tools and build my own brand. Through appearances at trade shows and networking, I’ve been able to build some great, long-lasting relationships in the industry.
“I now have my own office space for Edurus Tools at 728 Pennsylvania Avenue in Sheboygan,” he said. “I have two tools out on the market now and I have two more in development. My goal is to have three of the four tools on the market by this Christmas. I would like to get out of the flooring installation business and focused solely on flooring tool invention and production in the next 12 months. I would like to be in my own shipping facility in 24 months and my own manufacturing facility in 60 months. The foundation is in place, now it is time for us to make it happen.”
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For more information on Edurus Tools, contact Eric Zurn by phone at 920-960-8015 or via email at edurustools@gmail.com.
The Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation (SCEDC) is a countywide private/public partnership, leading economic development efforts to improve the economic wellbeing and long-term prosperity of the businesses, residents and communities of Sheboygan County, through collaborative retention, expansion and attraction efforts for business and employment development. The SCEDC leverages a variety of tools available to encourage business growth and job creation. Key performance indicators tapped by SCEDC track and measure businesses assisted and resources leveraged. By applying many tools to assist businesses and communities and help them succeed, SCEDC achieves increased economic prosperity for Sheboygan County.Securitiesand investment advisory services offered through Woodbury Financial Services, Inc. (WFS), member FINRA/SIPC. WFS is separately owned and other entities and/or marketing names, products or services referenced here are independent of WFS.