Though Rathdrum-based Vertical Partners West LLC has become a major supplier of batteries and chargers to remote-controlled model hobbyists during the last 15 years, commercial sales driven by the surging drone market could overtake the hobby sales this year, says Clint R. Bower, the company founder and owner.

Bower says he expects battery and charger sales for use in unmanned aerial vehicle applications will triple this year, and by next year, the company’s revenue will exceed $15 million.

Vertical Partners’ sales have been growing at 15 percent to 25 percent annually in recent years.

The company occupies 6,000 square feet of office space and 20,000 square feet of warehouse space at 14028 N. Ohio, in Rathdrum, where it has 18 employees.

Keith Wallace, Vertical Partners general manager, adds, “We still have room to grow in the hobby market, but with the commercial market, the pie is so much bigger, the potential is mind-blowing. Everybody is trying to figure out how big the UAV market is going to be.”

Recent Vertical Partners customers include the top global aerospace manufacturers, Bower says.

Curious as to why such manufacturers would order from the Rathdrum company rather than produce their own batteries and chargers, he says he called up one company to inquire how the batteries were being used and perhaps offer up some recommendations for peak performance. The customer, however, declined to discuss the intended application for the products.

Wallace says he learned separately from a purchaser at a trade show that government contractors, including aerospace companies, are required to purchase a certain amount of components from small businesses.

Wallace says Vertical Partners participates in some of the larger drone-related trade shows, where potential customers are looking for the most efficient energy-supply options.

“We’re finding more and more opportunities where people are looking for professionals to solve power problems,” he says.

Bower claims that’s what Vertical Partners is best known for.

In the hobby market, for example, most manufacturers of remote-controlled models use similar batteries, but have incompatible connector types between manufacturers.

“A common problem with hobby stores was that they would have to stock multiple batteries that were pretty much the same, but with different connectors,” Bower says.

Vertical Partners developed and patented a universal plug system that provides a wide range of model connectivity.

“That was our first foray into developing solutions to fix unique problems,” Bower says. “Since then, we’ve had a lot of companies knock on our door and seeking advice on batteries for uses ranging from vacuum cleaners to heated hunting vests, to fuel injectors for snowblowers.”

Bower says he never was a remote-controlled vehicle hobbyist.

“It’s not my hobby, just my business,” he says. “I haven’t let emotions or passions drive decisions. I’ve always wanted my own business, and I’ve tried to build up a first-class business.”

Bower’s background is in commercial real estate development. After the commercial real estate market took a dive in late 2001, a college friend who lives in Australia approached him with the idea to start a remote-controlled-device supply business in the U.S.

“I started selling a product out of my garage,” Bower says. “That led to two and then four products.”

He says he knew in the first year, when sales exceeded $200,000, that Vertical Partners would be successful.

“I hired my first employee in 2002,” he says. Sales topped $1 million in the company’s second year of operation.

Within a few years, Vertical Partners had its own engineering and design staff.

“We started designing products from the ground up,” he says.

Engineering for battery and charger products is conducted in partnership with manufacturers in China.

“We can design amazing things, but they can be too expensive to make,” Bower says. “We’ve learned to bring design concepts to manufacturers and use their teams to design for us under our guidance.”

Besides the engineering department, the company has two graphic designers and two data managers. 

Most of the rest of the employees are in sales and marketing.

“We’re hiring for three positions now and will probably hire at least two more this year,” Bower says.

The company has high expectations of its employees, but the average employee tenure is seven years, he says.

“We pride ourselves in providing living wages,” he adds.

Vertical Partners markets batteries and chargers under the Venom label, which is the company’s marquee brand. In all, the company carries about 250 different battery and charger items.

Venom was one of the first brands to bring lithium polymer batteries to the consumer hobby market just over a decade ago, Bower asserts.

“It’s still a huge advancement,” he says. “The energy density in LiPo is much greater.”

Energy density is a measure of wattage per unit weight, or “packing the most energy into the most compact format,” Bower explains.

LiPo probably will be the dominant chemistry for UAV batteries for another decade, he predicts.

Vertical Partners also has a consumer model division, called Atomik RC, which produces remote-controlled boat models and about 300 aftermarket alloy parts.

“That’s a trivial amount of our business,” Bower says.

He claims Vertical Partners has developed innovative remote-controlled models, including a “bad-ass” gas-powered race boat and a motorcycle that—five years later, he claims—is still ahead of its time.

“We developed some really cool stuff, but we were known as the battery-and-charger guys,” Bower says. “We’ve had to go with the tide. Now, with UAVs, we’re along for the ride. We’re really well suited to work in this industry.”

The company expects to grow its Q-Lite division, which develops proprietary battery designs and technology to meet the needs of commercial customers, Bower says.

Wallace says one major challenge for battery suppliers is that the U.S. Department of Transportation has determined that lithium batteries over a certain wattage are hazardous materials, meaning they can’t be shipped as air freight.

“We’ve developed systems to get batteries to remote sites that can’t go on commercial planes,” he says.

That involves shipping by ground transportation or by “slow boat” or a combination of both, often requiring a number of days or weeks to reach the customer, he says.

“Compliance is a huge issue. Everyone in the warehouse is trained to understand the regulations,” Wallace says.