Jeremy Hartsook, founder and owner of HES Manufacturing out of Eston, SK, is now officially being recognized as an inventor in his home country.

 

His business specializes in high quality Hopper Bottoms for the farming industry, that was taken to the next level after his idea that would fix a long-time problem. He appreciates all of the support he has gotten throughout his business journey, while being even more grateful for the freedom and opportunity his country has given him.

Hartsook’s invention was put in place to help deal with the constant heat, and moisture issues seen in grain bins.

“Over the past, maybe 30 years I guess, the idea of pumping air through bins has been done in a variety of different ways.” said Hartsook.

HES has been manufacturing cones and grain storage for about 10-15 years, but the inception of the ‘aircube’ came around 2012. Hartsook came up with the concept, that would create another way to aerate the bin.

(HESmanufacturing on Youtube)

The invention ultimately brought a value-added product to farms, that helped with conditioning grain for long-term storage. This is important to prevent spoilage, and other storage problems.

“Even in certain cases you can over-do the job, and put too much air through the bin.” explained Hartsook, “Being able to properly condition your grain is important. I may be biased, but I believe that our system does possibly do the best job.”

The patent was first opened for public inspection on November 25th, 2013, and was officially granted and issued on January 19th, 2021.

The road to acquiring a patent can be a long and expensive process, but Hartsook admits it didn’t even seem to change much about his business. One of his main goals with the application was to create something his hometown could be recognized for, and provide a mark of accomplishment and pride to the family name. After all, who wouldn’t want to put ‘inventor’ next to their name?

“I was trying to explain it to my 8 year old,” he chuckled, “I showed him the patent, and tried to explain it as simple as I could to an 8 year old. I just told him it’s about recognition. Something that we should be proud of, not something to brag about.”

Hartsook says his son wanted a copy of the official paper to show-off to his friends, but quickly realized his dad’s point of pride on the accomplishment. Jeremy appreciated his son’s excitement for him, and he knows that feeling will likely resonate throughout the entire family.

“I can only imagine what my dad must have thought, setting his son up to start a business and take it to here. Now, I have my own kids that are going to be apart of seeing these things. Even if they don’t understand it, it’s going to be a part of their upbringing, and hopefully something that brings them opportunity.”

Hartsook did hang the patent in the break-room at work to give everyone involved with HES a reminder of the accomplishment, but to also motivate them to prove the company isn’t done growing. The company focus is gearing towards personal growth, as the management team at HES wants to use this recent achievement as a source of inspiration.

He doesn’t know why the Canadian decision took so long, as the United States approved his patent 3 years ago. Hartsook remembers the good feeling he had when it went through for the first time, but being recognized in his own country made it so much sweeter.

“The fact that the country I’m from, the place that I have grown my business, is recognizing me as an inventor? It’s a fulfillment of a childhood dream really.”