Brian Hays

Brian Hays joined Vari-Ro in the fall of 2008, after looking at several companies. The Lakeside company developed an innovative reverse osmosis technology for seawater and brackish water. Hays was attracted by the entrepreneurial opportunity and the chance to make a difference -- a large part of the world has inadequate access to clean, fresh drinking water. He is now part-owner and chief executive officer.

Vari-Ro currently has eight employees and was founded seven years ago by Willard Childs, who invented the integrated pump and energy recovery (IPER) system. IPER is a brand new pumping concept that uses hydraulic pumps, which can reduce the energy consumed during desalination of seawater by 10 percent to 30 percent