Bozeman, Mont. - An innovative new software company that uses advanced engineering software for natural approaches to river restoration and stream bank stabilization is being launched in Livingston, Mont. THI Riverworks and its premier software product will fill a void in the marketplace and help engineers, governments, resource managers and others to make better-informed engineering, environmental, and economic decisions regarding restoration and conservation projects.

The MSU TechLink Center, a Bozeman-based technology transfer organization, partnered THI Riverworks' parent company, Trout Headwaters Inc., with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) to further develop the software program and demonstrate the company's restoration technology at the Army Corps' Waterways Experiment Station in Vicksburg, Miss. The result of the partnership is the imminent commercialization of this software product and launch of the new company.

The company is being launched through TechRanch, a business incubator in Bozeman, which receives support from TechLink and funding from the Department of Defense (DoD) and NASA. Riverworks developed its software product in response to the need for better predictability and analytical precision to support natural restoration methods. The software is an outgrowth of extensive hands-on research, development and implementation of natural approaches to stream bank stabilization in the Rocky Mountains. With assistance from TechLink, and support from Capital Consulting & Management, Inc. (CCMI), a private investment company of Alexandria, Virginia, Riverworks is positioning itself to offer its services nationwide.

"We look to support new businesses that have real breakthrough potential and that are a good fit for development here in the West," said John O'Donnell, executive director of TechRanch. "We believe Riverworks will create a big impact in the civil engineering and hydrology market. This product addresses a large market and customer base, and can have very attractive potential investment returns - a combination of attributes we seldom see all in one company," O'Donnell added. "Not to mention that it can help make a real difference in our environment, both for the rivers and for the animal species that depend on our waters for their existence."

For nearly a century, governments, engineers, contractors, developers, landscapers, and architects have utilized traditional approaches to stream bank stabilization, which are expensive and rely largely on the use of hard armor such as boulders or concrete block to reinforce stream banks. These methods often result in significant changes in stream channels and flow, and may have unforeseen and undesirable effects downstream from the areas treated. THI Riverworks' innovative approach is strikingly different. By utilizing natural materials and vegetation to stabilize stream banks, water energy can be absorbed rather than deflected, providing a solution that is more environmentally sound and dramatically less expensive. Riverworks' novel software modeling program is the tool that can help predict the long-term success of different types of materials and methods before they are implemented.

"The THI Riverworks software represents an exciting breakthrough that can help fundamentally change the methods used in stabilizing and restoring the banks of rivers and streams and dealing with erosion and related problems," said Scott Elliff, President of CCMI, an initial investor in the company. "Hard armor, rocks and rip-rap and the like have been used in pretty much the same way for decades. This software will provide a fair, analytically driven basis for evaluating a range of different approaches to stream bank restoration, really for the first time. And as an added bonus it's a very environmentally responsible approach and investment." According to company president, Mike Sprague, several high-profile projects have garnered support for the company and its product, including the recently launched two-year joint project with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Waterways Experiment Station to further develop and demonstrate the technology.

THI Riverworks was created to develop, publish, test, and market the state-of-the-art soft armor predictability software for national and international markets. THI Riverworks is a private company headquartered in Livingston.

TechRanch helps entrepreneurs build successful technology ventures by providing access to capital; state of the art facilities; a nationwide network of professional advisors; and, through TechLink, cutting-edge NASA, DoD, and MSU technologies.

TechLink is located at Montana State University and funded by the DoD and NASA to link companies in Montana and the surrounding region with federal laboratories for joint research and technology transfer. Its overriding purpose is to contribute to the success of both technology-based companies and key resource-based industries in the state and region.

Contacts:
Mike Sprague
President, THI Riverworks
(406) 333-4715
mike@troutheadwaters.com

John O'Donnell
Director, TechRanch
(406) 556-0272
jodonnell@techranch.org

Dan Swanson
Project Director, MSU TechLink
(406) 994-7736
dss@montana.edu

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