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By Don Debelak •
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The entrepreneur: Shawn Donegan, 46, founder of Trac Tool Inc. inCleveland
Product description: The Speed Rollers paint applicatorsystem targets professional painting contractors. Featuring tworollers, the system is fed by an airless paint pump that dispensespaint onto the top roller. Because the applicator system eliminatesthe need to dip into a roller pan and also minimizes the so-called"back roll," it's four to five times faster than atraditional roller system. While Donegan didn't invent SpeedRollers, he was able to launch his company after signing alicensing deal with Mike Puczkowski, the product's inventor.The Speed Rollers system retails for $349 and is sold through majorpaint retailers such as Sherwin-Williams.
Startup: About $150,000, which was spent to launch theproduct at the Painting and Decorating Contractors of America tradeshow in 2004. Costs included marketing materials, booth rental,product development, patents and 10 laser-cut prototypes.
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