A Geneseo-based company recently celebrated a number of firsts. Wind turbine manufacturer "WindTamer" sold its first operational units, and started selling stock on the Over-the-Counter bulletin board.

"We think it's going to revolutionize the air power industry."

WindTamer President Bill Schmitz said the company has come a long way since Inventor Gerald Brock developed the idea in his garage 10 years ago.

"Raised local money out of his garage to fund the startup of the company. We have investors, we have sold units. We have sold 14 units now. We are in production of these units; we're starting to install them as we speak," said Schmitz.

WindTamer management calls the electricity generating turbines more efficient than their propeller driven competitors.

"We just got a report published by Dr. Ken Visser at Clarkson, and it's three times more efficient than the propeller variety that you see," said Schmitz. “It's kind of the comparison between the jet engine and the propeller."

WindTamer engineers look forward to the day that these units make propeller driven turbines obsolete.

"I do see this becoming the way that wind turbines are designed and developed regardless of size or location. The advantages are pretty clear," said Robert Susz, WindTamer engineer.

Another advantage is to the local economy.

"We have a supply chain in the western New York area. The parts are made in Rochester and Buffalo. We assemble them in Geneseo," said Schmitz.

WindTamer now primarily serves residential homes small and mid-sized businesses. The next big challenge for WindTamer is scaling up these units to provide enough power for big business and compete with the propeller guys. The company's already growing its employee base of 16 workers to meet anticipated demand.

"In five years, we should be able to do $500 million a year and have something around the order of (3,000) or 4,000 employees around the world," said Schmitz.

With currently available tax credits, Schmitz said a residential consumer could have a WindTamer turbine installed for about $8,000.

WindTamer