Jim’s write up in the Li Herald abridged:
Jim Loughran walked down a dim hallway, flanked with video monitors depicting simulated sharks swimming in crystal blue waters, at Sony Pictures Studios in Culver City, Calif. As he made his way a little further, crew members told him where to stand. Loughran then hit his mark and faced the real sharks — self-made entrepreneurs who double as filthy-rich investors and reality television stars.
The Island Park resident, 57, who turned his backyard into a synthetic ice rink, has morphed the design into a full-fledged business, and entered ‘the Tank’ earlier this year to pitch his company to the investor sharks.
Loughran spent years in the construction business as a project manager, and always carried a passion for hockey. He taught his son, Brian, now 22, to skate at a young age, and coached him in his youth, but as he tried to create a place for him to practice outdoors in the winter, mild temperatures often spoiled the fun.
“Every year, I would build a little ice rink in the backyard,” Loughran said. “I would flood it, and then I would pray for cold weather. If I was lucky, maybe I’d get three weeks out of it.”
Loughran’s company, Home Ice Supplies, focuses on bringing synthetic ice, made of polymer plastics, to families at an affordable price. The company offers different sized panels that interlock together to ensure a tight, nearly seamless connection that simulates skating on real ice.
With the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came pressure, and Loughran began meticulously preparing for the pitch by watching many episodes in the months leading up to it. He said he learned from previous entrepreneurs the dos and don’ts when eye-to-eye with the investors.
“It’s like a huge infomercial,” Loughran said. “You’re really putting yourself out there, but if you don’t do it right, it could be a bad-fomercial. You try to present yourself and the product the best you can.”
“There’s a lot that can be done; there’s room for growth, and definitely there’s the interest because people love to skate,” Loughran said. “There are some exciting things that I have now and I have some really exciting things planned for the future. It’s going to be something that no one’s ever seen before.”
Jim's Website: https://www.polyglidesyntheticice.com/
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