Aaron Seelye had toyed with the idea of starting a GPS and Bluetooth solutions company for a long time.

But when he loaned his car to an acquaintance a few years ago, and couldn’t get it back for a while, that’s when he decided to jump in for real.

He and his partner, Jeff Whittaker (whom he’s known for a few decades) formed Gear Mapper last year and had their first day of business in September.

The company provides GPS and Bluetooth solutions to help agriculture and construction companies track various large assets, from air movers to tractors.

“There is a market for this technology. I knew this idea would be a winner in agriculture and farming,” said Seelye, who has worked in the ag-tech industry.

Whittaker has been in construction for 30 years, and like Seelye, he’s seen a lot of equipment go missing.

“I’ve had tools in my truck stolen,” Whittaker said. “It’s bad when someone is taking food out of your kids’ mouths. You lose time, and in construction time is everything.”

Self-funding the company

The pair self-funded their company, but Whittaker wants people who want to start their own company to know one thing: “Find something that you are passionate about.”

Gear Mapper’s services include asset tracking, fleet management, inventory management, maintenance tracking, route history and operation, and real-time alerts.

Seelye said what he and Whittaker are doing is nothing new. But what sets them apart, they believe, is that they’re not hundreds of miles away from their customers.

“We’re guys who are local. We can be in their office pretty quickly,” Seelye said. “Whatever crop they’re into, during harvest nothing stops. This is about efficiency in operations.”

They gave a few examples.

Whittaker said there is a theft problem on farms up and down the Yakima Valley.

“Copper wire is a meth addict’s dream, and there is plenty of it,” he said. “The amount of theft on farms in the Yakima Valley is insane.”

If a thief is trying to take a vehicle or break into a building at 2 a.m., the farmer or construction company owner can be notified in real time that it’s happening.

“You might put away the 40 tractors for winter, but when it’s time to bring them out, there might be 37 of them,” Seelye said. “Meanwhile, the thieves have taken the tractors to Canada, California or Montana to sell them.”

The two businessmen are working with some large growers in Pasco.

“The diesel tax varies in states. But we can determine how many miles their drivers are hauling in Oregon, Washington and Idaho,” Seelye said. “Our technology can also figure out how fast a driver is coming down Cabbage Hill.”

Service industry applications

This works for the service industry too. Say, for plumbers.

“People get crabby sometimes waiting for them, saying they were late getting there,” Seelye said. “We can verify when the plumber arrived and when they left. It can’t tell intent, but we can tell when they were there.”

To get the word out, the duo has been on the trade show circuit through the winter. They know better than to bother farmers during harvest time.

“We start to hit the sales cycle in September when agriculture starts to slow down,” Seelye said. “And then we head over to the Richland airport where there are a number of construction companies. We were just out at King City, calling on companies.”

The business partners recently visited a farmer in Royal City, and they showed him a sample of their technology.

The farmer observed on screen one of his tractors going 2.49 mph in a nearby field and watched how his employee made tight turns.

Idling trucks can roll up expenses.

Contractors or foremen might intend to stop at a job site for a minute or two, and they leave their company truck running. But then they get pulled away, keeping them from leaving.

“Using our devices, we can set the trucks for idle-time detection,” Whittaker said. “The amount of money saved in costs is big.”

A final example, provided by Whittaker, illustrates the power of locating equipment. He used an example of a 1,500-acre farm spread out in parcels over 40 miles.

Looking for six sprayers that go on the back of a tractor might take an employee all day to track them down.

With Gear Mapper’s technology, the sprayers can be located quickly.

“Response to all of this has been positive,” he said. “We’re selling accountability. We are here in person. We’re up front with what we do. And we stand behind our work.”

More importantly, the men say they are doing something they love and feel is important.

“We have to have that feeling that what we’re doing would help change the world,” Whittaker said.

Gear Mapper: 509-416-6610; gearmapper.com.