Duo acquires steady-growing reseller of medical equipment

Room for expansion and ease of purchase are among the reasons OMED of Nevada's new owners purchased the business.

Terry Vander Ploeg and Heinz Roesch purchased the Reno company from founder Dave Ogren. OMED of Nevada resells used medical equipment to medical facilities and clinics throughout the United States and internationally. The company has clients in 17 countries, including South America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

"We take the old stuff, refurbish it, and remarket it to its highest and best use," Ogren says.

Ogren founded OMED in 1995 in a 1,500-square-foot warehouse on Rewana Way off Peckham Lane. Business took off in earnest in 2002, Ogren says, and the company has grown by at least 10 percent the past three years.

Its major markets include private practice physicians looking to set up their own medical practices, and medical facilities that need to expand but cannot afford high-cost new equipment especially in developing countries.

OMED currently occupies 7,000 square feet at Capital Court in Reno and another 24,000 square feet at 800 Stillwell Road, but the company plans to consolidate its operations at Stillwell Road at the start of 2010.

OMED buys much of its equipment through organizations such as the California Medical Instrumentation Association, which tips OMED to organizations that are upgrading older equipment.

"They let us know when equipment is ready to be discarded by the hospitals, so we will come in and make a bid on it, buy it and bring it into our facility for refurbishing," Ogren says.

Vander Ploeg and Roesch, who met while working in Tokyo, were seeking business opportunities after long and successful corporate careers.

Vander Ploeg is a former executive with Motorola, while Roesch was an executive at Deutsche Bank and UBS. Vander Ploeg was in Reno to meet with business broker Katrina Loftin Winkel of BTI Mergers and Acquisitions, and when he heard about OMED he moved quickly.

Purchase of the company was privately financed.

"When I met with Dave I thought it was going to be an hour, and it was four hours," Vander Ploeg says. "It was just perfect. We had looked at a lot of different business models, and Dave's fit what we were looking for with the expansion capabilities and the market he was in."

Ogren will stay on and guide OMED of Nevada's sales and marketing, while Vander Ploeg is OMED's president and chief financial officer and Roesch its chief executive officer.

The company employs seven but is considering expanding its operations into other western states. The recession has had little adverse affect on OMED, as emerging and expanding medical facilities throughout the world seek to save money by adding low-cost equipment.

"They can take advantage of what is considered surplus in American but is highly prized equipment internationally," Ogren says.

Adds Vander Ploeg: "The only limiting factor is having capable people to market and sell the equipment. It really sells itself, especially in this economy. People are looking for good deals. It is tough to buy new stuff all the time."