Tulsa-based Vacuworx making mark on world safety innovations

Safety, safety, safety” is the personal mantra of Bill Solomon and the corporate mantra of Vacuworx, the Tulsa firm he founded in 1999.
An early application for its equipment was in building a pipeline 10,000 feet in the mountains of Chile — not one the world’s friendliest construction sites, Solomon said. The company’s reach extends to Australia, Indonesia, Columbia, Nigeria and beyond.
As the oil and gas industry contracted, the company expanded its product line to meet the needs of other businesses — utilities, heavy construction, highways and bridges, material handling for manufacturing plants and landscaping. It is also expanding its facilities with a third building being readied at 10105 E. 55th Place.
The company makes equipment that can safely lift things such as steel plates, concrete culverts as well as pipe — be they flat or curved — from 1,500 pounds to 22 tons at costs ranging from $1,000 to $200,000.
With Vacuworx, it is not necessary for a worker to climb on top of a stack of pipes to attach lifting hooks. Instead, the system is lowered on to the material and uses hydraulics and vacuum to lift and move it remotely. The smallest unit is portable and uses a 12-volt rechargeable battery instead of hydraulics.
The Vacuworx family of lifters can be attached to different types of cranes, excavators and forklifts and provide the muscle power and different interfaces for what needs to be moved — curved for pipes, flat for a steel plate or a clamp for a concrete safety barrier.
Solomon said the rubber “seal is critical,” both in making a tight fit for the vacuum and preventing damage since it is the only area on the Vacuworx touching the part being moved.
Although Solomon grew up around heavy equipment — his father was with the Caterpillar company and later with Tulsa’s Albert Equipment Co. — his post-University of Colorado years were with the San Diego Padres and companies in other fields.
When Solomon decided to strike out on his own, he thought