Green Without Compromise

Green Without Compromise

Franchisor Tim Smeltz proves you don't have to choose between the planet and your pocketbook

Going green is great for Mother Nature, but sometimes the best environmental options cost more than traditional alternatives—as anybody who owns an electric car can confirm.

But Tim Smeltz doesn’t think you should have to choose between the planet and your pocketbook, at least not where your driveway is concerned. NextGen Great Sealcoating®, the New Jerseybased business Smeltz founded, has a proprietary formula he calls The Cleaner Greener Sealer® that’s no more expensive than its toxic counterparts.

For the unfamiliar, seal coating is the application of a sealant that protects driveways from water damage over time. Traditional methods use coal tar-based sealers that contain poly aromatic hydrocarbons that are linked to cancer, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, a federal agency. “Those sealers burn your eyes,” Smeltz says. “For some people, it burns their skin and is tough to breathe.”

When starting his business to fill a void in his local market 14 years ago, Smeltz couldn’t find an environmentally-friendly option. So he partnered in the development of a safer product that is just as effective.

The result is a proprietary formula called ECOAMIGO™, an odorfree asphalt compound that incorporates natural ingredients like clay and silica sand as well as recycled materials. ECOAMIGO™ lasts as long as traditional products, but is also non-carcinogenic, Smeltz says.

There’s even better news for the bottom line. “There is no discernible difference in cost,” Smeltz says. And the pricing has been a big driver behind the success of his company. Last year NextGen Great Sealcoating launched as a franchise offering across a five-state region, and Smeltz is proud that it’s green. “As the public became more and more educated, they wanted an alternative.”

For more information, visit www.greatsealcoating.com or call 888-201-6109.

— Rochelle Miller