A Camas company is receiving national TV exposure this week.
Randy Harper, inventor of tsunami and tornado survival pods, is in New York City to promote the emergency shelters on the Today Show. A segment on the pods was scheduled to air this morning. Harper and Neil Jackson, global account and sales manager of Rescue-Pod, received a call Nov. 20 from someone involved in the production of Today. A Tsunami Survival Pod was shipped the following morning to the set of the show.
“It’s pretty exciting,” Jackson said. “Not a lot of small businesses get this attention. When you’re marketing products on the Today Show, we’re feeling good about it.”
The Tsunami Survival Pods will also be featured on “Invention USA,” Friday, at 10 p.m., on the History Channel. The episode was filmed in August in Kern, Calif.
In addition to working at Rescue-Pod, Harper is a longshoreman, and Jackson responds to information technology service calls for a variety of companies.
“Hopefully, this newfound publicity will allow me to work at Rescue-Pod full time,” Jackson said.
The Tsunami Survival Pod is designed to hold two to four people. The two-person pods costs $4,500, while the four-person is $6,500.
Jackson said $300 from each pod purchase is donated to disaster relief.
“We have had interest [in the Tsunami Survival Pod] and contact with people all over the world,” he said. “Japan and Thailand are definitely hot spots for us. We have had quite a bit of interest from people right here on the Oregon and Washington coasts.”
Tornado Survival Pods, that will fit up to six people, will soon be available for $5,500. For more information, call 600-2062, email rescuepod@yahoo.com or visit www.rescue-pod.com.
