Orland Inventor Wins National New Product Award

For Bryan Nooner, necessity was indeed the mother of invention two Christmases ago when the resident had had enough of holiday lights going out.

“For years, I had been trying plastic bags, tape, you name it to try to keep water out of the connections between plugs. Nothing worked,” he said.

The straw broke the camel’s back during Christmas 2010.

“Twice that year, the decorations went out right before a big party we were having,” he said. “My wife sent me out to get them back on and I finally said, ‘Enough is enough.’ I came back inside and went into my office and started putting together plans.”

The result was Twist and Seal, a gadget that protects connected electrical cords from the elements.

“Twist and Seal is so watertight it even floats,” Nooner said describing his product almost as proudly as a father describing his newborn baby.

“It went pretty fast from concept drawing to prototype to testing,” said Nooner, whose career until then had been construction-related mostly remodeling and landscaping.

“Twist and Seal went on sale online at 10 p.m. Thanksgiving night,” he said.

Nooner then spent the beginning of this year preparing for the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas, which was held earlier this month.

Twist and Seal came away with the Silver medal as the most innovative new product at the show after going up against 50 other new products.

“The win was a great credibility booster for Twist and Seal,” Nooner said. “The judges were buyers, publishers and retail chain executives.”

Nooner said coming away with national recognition will help his efforts to get Twist and Seal into stores in time for this Christmas.

“We are soon to be sold in stores,” he said without revealing any names.

Nooner said he also has been approached by home shopping networks to pitch Twist and Seal on television.

Success, if it comes, will not be a problem, he said.

“Twist and Seal is manufactured in Michigan,” he said. “I chose a company that is set up for high levels of production.”

Twist and Seal comes in four colors: orange for construction use, blue for pools, green for landscaping and white for use on gutters, fascia and siding.

For information and pricing, visit Twist and Seal.

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