Taking StormBag to CalTrans in Oakland
Last week we packed up a case of StormBags and drove down to Oakland for the California Department of Transportation's small business procurement fair. CalTrans is the state agency that maintains California's highway and transportation infrastructure, and their procurement office is where a lot of state contracts start — including emergency preparedness and flood response purchases.
It's not every day the sandless sandbag gets to sit on the table across from the people who actually spec and buy flood protection for a state the size of California. So we brought it.
A quick behind-the-scenes look
Here's a short vlog from the day — the venue, the booth, and a few of the conversations we had with other small businesses working on projects all over the state:
Honestly, the best part of these events isn't the pitch itself — it's meeting the other companies in the room. Everyone at a small business procurement fair is trying to solve a real problem for a real agency, and you learn a lot just walking the aisles.
The actual presentation
We also recorded the full walkthrough we gave to CalTrans. It's about three minutes long and covers the StormBag sandless sandbag — how it works, why it's different from traditional sandbags, and where it fits into an agency's flood response toolkit. This video isn't listed publicly on YouTube, so consider this a peek at what we actually show to agency buyers:
What we showed them
A dry StormBag weighs 16 ounces and lies flat at 23" x 13" x 1". Submerge it in fresh water for three to five minutes and it hydrates to a 33-pound barrier bag you can stack like traditional sandbags — no shovel, no sand pile, no back-breaking prep. Once hydrated, StormBags will hold back salt water as well; they just have to be activated with fresh water first. That's a distinction that matters for coastal and estuary work, and it comes up every time we present to a public agency.
For an agency that has to preposition flood response gear across dozens of yards and depots, the storage story sells itself: unopened StormBags stack flat in cases and take up a fraction of the space that sand and empty bags do. That's the pitch, and CalTrans got it right away.
If you're an agency or municipality
If you work in emergency management, public works, facilities, or procurement for an agency or municipality that wants to evaluate StormBags — for stockpiling or for a specific site — reach out through our contact page. We're happy to send a sample case, put together a quote, or come out and demo the way we did for CalTrans.
Big thanks to CalTrans and to everyone who stopped by the table in Oakland. More on the way.
