Small businesses get lift from drone technology

Associated Press

NEW YORK

That drone flying around a suburban house might not belong to a wannabe pilot – it may be a tool that’s become indispensable for a small business.

Many small companies have either built their business around drones or use them to do tasks they previously accomplished by regular planes and helicopters. The unmanned aircraft also take the place of humans who might use scaffolding or navigate difficult terrain to get a close look at a structure or damage from a disaster. Drones, whose prices range from under $100 into the thousands of dollars, can be cheaper, faster and safer ways to make inspections and take photos and videos.

Mark Stoner’s chimney-repair company uses them to assess the work a potential customer needs without rigging a scaffold or having a worker climb onto a sharply-angled roof.

“We started using them in dangerous or difficult situations where you can’t get a person very easily,” said Stoner, co-founder of SirVent in Nashville, Tenn.

Cameras on the company’s three drones can show cracks or other damage and peer inside a chimney. The drones are controlled by a smartphone or a tablet computer.

“It’s just like playing a video game. They’re very easy to fly around,” Stoner said.

TRENDING NOW

The Federal Aviation Administration has issued more than 5,000 exemptions, or permits, for commercial drone use since it began regulating non-recreational use of drones in September 2014. Companies must file petitions with the FAA to be allowed to use drones, or as the agency calls them, unmanned aircraft systems.

Large companies also use drones in the course of their work – Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos has said he hopes to deliver packages using drones. But because drones have only started getting notice the past few years, they’re still something of a novelty. Companies can tout their ability to use drones in advertising or when bidding on projects.

Meares Auction Group, which auctions real estate and other property, has posted videos of properties shot by drones on its website, including one that had sweeping vistas of a house and its grounds and gave viewers a sense of what it would be like to go up the property’s long driveway.

“Drones are the flavor of the month now,” said Darron Meares, CEO of the Pelzer, S.C.-based company.

Companies attracted to drones’ versatility and in many cases their ability to help cut costs are getting creative about how to use them, said Regenia Sanders, a management consultant with SSA & Co. in New York. For example, using drones in a warehouse to check on inventory may allow a company to cut its labor costs. But many companies also may not know yet if a drone makes economic sense, she said.

“People are just trying to look at possibilities for how drones can be used, and then think about the cost part,” she said.

GOING WHERE PEOPLE CAN’T

For some companies, just being able to do their work more easily is reason enough to use drones. For example, they come in handy when toxic spills from rail cars or pipelines occur in hard-to-reach areas and thousands of gallons of leaked chemicals or fuel prevent crews from assessing the damage and starting a cleanup.

“We’ve had several of those where they don’t allow anyone in because of health and safety issues,” said Bryan Martin, emergency response director at Superior Environmental Solutions, a Cincinnati-based company with offices in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky and Michigan that cleans up spills.

Superior began using a drone three years ago, equipping it with high-definition cameras that show the extent of the spills and equipment that measures air quality. The drones send that data wirelessly to Martin’s teams so they can determine whether it’s safe to start approaching a site.