KLAMATH FALLS — Klamath IDEA’s Wednesday, March 1 IDEA Talk will feature the story of Zack Slizewski and his business endeavors with Bob Lazar at United Nuclear Scientific.
Slizewski will highlight highs and lows of his time with the business, from responding to a single sentence Craigslist ad to becoming co-owner of a business where he started out as a part time technician straight out of college. Klamath IDEA is a community initiative committed to developing a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in Klamath County to strengthen existing small businesses and innovators and inspire and support the emergence of new ones. In that effort, entrepreneurial-minded informative talks modeled after TED Talks are held – known as IDEA Talks – to benefit business owners and entrepreneurs.
United Nuclear Scientific was founded in 1998 by Bob Lazar and his wife, Joy White. The company began with assisting national laboratories with design and repair of radiation equipment, among other equally interesting projects. They now devote the bulk of their time and money into obtaining unique and hard-to-find scientific equipment and supplies for sale to learning institutions – as well as the general public. They currently sell a variety of radioactive supplies and almost every element of the periodic table, including their best-seller, uranium ore, as well as a multitude of educational materials for chemistry and physics. Although United Nuclear is not open to the public to browse in-person, orders can be placed online through the company website, unitednuclear.com.
“None of my professors told me I could be a small business owner,” Slizweski explained. “None of my friends were starting their own businesses. There was an expectation that I would be working for someone else, and for the first few years that’s exactly what I did. How did I go from knowing absolutely nothing about running a business to being an instrumental part of one? What kept me from taking the ‘expected’ path, risking my livelihood on a business that’s been raided twice by the FBI?”
The event will take place on Wednesday, March 1 at Brevada Brewhouse from 5:30-8 p.m. Food and one nonalcoholic drink ticket is included in the $20 per-person admission. Beer and wine will be available for purchase. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for networking, the IDEA Talk will start at 6:15 p.m. Attendance will be limited to 40, tickets must be purchased in advance at Facebook.com/KlamathIDEA, or KlamathIDEA.org on the calendar page. “In the last few years, we are welcoming some very interesting entrepreneurs to our region, and the folks at United Nuclear are certainly among them. We look forward to Zach sharing his story with other entrepreneurial-minded people,” said Kat Rutledge, Klamath IDEA director.
The 2023 IDEA Talks season is supported by the Klamath Community College Small Business Development Center (SBDC), City of Klamath Falls, Klamath County, the Ford Family Foundation’s Growing Rural Oregon program, and through Oregon State Lottery Funds administered by Business Oregon. For more information visit KlamathIDEA.org.
