Contributors

David Knighton

David Knighton, M.D is a medical doctor and entrepreneur who oftentimes has visualized an idea or concept and turned it around to construct something very different and new. That has been the successful pattern in the career of Dr. David Knighton. His patented medical inventions are not only extremely pragmatic applications, but they reflect the creativity, innovation and empathy that are the hallmarks of his distinguished medical and business histories.

Working with his longtime colleague, business partner and microbiologist, Vance Fiegel, Dr. Knighton has continued this pattern of creativity and innovation through the development and commercialization of PoolNaturally® and SpaNaturally®. PoolNaturally and SpaNaturally are water-conditioning systems, which offer solutions to a wide variety problems not currently being successfully addressed in the chemical treatment of residential pool and spa water. The two men also share seven patents for medical devices and methods of harvesting veins for use in heart bypass operations and issues related to varicose veins and orthopedics. Together they have founded and operated of a number of companies, including:

  • Curative Technologies, Inc. (CTI) (1984-1993). Dr. Knighton founded CTI in 1984. Using patented technologies that resulted in growth factors being released by the platelets, CTI established wound care centers around the country. Patients with non-healing wounds from diabetes, venous stasis, pressure sores and other etiologies were treated with growth factors released from their own platelets. More than 200 such centers were started around the country and later the company conducted a successful Initial Public Offering. Dr. Knighton served as Chairman of the Board through 1989 and stayed with the company through the public offering from 1991 until 1993.
  • Embro Corporation (1991-present), A privately held biomedical research and development company creating technologies for vascular surgeries, wound healing and infectious diseases. Currently Chairman of the Board and Chief Scientific Officer.
  • Institute for Reparative Medicine (1992-Present), vascular surgery clinics in St. Louis Park and St. Cloud. Founder and CEO.
  • Embro Vascular, LLC (1998-present), established as a business to commercialize a patented endoscope and method for vein removal. Technology and patents sold to Guidant Corporation. Currently Chairman.
  • Atlantic BioVentures, LLC (2002-Present), parent company of Creative Water Solutions, LLC, to commercialize products based on the Sphagnum moss application for pools and spas.

Knighton earned his M.D. degree at Abraham Lincoln School of Medicine at the University of Illinois, with postgraduate surgical studies at the University of California (San Francisco) where he later became Chief Resident Surgeon. He has received more than a dozen honors, including “Who’s Who in America,” has written numerous publications on various medical subjects and belongs to a host of professional organizations. Dr. Knighton is the recipient of more than a dozen research grants, including those from the National Institute of Health and Veterans Administration.

In addition to the above-mentioned companies, the doctor also is Founder and CEO of Knighton Real Estate, Inc., and Knighton Transportation, LLC and has served on the Board of Directors for Surgidyne (1993-2002). He also served on the faculty of the University of Minnesota Hospital and Clinic (1984-2000). Dr. Knighton is a licensed pilot and an avid fly fisherman and outdoorsman.

Allan Schwartz

Despite the statistics about the success rates of startup (entrepreneurial) ventures, Allan Schwartz knows that the benefits of the CWS product systems far outweigh the risks. VP for Sales and Marketing of Creative Water Solutions, Schwartz brings more than 30 years of management, strategic development and planning, and sales and marketing experience at startup, midsize and Fortune 500 companies. His knowledge and firsthand engagement in fast-paced industries like ebusiness, software and printing make him the ideal point man to launch truly “green” products into the $9 billion a year pool, spa and hot tub industry.

“In many cases, this product restores the real recreational value that people bought their pools or spas for in the first place, by giving them greater water clarity, reduced maintenance times and repairs – plus, it has none of the irritating side effects we’ve all experienced in spas or hot tubs, like burning eyes, dry skin and hair, and sanitizer odors,” Schwartz notes. “Best of all, PoolNaturally and SpaNaturally are biodegradable products, harvested by hand to preserve the plant for future growing and use in water environments. These are true, breakthrough, all-natural products that are good for the hardware, pool and hot tub users and the environment.”

Schwartz was introduced to the CWS opportunity based on his business expertise and a five-year friendship with David Knighton, MD, Cofounder, CEO, and President of Creative Water Solutions. Prior to launching the CWS products, the company conducted five years of research into the pool, spa and hot tub markets while the scientific arm of the company, under Vance Fiegel, investigated the products’ effectiveness in the lab and with teams of beta testers.

As Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Schwartz helped Kroy Companies (a manufacturing firm) grow from $1 million to $40 million in four years. As President of IndiVisual Learning, LLC (an education software company targeting K-12 reading improvement through technology), he worked with sales, marketing and curriculum-development staff that  successfully created and developed a program that showed significant improvement in the reading scores of students in just 60 days. Schwartz was also National Sales Manager for NCS/Pearson, responsible for identifying and implementing a new approach to building a dealer distribution channel to sell automated data-capture systems to the healthcare industry.

Schwartz brings to the CWS table a wealth of management experience in marketing and public relations programs, with budgets in excess of $4 million that generated 80,000 leads annually through media, direct mail and trade publications. He has had measurable results in developing proficient sales and sales training programs to enhance productivity and growth. A native of Youngstown, Ohio, he holds a B.S. degree in Industrial Sales Management from Youngstown State University and a Master of Arts degree at the Adler Graduate School in Minneapolis, with a certification in Organizational Development.