America is the heart of global innovation—but policies like unfettered tariffs threaten to stop that heart from beating.
My team and I built a company that reflects the very best of American entrepreneurship: interdisciplinary, self-funded, and mission-driven. HiveTech Solutions creates environmentally controlled cold storage units tailored for small-scale agriculture. Our work supports farmers and beekeepers—the stewards of our food system and the natural world. It took us over a decade to get here, and we did it slow and steady - the right way.
We are a scrappy startup founded by a biologist, an architect, an engineer, and a designer. We bootstrapped with savings and small grants from shark tank–style competitions. We sought out mentors, enrolled in business programs, and earned competitive federal funding: a USDA Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant—your taxpayer dollars, invested in innovation. We received support from the University of Colorado and the state of Colorado. We studied, tested, improved, and persisted.
Our customers are small farmers and beekeepers who work with narrow margins and unpredictable seasons. We listened to them when they said our product was too expensive. Through COVID and beyond, we scoured the globe for reliable, high-quality, affordable manufacturing. Eventually, we found partners in China who could help us cut costs without sacrificing quality. Finally, we had a product that farmers could afford and were excited to buy.
The momentum was real. Website traffic jumped twentyfold. We attended expos, listened to farmers, connected with them on social media, and began to see real traction. Orders were coming in. For the first time, we felt like we had made it.
Then came the tariffs.
New trade policies imposed a 25%, then 54%, then 104%, then a 145% tariff on components imported from China - all within the span of a month - the month we typically put in orders. Our $18,000 unit now costs over $35,000. Domestic manufacturers quote us even higher prices, as they are also hit by tariffs on raw materials like aluminum. And our customers? They can’t afford that. Neither can we.
Without smarter policy considerations, our company will disappear. Four jobs are at risk —along with a decade of work, federal investment, and the dream of building an American company that supports pollinators, food producers, and local economies. Farmers will have fewer options for what they can use for keeping their food fresh and safe for our consumption. Beekeepers will lose a tool that helps them protect their colonies and keep honey flowing. The taxpayers lose their investment in us.
This isn’t just our story. It’s the story of many small, American-built businesses being crushed by policies that don’t distinguish between billion-dollar imports and kitchen-table startups.
If we want to support American agriculture, food security, and pollinator health, we must also consider the companies helping these sectors adapt. We urge policymakers to rethink how blanket tariffs affect small businesses working in service of the public good. Without small businesses like us, there’s no innovation left to protect.