DeCON Environmental
Company description
DeCON Environmental is developing an environmentally friendly, chemical (rather than enzyme- or bacteria-based) pretreatment for septic tanks, aimed at extending tank lifespan, easing cleaning, and avoiding the backups and system failures common with conventional treatments — while sidestepping the harmful chemical runoff those alternatives can eventually release into the environment. The company was part of the 2023 Startup Texas SBIR/STTR Innovation Competition, a program run by the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation (BCIC) in partnership with UTRGV's Entrepreneurship and Commercialization Center (ECC) and the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station (TEES).
DeCON was founded in May 2023 by a six-person team with a notably wide spread of technical backgrounds and locations: co-founder Jocell Rodriguez, who holds a Bachelor's in Biology from UTRGV and lives in Brownsville, handles chemical formulation and experimentation alongside team communication; Aaron Castle, based in Arizona, brings a chemistry and biology background to the product's chemical development; Aram Flores, pursuing a Master's in Interdisciplinary Science with a focus on Science & Technology, manages accounting; Jaime Diez, a mechanical engineer whose father is a lawyer, handles grant research, legal documentation, and outreach; Jose Ovidio Vasquez, a computer systems engineer based in Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, contributes customer discovery and outreach through his work travel; and Eliezer Morales, a civil engineer who works for the City of Brownsville, rounds out the team. The group had been working together for about 10 months by the time of their August 2023 Startup Texas application, and came to the program through Expanding Frontiers, a South Texas entrepreneurship nonprofit.
Founders: Jocell Rodriguez, Aaron Castle, Aram Flores, Jaime Diez, Jose Ovidio Vasquez, and Eliezer Morales
Program: 2023 Startup Texas SBIR/STTR Innovation Competition
Email: thedecongroup.exf@gmail.com