A Spokane entrepreneur is leveraging 62 years of experience in the industrial pump industry by offering educational seminars to maintenance workers and engineers here and across the Inland Northwest.

Lee Vernam, 83, emerged from retirement in September 2024 to establish C. Lee Vernam Pump Consulting Firm LLC, of Spokane, to meet a growing demand for practical pump training for the engineering and construction trades.

Encouraged by a close family friend to leverage his extensive expertise, Vernam contacted long-term engineering associates at Boise, Idaho-based J-U-B Engineers Inc. and Seattle-based Coffman Engineers Inc. to launch his initial educational seminars.

Vernam has conducted about 20 training sessions and presented at various industry conferences. With nearly 30 additional seminars in the pipeline, his growing client list features prominent regional organizations, including the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, Montana Rural Water Systems, Oregon Association of Water Utilities, Idaho Rural Water Association, and others, he says.

“I've done classes for as little as six guys, and I did one earlier this year for 140 people in Boise, Idaho,” he says.

The Yakima native's experience includes stints at several industrial supply and engineering companies, including Brookshire, Texas-based Grundfos Pumps Corp. and Mansfield, Ohio-based Warren Rupp Inc., as a designer and distributor. He launched a pump supply company, Lee’s Pump & Equipment, in Spokane in 1972. 

Vernam declines to disclose the business's annual revenue. His services cost $250 per hour, plus travel and expenses, he notes.

“I’ve been getting the name out, as different people refer to me someone else,” he says.

Trainings include comprehensive lessons about pump basics, application, installation, and service skills. Classes average between two and six hours, and Vernam is certified to teach in Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Oregon. Attendees are eligible to earn continuing education credits.

Vernam's latest venture is a result of years of work providing pumps and advising installation on a variety of projects, such as the Hanford Nuclear Reactor, Grand Coulee Dam, Dworshak Hatchery in central Idaho, Spokane’s Riverside Park Water Reclamation Facility, and Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center’s original construction and remodel.

He expects to increase the number of trainings offered in the next year.

“I would love to see business shoot up quite a bit, but I think it’s going to be slow,” he says. “It’ll be two or three trainings every month.”