Echo shows new walk-behind mower at Power-On-Athon event
Echo Incorporated hosted its Power-On-Athon 2024 event September 19 at its Lake Zurich, Illinois, headquarters. During the annual media event, Echo announced 10 new products to its portfolio.
The latest products include eight additions to the Echo 56V battery system, featuring a limited-edition pink handheld blower in collaboration with Susan G. Komen, a six-port field charger and two new gas-powered units – including a self-propelled gas-powered walk-behind mower.
“Since 2017, we’ve introduced 154 new tools, setting new industry benchmarks,” said Wayne Thomsen, vice president of marketing and product management at Echo. “Alongside expanding our range of battery and gas-powered equipment, we’re also supporting the fight against breast cancer by donating a portion of the proceeds from a limited-edition pink blower to Komen.”
The new self-propelled gas lawn mower is in a market segment that the Echo brand hasn’t served since the 1990s. This 21-inch mower use a 190cc Briggs & Stratton engine. The Mow N’Stow feature and foldable handles mean the mower can be stored upright, a feature that has made battery-powered mowers popular. The self-propelled mower features a variable speed system the automatically adapts to the user’s walking speed. It uses a dual-blade design plus 11-in. rear and eight-in. front ball-bearing-supported wheels.
The full product lineup will launch in the first quarter of 2025, except for the limited-edition pink blower, which will be available starting October 1, 2024.
New product introductions:
- DPB-2500LE battery-powered pink blower. MSRP $299.99
- DPB2610 battery-powered handheld blower. MSRP $299.99
- DPB-5900T battery-powered backpack blower. MSRP $1,299.99
- DPB-7700T battery-powered backpack blower. MSRP $1,599.99
- DSRM-225 battery-powered string trimmer. MSRP $329.99
- DSHC-2600 battery-powered hedge trimmer. MSRP $739.99
- DHS-3006 battery-powered handheld pruning saw. MSRP $249.99
- 6-port rapid field charger. MSRP $799.99
- SRM-2120 gas string trimmer. MSRP $199.99
- LM-2119SP self-propelled gas lawn mower. MSRP $579.99.
During the Power-On-Athon, Lake Zurich Mayor Tom Poynton presented Echo with a Green Business Award. The award recognizes businesses in Lake Zurich working to reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to a more sustainable future.
“Lake Zurich has been the world headquarters of Echo since 1985, and it’s an important pillar of our business community,” said Poynton. “Not only has Echo created hundreds of good-paying jobs – juicing the local economy – they also understand why being environmentally friendly is good for business.”
Green Business Award
According to Poynton, the Lake Zurich Green Business Award program encourages local companies to take more sustainable actions, and honors organizations that demonstrate exceptional leadership in integrating sustainable practices into their daily business operations.
“Echo is a pioneering force is sustainable business practices,” said Poynton. “We’re proud to acknowledge the leadership and dedication to environmental sustainability that Echo represents.”
Poynton outlined Echo’s Earth-friendly initiatives aimed at promoting green business practices across its operations. Echo recycles and regrinds 100% of its plastic waste, and turns plastic rosin into its own usable plastic crates that are molded in house. The total recycling diversion rate for all materials at Echo last year was calculated at 96.5% with 2.2 million pounds of recycled material leaving the facility. Echo also completed a solar energy panel installation that offsets about 38% of its total energy use; it converted the exterior lights to point down instead of up – helping to reduce nighttime light pollution; it purchased reusable tumblers for all Echo employees to use in an effort to eliminate single-use water bottles; and it stocked the building with biodegradable compostable plates and cups in lieu of Styrofoam products.
Harold Redman, president and CEO of Echo, Inc., said the award means a lot to everyone at Echo. “We have a goal to reduce waste. Reducing waste can mean consolidating supplier shipments and buying in larger bulk to reduce our transportation mileage and costs, which has a positive impact on our carbon footprint. Over the years, we’ve reduced our reliance on corrugated cardboard materials and replaced that with recycling type storage containers. The solar panels provide huge energy savings for us, which allows us not to rely on the power grid and reduces our carbon footprint. On our product side, we’re constantly looking at new technologies to reduce emissions on our gas engine products.
“Once a company starts focusing on being a steward of the environment it can find many ways to fulfill that mission,” Redman added. “There will be plenty of opportunities for us for the future to continue focusing on the environment.”
