for Innovation and Entrepreneurship
at Davidson College

All About: Boomerang

Boomerang's origin story starts with the military and there's no end in sight! Learn more about Boomerang's story, water bottling machines, and about the Boomerang team!

In 2017, Jason Dibble founded Boomerang with the mission to address the critical issues of water access and sustainability. His experiences serving in the US Military, including four tours in Afghanistan, provided the impetus for his passion. While watching the delivery of bottled water in the hot desert sun, Dibble observed the negative environmental impact of single-use plastic bottles, including chemical leaching and toxic waste disposal in burn pits. This motivated him to create a company that could eliminate the need for single-use plastics while providing clean, fresh water to communities. 

Dibble’s experience in the military led him to explore various water-based topics such as water filtration, access to water, and reusable water sources, eventually leading him to become an “aquapreneurer”- one of our new favorite titles, with Jerrod Freund, who’s focused on finance but has the flare for “disruptive bottling technology.” Together, they brainstormed solutions to the world’s water problems and identified eliminating single-use plastics as the most viable idea. This concept gave birth to the Boomerang Bottling System, which simplifies the bottling process and reduces the need for single-use plastics. 

Boomerang’s innovative bottling systems can handle the entire process of washing, sanitizing, filtering, filling, and capping bottles with a single, compact machine. They have their own filtration system to always keep the water fresh and ultra-filtered. In an eight-hour shift, the Boomerang Bottling System can produce up to 3,000 bottles of water. These machines provide the convenience of bottled water while reducing carbon footprint and eliminating single-use plastic by producing water locally instead of shipping it. 

Right now, Boomerang has five machines in use, and they are contracted to install many more units in the next six months. Boomerang is suitable for hotels, resorts, industrial, and corporate campuses, but they are also exploring opportunities to work with cruise lines, aiming to replace the thousands of plastic water bottles that are used on every trip. 

Boomerang and their Connections to Davidson 

Boomerang started up in 2020 and you can guess how that felt. Ready to go but nowhere to go at the same time. So, Boomerang went local. The company went to the Town of Davidson and offered to bottle water for the police department and the fire department, but soon others saw the benefits of their sustainable approach to bottled water. Summit Coffee and GreenWorks in Mooresville quickly became clients, and Boomerang’s business expanded rapidly in the town. They now work with a variety of downtown businesses, including the Davidson Inn, Ben and Jerry’s, Good Drip Coffee, Hop and Vine, Abode Spa and Our Town Cinemas. During the pandemic, Boomerang collaborated with these local clients to improve their machines, processes, and designs. 

Boomerang was solely located in a facility on Depot Street, where they are manufacturing their machines, as well as housing their marketing/design studio, engineering, and accounting teams. What Boomerang needed was more space where they could accommodate their growing team and foster a collaborative environment for idea sharing and innovation. Boomerang found a perfect fit with the Hurt Hub and is one of our coworking members. According to Jean Andzulis, the Director of Special Projects at Boomerang, the Hurt Hub has been instrumental in their success, enabling them to collaborate more effectively and achieve their goals. 

“The Hurt Hub has been instrumental in providing us with the space and resources we need to grow and thrive as a company. Their contributions have allowed us to present ourselves more clearly, host guests, and showcase our innovative office and co-working space, ultimately contributing to our continued success.” – Jean Andzulis, Director of Special Projects at Boomerang. 

Boomerang focuses on a closed-loop, waste-free, return, reuse, refill, recycle model while providing fresh, delicious water for all their clients. Davidson is lucky to have Boomerang as they aim to eliminate single-use plastic bottles once and for all. 


The Try It Fund has been made possible through generous support from the Charlie Hinnant ’72 Fund, Davidson alumni and other community sponsors.

Boomerang's origin story starts with the military and there's no end in sight! Learn more about Boomerang's story, water bottling machines, and about the Boomerang team!

Hello!

Are you a Prospective Davidson College student or Prospective coworking member?

The Hurt Hub logo

Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Davidson College