About Us

Our experience is your advantage

Developing products with a focus on manufacturing

Zebulon Solutions is a Colorado-based product design and supply chain services company specializing in hardware productization. We support clients through the full product lifecycle, from proof-of-concept and prototyping to production. Our integrated teams use a data-driven approach to optimize for cost, manufacturability, and reliability, validated through rigorous testing. The result is a smooth transition into scalable production. 
WHAT WE DO

Integrity over profits

Chuck Hodges founded this organization on the belief that integrity is more important than the bottom line. This vision grew from his experience managing various global operations at a Fortune 500 contract manufacturer, where he witnessed how much better win-win relationships worked out versus win-lose, and how transparency always yielded better outcomes. Today, Zebulon Solutions is guided by time-honored values through a commitment to honest and open business practices.

“We tell our customers what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.”

No one wants to hear that their baby is ugly, but sometimes the best news you receive is the bad news. This approach may cost us business occasionally, but frankly if it helps protect our customers from costly early mistakes and potential brand damage down the road, then being authentic is worth it.

Chuck Hodges, Founder & CEO

Design and manufacturing should not be treated as separate efforts. Many development firms focus narrowly on product design and only engage suppliers late in the development cycle. This delay forces manufacturers to work around design constraints while a collaborative approach allows for real-time feedback and informed trade-offs before design decisions are finalized.  

We integrate our designers with supply chain managers from day one. By considering manufacturing processes and evaluating trade-offs during the earliest stages, we identify the most efficient path forward. Aligning supplier selection with your specific business goals and the requirements of the product, we deliver a reliable product supported by a supply chain built to scale with your success. 

Design & manufacturing seamlessly integrated

“Engineers claim to be supply chain managers, but no supply chain manager would ever claim to be an engineer.”

Supply chain management goes beyond just finding a supplier. It’s about building relationship with those suppliers.  It’s about knowing what both the product and the business need. And it’s about finding a supplier that supports our customer’s current business, but can also grow with them

The value of experience

Inventors today sometimes have a maker’s mindset that minimizes the need for true experience with access to copious amounts of online “how to” videos. There is value in hacking an idea to prove it out, but those approaches fall apart when quantities increase from a few to dozens or thousands. Once a product needs to be repeatedly reproduced, the crafting approach should be replaced with intentional design based on a specific manufacturing process. Knowing what a manufacturing process is capable of and the limitations is where specific experience is beneficial.

“The first 80% is pretty easy, but the last 20% takes serious engineering horsepower.”

A lot of first-time entrepreneurs we engage with significantly underestimate what is required to launch a new product. We see these underestimations in the hours required to design a product and thoroughly test it to ensure it meets the requirements, as well as the financials needed to stand up manufacturing for the first time.

Chuck Hodges, Founder &  CEO

YES! Energy
Zebulon Solutions has been the best outside engineering firm I’ve ever used. They are our trusted vendor and we could not have done this without them.
TJ Linzy
VP Fleet Operations @ Yes! Energy

Latest trend or transforming technology

A common question we receive is how often we use AI in our design process. Like any technology, we use it when it improves efficiency and saves time, but not simply for the sake of using it. In many cases, correcting AI-generated output can take as long as creating the work from scratch, although it has proven valuable in areas such as software development. We continuously evaluate new tools and adopt them when they add real value. In many situations, however, experience remains our most effective tool. 

“Optimized manufacturing doesn’t just happen; it requires intentional planning.”

Our experienced designers have launched hundreds of products into production. We know the limitations of manufacturing processes and how to design products for quality and low defect rates. Our supply chain managers build relationships with suppliers to allow us to have frank and transparent conversations to ensure we set our customers up with business relationships built on mutual trust.

Jenney Loper, Director of Operations

WHO WE ARE

Chuck Hodges

In his copious free time, he is a well-published author of science fiction short stories.

Chuck co-founded Zebulon Solutions in 2009 after a successful career as a serial entrepreneur and executive. His vision: to build a product development firm that prioritizes manufacturability from ideation. Drawing on decades of experience ramping groundbreaking products like the PalmPilot and Xbox from prototype to high-volume production, Chuck brings deep expertise in bridging the gap between design and manufacturing. He has led test engineering at FLEX and served as general manager of an injection molding company, giving him a hands-on understanding of the common pitfalls in product development—and how to avoid them. Chuck holds an MSEE from Stanford University.

Dr. Todd Hochwitz

When he’s not in the lab or designing the next big, smart thing, Todd enjoys hiking through the mountains.

Todd brings 40 years of experience at turning complex ideas into reliable, market-ready solutions when he supports the development of your product. As the founder of several small companies and now one of the key designers at Zebulon Solutions, he blends theoretical knowledge with practical, hands-on expertise in embedded analog and mixed-signal design to successfully develop your concept into something that can be manufactured. Todd has successfully helped companies launch their products across numerous markets including industrial, agricultural, scientific, and environmental monitoring sectors.

Jenney Loper

When she isn't developing business processes, Jenney enjoys playing in community bands and game nights.

Jenney joined the Zebulon Solutions’ team in 2019. Her background in manufacturing, quality, and supply chain management—paired with strong organizational skills— expands Zebulon Solutions’ operational offerings. With experience spanning both startups and multinational corporations, she understands the challenges of tight budgets as well as the value of scalable, repeatable business processes. Jenney leverages this expertise to help companies build their operational infrastructure needed for sustainable growth.

Joseph Steinman

When he's not busy designing prototypes, Joe applies his meticulous craftsmanship to building vintage racecars and. restoring century-old pocket watches

Joseph joined Zebulon Solutions in 2021 after years of contributing as a trusted contractor. He brings a proven track record of turning complex ideas into manufacturable products. With experience spanning Fortune 500 companies and fast-moving start-ups in medical devices, consumer products, IoT, and aerospace, he de-risks designs and speeds time-to-market. Known for balancing creativity, precision, and cross-industry know-how, Joseph is an asset to any development team.

Teresa Neeley

When Teresa isn't tracking down every part on a Bill of Materials, she's acquiring sea creatures for her salt-water reef aquarium with diverse corals.

Teresa was the first employee to join Zebulon Solutions in 2010, bringing decades of experience in supply chain optimization and global sourcing. She leads sourcing efforts across all commodities and components, applying practical problem-solving and strategic insight to bring products to market efficiently and cost-effectively. With a deep network of trusted global manufacturers and suppliers, Teresa excels at matching the right partners to each product’s unique requirements. She helps startups and growing companies overcome sourcing challenges and build reliable, scalable supply chains.

Connie Meyer

When Connie isn't uncovering the ways products fail, she is in her greenhouse tending plants or thumbing through seed catalogs to expand her collection.

Connie Meyer joined the Zebulon Solutions team in 2023 to support our testing services. As a seasoned test engineer supporting product launches with rigorous functional testing throughout a product’s lifecycle. Her background in black-box testing ensures every feature performs as intended before a product is released to the market. As a leader of cross-functional teams, she is able to build comprehensive test plans, adapt quality processes to align with organizational size, and transform raw data into actionable insights to improve product performance. 

Company Milestones

2009 Founding
Chuck Hodges and a former colleague started Zebulon Solutions to get back to an old-fashioned way of doing business, where your word and a handshake meant something. We choose the name Zebulon as a nod to our old-timey vibe and subtle tribute to our Colorado roots (Zebulon Pike is the namesake of Colorado’s iconic Pike’s Peak).
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1st Employee: Teresa Neeley
Teresa joined Zebulon Solutions in 2012, bringing deep expertise in global sourcing, supplier management, and scalable supply chain development. She works closely with cross-functional teams to support product development from early design through manufacturing, with a focus on cost modeling, vendor qualification, and production readiness.
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New Partner: Dr. Todd Hochwitz
Todd joined Zebulon Solutions in 2012, bringing 40 years of experience. As a founder of multiple companies and a key designer at Zebulon, he combines deep theoretical knowledge with hands-on expertise in embedded analog and mixed-signal design to develop manufacturable solutions across industrial, agricultural, scientific, and environmental monitoring markets.
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New Office in Longmont
Our first digs were in an unairconditioned room with particle board flooring above a tiny coffee roaster in Berthoud, Colorado. In 2012, Zebulon Solutions left the coffee roaster behind for an air conditioned office and lab space in Longmont, Colorado.
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Updated Branding in 2017
After many long hours tossing around ideas we narrowed the list down to 4 promising concepts. The final logo you see before you gives you a little of the old, with a lot of new. It incorporates the old, but new shade of what we call “Zebulon Purple”, while bringing in an industrial feel with the silver, metallic logo and lettering. It’s bold while still being clean and simple.
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Celebrating the 1st Decade
In 2019, Zebulon Solutions celebrated 10 years of business. Growing from 2 members to 6 employees. Over the decade, dozens of products were released into manufacturing with scores of satisfied customers around the globe. We’ve leveraged our global experience to find the best supply chain solutions for our customers, and we’ve grown in world-class design capabilities.
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Acquired JSL Solutions
On July 1, 2019, Zebulon Solutions acquired JSL Solutions, an operations consulting company and bringing Jenney Loper on as Zebulon Solutions' Director of Operations. Jenney said, "One of the many reasons I chose to align with Zebulon Solutions is that they consider manufacturing throughout the entire product development process. They don’t just design a product and throw it over the wall, but continue to be involved until manufacturing is scaled."
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A New Partner in 2021
Joseph Steinman joined the firm as a partner, where he leads the mechanical engineering team. Joe brings 35 years of design, change management, and startup experience. When developing a new product, Joe keeps three things in mind beyond how it needs to function: the operating environment, product's lifetime, and the manufacturing process.
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Ready to take your hardware product to the next level?

Hardware is hard. Scaling is harder.

Offload the details of hardware product development to an experienced and trusted team. Your product will be designed for long-term durability and cost-effective manufacturing.  

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