Tadpole Tape Cutter is a perfect fit for Louisiana inventor

Lee Mallahan, III was at home painting his front doors one weekend and realized he was spending the bulk of his time on the project dealing with the painter’s tape. While the tape he used could be torn, it was not tearing with straight edges for better alignment. So, he quit. He went to the local stores to see if he could find a tape supplier that could cut the tape with a perfect edge and realized that such product did not exist. So, he returned home empty-handed.

“Then I got fortunate by putting a knife on the backside of tape and cut it and it went from an hour-long process to do one side to fifteen minutes on the other using this method. I knew then I had to make this,” Mallahan said.

And the rest is history as they say. Mallahan developed and has been manufacturing the Tadpole Tape Cutter ever since; something he calls a necessity and the “Mother of all inventions.”

Mallahan spent many late nights designing and putting the tape cutter together. But he realized something equally as important – being able to evolve this invention into a successful business. So, he went to the Louisiana Small Business Development Center (LSBDC).

“I went there for help and guidance. I wanted the business knowledge and when I sat down with the LSBDC, you can go to college twice and still not get the knowledge I’ve gotten from them.”

Mallahan said the information the LSBDC provided gave him confidence in knowing someone is “standing with me in helping me make the right decisions.”

LSBDC at University of Louisiana Monroe Director Virendra Chhikara said it’s no surprise that Tadpole Tape Cutter has found success.

“When Lee came to us, I knew he had a great product solved a real problem,” Chhikara said. “His dedication and passion is the reason it all works. The LSBDC is just glad to be able to come in and help him navigate through the gray areas.” 

Mallahan said from starting the patent search to now having the Tadpole in stores the project has been fun and challenging. The company now has the ability to produce 26,000 Tadpole parts per day, and make 40,000 blades per day. 

“This was done in order to fulfill any large big box stores wanting to take on our product,” Mallahan said. “We can scale quickly to make 2 million pieces per year and double that number running a second line.”

The company, which was recognized at the National Hardware Show in Las Vegas as the Best in Show, has increased from eight to 24 jobs and the employee makeup is different from most. Mallahan said he wanted to be able to create jobs that did and maybe could not exist, so he employed visually impaired persons to assemble the tadpole tape cutters. The company has been able to partner with the Louisiana Association for the Blind to operate the business from Shreveport.

“I have so much respect seeing firsthand the dedication and work these fine people do — very impressive,” Mallahan said.