About

Engineered Solutions for Cultivation

Surna's innovative technologies address the energy and resource intensive nature of indoor cultivation. Properly controlled environments can lead to higher yields, more reliability and more security.

Many of history’s greatest success stories started with humble beginnings: Amazon, Apple, Disney, Microsoft, Google, and many other world changers all started in a small garage with a big idea. The Surna story begins there, too. Since our inception in a sweltering Austin, TX, garage more than a decade ago, Surna has always been driven by one thing—innovation. We see problems as opportunities, and we create innovative solutions that efficiently solve our clients’ challenges.

Our deep expertise is not something you can achieve overnight. It requires years of experience. Hundreds of projects. Tens of thousands of hours. Sweat. Failure. Success. Expertise. As the only true expert in cultivation environments, Surna is the first call any cultivator, investor, engineer or cannabis consultant should make when planning and designing a controlled environment cultivation. We’re the industry experts in applied mechanical engineering, agricultural science, indoor farming and predictive facility modeling.

Our systems produce greater yield, more reliability, more security, and timely ROI. We’re laser-focused on producing better energy efficiency for you, moving heat out of your environment as practically as possible. As cross-disciplinary experts, we take time to fully understand your business goals, climate conditions and facility before building a system that will meet your business and cultivation goals. As educators and resources, our Project Management, Engineering and Customer Service teams will work hand in hand with your team to ensure that we’re all moving toward the same finish line—because we know that we can accomplish so much more together.

Like other great success stories, ours grows and evolves with each passing year. While we took root in cannabis, our proven cultivation solutions can succeed with any indoor farm-grown food. As the environmental challenges in agriculture intensify, Surna will play an important role in the future of food. We are poised to slingshot from cannabis into global indoor agriculture solutions. In fact, we believe that if you can succeed in growing cannabis, you can grow anything, anywhere—whether it’s cannabis in Colorado or potatoes on Mars!

Executive Team

Chris Bechtel

President and CEO

Mr. Bechtel has over 30 years’ experience, as an executive, entrepreneur and consultant, managing and advising businesses from start-ups to divisions of large Fortune 500 companies. Since 2015, Mr. Bechtel has been the principal of Bechtel Consulting, LLC, which provides consulting services in mergers and acquisitions, financial and investment analysis, capital markets, turnarounds and special situations. Mr. Bechtel became involved in the cannabis industry as a private investor, consultant and advisor.

In September 2014, Mr. Bechtel joined the advisory board of Supreme Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Canadian publicly traded company committed to becoming a leading supplier of affordable medical cannabis. In November 2014, Mr. Bechtel was appointed as an Independent Director and the Chairman of Supreme, where he served in such positions until resigning in April 2016. From October 2014 to April 2016, Mr. Bechtel also served as a Director of ebbu, llc, a privately held, Colorado-based company offering a line of branded cannabis products and a bulk oil extraction service for cannabis producers.

In 1983, Mr. Bechtel co-founded Omni Laboratories, Inc., a privately held company that provides geologic services for oil and gas companies, where he was initially responsible for all business development activities, including a number of business acquisitions. From January 1995 to September 2006, as the owner and President, Mr. Bechtel was responsible for leading the organic growth initiative as well as expanding Omni’s service offerings, eventually employing 175 people with 14 laboratory locations in six countries. In September 2006, Mr. Bechtel sold Omni to Weatherford International, Inc. (NYSE: WFT), one of the largest global providers of innovative mechanical solutions, technology and services for the drilling, completion and production sectors of the oil and gas industry. Mr. Bechtel was appointed Group Vice President responsible for managing and growing the former Omni business, which was renamed Weatherford Laboratories, and in 2011, he was promoted to lead the worldwide operations of Weatherford’s Surface Logging Systems division. Mr. Bechtel retired from Weatherford in March 2015.

Mr. Bechtel is a 1981 graduate of Michigan State University with a B.A. degree in Marketing.

Mark Smiens

Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Smiens is a seasoned financial executive with over 25 years of experience in financial reporting, profit and loss responsibility, financial and operational strategy, and mergers and acquisitions in the manufacturing and distribution sectors. He has also managed areas outside of finance including sales, operations, human resources and information technology.

Since August 2017, Mr. Smiens was the Chief Financial Officer of US Fence Solutions, LLC, a private equity-backed residential fencing company. From April 2015 to August 2017, he was the Chief Financial Officer of private equity-owned Wildcat Minerals, LLC, an oilfield services company which was sold to a public company in 2017.

From January 2010 to April 2015, Mr. Smiens was the Chief Financial Officer (North America) for SMA Solar Technology AG, a German publicly-traded company specializing in the manufacture and distribution of high-tech solar equipment. At SMA Solar Technology, he was a member of the North American executive management team where he was directly responsible for all general and administrative functions, including inside sales, customer service and contract management.

From 2007 to 2010, Mr. Smiens was the Finance Director (Worldwide Operations) for Advanced Energy, Inc., a publicly-traded, global high-tech equipment manufacturer with operations in the U.S., China, Germany, Korea, Japan and Taiwan.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Smiens held various controller-level positions with Lextron, Inc. (2004-2007), Veeco, Inc. (2000-2003), and United Agri Products (1992-2000).

Mr. Smiens holds an MBA from Colorado State University and obtained a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Northern Colorado. He is a Certified Public Accountant licensed in Colorado and a Certified Management Accountant.

Values

Our values guide the way we approach every situation, every day. They determine how we interact with customers, partners and our employees. The following values and mission define Surna.

  • Be innovative & creative
  • Pursue growth
  • Satisfy & delight customers
  • Adhere to ethical principles
  • Maintain professionalism
  • Be respectful
  • Maintain a safe environment
  • Support sustainability
  • Cultivate mutual partnerships
  • Give back to the community

Mission Statement: To create efficient technology and equipment. From initial design and engineering through equipment selection and implementation, we provide a more intelligent, affordable and efficient solution.

Brands

Hydro Innovations was started by Surna’s co-founder, Stephen Keen, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Surna Inc.. Mr. Keen developed our innovative water-chilled climate technology specifically for the indoor grow. His ideas and products were designed with the intention of making every garden environment easier and more cost effective to control while setting the gardener on the path to success. Hydro Innovations’ products are available to hobby indoor gardeners.