A Dry Idea

As the head of a lab at 3M Corp., Paul Johansen could marshal some of the resources of the $27 billion company.

Now, as a lone entrepreneur in Naples, the retired mechanical engineer has no staff to rely on for a device he invented that keeps the contents of a lanai dry when it starts raining.

But 3M's entrepreneurial culture served Johansen well after he retired from the company in 1997 at age 56, and he has found the right people to help him patent and manufacture his invention.