Tri-Cities Tech Business Update

February 2012 Issue

• Hydrovolts voted "Most Valued Company" by Angel Investors
  The Keiretsu Forum is the world's largest angel investing organization, with over 800 members in twenty one chapters on three continents. more...
• Washington State ranked 7th best state for business
  Forbes magazine has ranked the 50 states based on best business climates and Washington State comes in a resounding 7th! State rankings measured six vital categories for businesses: costs, labor supply, regulatory environment, current economic climate, growth prospects, and quality of life. more...
• Fifty gems for entrepreneurs thinking about making the leap
  Geekwire columnist John Cook writes on the technology community, telling the stories of entrepreneurs. more...
• Who will be America's next top energy innovator?
  That's up to you to decide. In May 2011, the Energy Department launched the "America's Next Top Energy Innovator Challenge" to make it easier, quicker and less costly for America's entrepreneurs to access the patents of 17 National Laboratories. more...

• 2012 PreCede grant competition now open
  The new PreCede grant competition is designed to help position eligible early-stage Washington state life sciences companies for near-term equity investment. more...
• Founder's Co-op raises $8M angel fund
  The angel investment fund led by Andy Sack and Chris DeVore, Founder's Co-op, has raised a new $8M fund from some of the top names in the Seattle technology community. more...
• Export assistance
  The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) International Marketing Program is offering assistance to Washington's small businesses. more...
• Grant opportunities are listed on washbio.org
  Research grants are a great source of non-dilutive capital that can enable you to further de-risk the science and technology that serve as the foundation of your business. more...
• Technology Assistance available for technology-based businesses
  Is your small, technology based business faced with a specific challenge, but lacking the necessary resources or expertise to pave a clear path forward? Would technical assistance from a world class scientist or engineer help your company? If the answer is yes, the Technology Assistance Program at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory may be just what you're looking for. more...
• SBIR proposal writing basics: articles
  Greenwood Consulting Group, Inc. is a contributing author to the SBIR/STTR Alerting Service provided by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. more...

• Cleantech Open and CLEEN | NW - Fostering and Funding Cleantech Innovation
  February 15. Hear from panels of experienced investors and entrepreneurs about the challenges and opportunities derived from building clean tech ventures, what's unique about clean tech funding, and what the outlook is for the clean tech space. more...
• SBIR Intro - webinar
  February 22. The SBIR Intro webinar will introduce attendees to SBIR/STTR programs, the services that the North Carolina Small Business and Technology Development Center provides to those looking to submit proposals, as well as sources of additional program information. more...
• Young Professionals in Energy February Happy Hour
  February 23. Originally scheduled for January and cancelled due to weather, the Young Professionals in Energy - Tri-Cities presents its February Happy Hour speaker, Robin Conger, as she shares how entrepreneurs can benefit from working with an experienced mentor who can provide guidance for career and business growth. more...
• 10th Annual BioPartnering in North America
  February 26. The objective of this conference is to facilitate partnering/licensing deals and collaborations between North American life science companies and their international counterparts. more...
• Phase 1 Overview: Pre-proposal Work, Common Pitfalls - webinar
  February 29. A great deal of the effort that goes into the preparation of a Phase 1 proposal comes BEFORE you actually sit down to write the proposal. more...
• The Innovation Showcase
  March 2. The Innovation Showcase, a program of the Technology Alliance, helps bridge the gap between research and commercialization by highlighting the most promising discoveries and new technologies ready for commercialization in Washington. more...
• 2012 TRIDEC annual meeting
  March 7. Jesse Berst, a Tri-Cities native and Managing Director of Global SmartEnergy of Redmond, WA, will be the keynote speaker at TRIDEC's annual meeting. more...
• Alliance NW Conference
  March 15. The Alliance NW Conference, hosted by the Washington State Procurement Technical Assistance Center with the support of federal agencies and state offices, provides businesses with a single day of networking and procurement training opportunities. more...

• PNNL's Olympus supercomputer advances science, saves energy
  A new, 162-Teraflop peak supercomputer at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory is helping scientists do more complex, advanced research in areas such as energy storage and future power grid development. more...
• Changing the game in electric power operation
  A new visual analytic software tool developed at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory helps power grid operators respond to complex outage predictions more effectively and even predict potential network failures. more...
• PNNL recognized for technology transfer
  The Federal Laboratory Consortium announced that PNNL is receiving a 2012 Excellence in Technology Transfer award. more...
• Tech Business Monthly Update survey on its way
  As a subscriber to PNNL Economic Development Office's monthly newsletter, we would like to ask you to participate in a brief survey. more...

We invite your contributions! We will consider items that fit the mission of this publication, including your tech-related news, awards, and notices of upcoming events. Please send text to Andrea McMakin or call (509) 372-6013.

Tri-Cities Tech Business Update is published by the Economic Development Office at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Each month, we send you an e-mail message, giving you the link of news, tips, awards, upcoming events, and other information about local technology-based businesses and organizations that support them. With business and community partners, our goal is to build and diversify the Tri-Cities economy—adding skilled jobs in primary-sector industries that bring in outside dollars. Currently, more than 1,100 tech-related businesses, investors, and economic development stakeholders subscribe to the newsletter, mostly in the Mid-Columbia area and the rest of the Pacific Northwest. This newsletter (RL-P00-009) supports PNSO's vision for the future of the Hanford Site and surrounding area through the creation of research opportunities, new industries, and new business clusters.