Tri-Cities Tech Business Update

February 2012 Issue

Tech News and Notes

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. Recently, the global Keiretsu Angel Expo was held in San Francisco. Twelve companies were invited to give presentations, and the audience of more than 300 investors voted for the "Most Valued Company." Hydrovolts, a past recipient of technology assistance from PNNL, won first place and the attention of numerous investors and supporters. Read 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. Read more...

Fifty gems for entrepreneurs thinking about making the leap

Geekwire columnist John Cook writes on the technology community, telling the stories of entrepreneurs. The final question he asks-What's the one piece of advice you'd give to other entrepreneurs just starting out?-often elicits some great advice. He has republished responses from 50 entrepreneurs who were featured in 2011. Read 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. Of the thirty six start-up companies that signed 43 option agreements allowing them to license the cutting-edge technologies, we hope you'll agree that Vorbeck Materials, which is using a PNNL-developed method for building tiny chemical structures to greatly improve the performance of lithium-ion batteries, is the next top energy innovator. Voting is open now through Feb. 5. It's America's turn to select which technology is truly the most innovative and promising solution to one of our nation's energy challenges. Vote now. Read more...

Tech Opportunities and Resources

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. PreCede grants will support research and development activities focused on validating the commercial merit of promising health-related technologies, such as proof of concept studies or prototype construction and testing. Pre-proposals are required and must be submitted through the online application system by March 7, 5:00 pm Pacific Time. Only a subset of pre-proposals will be invited to submit a full proposal. Life Sciences Discovery Fund will hold public information sessions via webcast and across Washington February to describe the competition in greater detail and meet with potential applicants. Read 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. The new fund will be used to bankroll as many as 20 new startup companies in the Pacific Northwest. It plans to invest $100-750K in early-stage startups. Founder's Co-op has bankrolled more than a dozen companies on the West Coast, including Simply Measured, Estately, Deal Co-op, Appature, BigDoor and others. Read more...

Export assistance

The Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA) International Marketing Program is offering assistance to Washington's small businesses. If you are a small agricultural or food processing company that would like to start or increase exports to markets in China, Mexico, Taiwan, or Japan, WSDA's International Marketing Program has an exciting opportunity for you. In April and August of 2012, there will be market advising clinics and buyer's missions from each of these markets in Washington State. There is no cost to participate in the program. Read 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. Additionally, they can be an effective way to externally validate your ideas and research plan. The downside is that the funding process is lengthy and serves more like a contract to do research rather than a source of capital that will enable you to rapidly develop the technology and grow your company. Tips on obtaining small business grants from the Washington Biotech & Biofuel Association are included here. Read 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. Read 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. Each month Greenwood prepares a brief, two-page article on some aspect of preparing Phase I or II SBIR/STTR proposals. To see the list of articles they have written since 1999, check out their articles page.

Tech Dates and Deadlines

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. Listen to the variety of compelling clean tech innovations coming from our region and how they plan to grow, add value, and solve some vexing environmental, technological, and economic issues. The event will be held in the LG Conference room at Greater Spokane Inc. Read 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. Read 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. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, a leader in energy research and innovation, established the Mentor-Protégé Program to help technology-based organizations and individuals overcome business challenges.

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. BioPartnering North America (BPN) is designed to accommodate your partnering needs and provide face-to-face access to potential collaborators in the global life science network. Annually attracting 800+ decision-makers and industry leaders from over 30 countries, BPN offers a unique opportunity to access a global network of potential partners. Read 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. Learn about tools to carryout SBIR solicitation searching, team building and common problems that reviewers see. Read 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. This quarterly event, attended by a cross-section of the state's startup leaders, promotes the idea sharing and networking that helps turn research into results. Showcase attendees include investors, service providers, serial entrepreneurs, and others in the commercialization field. Submit your application to be considered for the next Innovation Showcase. Application deadline is March 2. Read 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. Join in the celebration of the accomplishments of TRIDEC, the Mid-Columbia Energy Initiative, and recognition of successful member businesses. The meeting will be held at the Pasco Red Lion on March 7 from 11:30 - 1:30.

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. Held at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center, the event is designed for small businesses to network and learn about procurement opportunities from agencies and primes. Read more...

PNNL This Month

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. It also uses less energy than similar computers because of its unique, water-fed cooling system. Read 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. The Graphical Contingency Analysis (GCA) Tool provides graphic representations of the constant stream of data in the control room to improve wide-area situation awareness and decision making. It also ranks the different contingencies from worst to best to help focus operator's attention on the most severe events and prioritize preventative actions. Read more...

PNNL recognized for technology transfer

The Federal Laboratory Consortium announced that PNNL is receiving a 2012 Excellence in Technology Transfer award. The consortium is a nationwide network that encourages federal laboratories to transfer lab-developed technologies to commercial markets. PNNL has been honored by the FLC more than any other federal laboratory with this award, collecting 75 awards since the program began in 1984. The award will be presented May 3 at the consortium's annual meeting in Pittsburgh, Penn. Read 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. Your answers will help improve future content and delivery of the newsletter. The survey will be distributed via email within the next week or so - keep an eye out!

Got News?

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 and photos 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 DOE-Richland's vision for the future of the Hanford Site and surrounding area through the creation of research opportunities, new industries, and new business clusters