Tri-Cities Tech Business Update

May 2013 Issue

Tech News and Notes

SIGN Fracture Care Wins International Patents for Humanity Award

SIGN Fracture Care received the International Patents for Humanity Award at a ceremony held in Washington, D.C. April 11. SIGN's patented technology, an intramedullary nail (IM nail) System, was one of just 10 technologies recognized for providing humanitarian aid to people in impoverished areas. Read more...

WSU Expands Online Outreach with 10 New Offerings

Washington State University's Faculty Senate has approved 10 new online degrees and certificates, including a professional writing certificate with a science and technology option. This is the largest number of new offerings in the history of WSU's online program, with an additional 20 other new online programs - ranging from graduate degrees to undergraduate minors - at various stages of discussion. Read more... 

Tri-City Aerial Photographer Chosen in Blue Sky's Photography Program

David Wyatt of Loftics

Former Richland Rotary Entrepreneur Award Winner and professional aerial photographer David Wyatt of Kennewick was selected by jurors in the Blue Sky Gallery's Pacific Northwest Viewing Drawers. In competition with the region's finest photographers, Wyatt's ten submitted images were selected as a set to be featured in the year-long exhibit, which opened in Portland, Ore. April 3. Read more...

Three Metrics That Really Matter for Your Startup

On tech news blogs, it's common to see companies boasting about how many millions of users they have. But while user numbers can be a great indicator of general interest, they do little to tell the actual health of a company. So, when it comes to your own startup, it's important to focus on the stats that really matter, like user engagement, user value, and rate of growth. Read more...

Washington Ranks 2nd in Startup Jobs

According to a report from Startup Outlook, Washington is ranked second for number of startup jobs. The survey is an annual report that includes input from 758 executives of innovation companies with less than $100M in annual revenue and fewer than 500 employees. The report indicates that 87 percent of startups plan on hiring new employees in 2013. The most in-demand skills for startups are science, technology, engineering, and math, followed by business skills such as management, sales, and marketing. Read more...

Innovation Center Apartments Under Construction

Construction is underway on the first phase of an 80-unit "urban chic" apartment complex located on Innovation Blvd. in the Research District. The apartments are only blocks away from WSU Tri-Cities, the PNNL campus, and the offices of the major Hanford contractors. Doug Perry, managing director of the Innovation Center TCRD partnership, says if the market acceptance of the new units is successful, a second phase of 80 more units will be built. The cost of the first phase of the project is $9.5 million. The Innovation Center at TCRD partnership has invested more than $39 million in the Research District to date, and is expected to invest an additional $13 million in 2013. Read more...

Tech Opportunities and Resources

Startup Weekend Coming to Tri-Cities

Startup Weekend is an opportunity for entrepreneurs to showcase their ideas; it's a 54-hour event where developers, designers, marketers, investors, product managers, and startup enthusiasts come together to share ideas, form teams, build products and launch startups. Startup Weekend will be coming to the Tri-Cities September 20 - 22, giving entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs the opportunity to find out if their startup ideas are viable. Read more...

Mid-Columbia Small Business of the Year Awards

Sponsorship opportunities are still available for the Mid-Columbia Small Business of the Year Awards. There are many levels of sponsorship available in support of local entrepreneurs with all sponsors receiving, at a minimum, recognition on the Awards' website and at the May 9 banquet. Each year the program recognizes small businesses in Benton & Franklin Counties for their exceptional customer service, outstanding commitment to employees, and superior community relations. Recent entrepreneurial winners include the locally-owned Sylvan Learning Center, Columbia Basin Racquet Club, and Harms Engineering. For information on sponsorship opportunities contact Hector Cruz, Event Chair at 509-735-8486, Hector@VisitTri-Cities.com.  Read more...

Affordable Care Act: Tools for Washington Businesses

On October 1, open enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace begins. The Marketplace is designed to help individuals and businesses find health insurance that fits their budgets. Every health insurance plan in the new Marketplace will offer comprehensive coverage, from doctors to medications to hospital visits. Coverage from the Marketplace starts in January 2014. Read more...

Tri-Cities Launches New Student Academic Achievement Award

New students applying to Washington State University Tri-Cities for fall 2013 could qualify for a new award of up to $4,000 off the annual tuition. The New Student Academic Achievement Award applies to incoming freshmen and incoming transfer students who meet criteria that include incoming grade point average, standardized test scores and demonstrated financial need. Applications are being accepted online through June 30. Read more...

Tech Dates and Deadlines

Yakima Government Contracting Workshop

May 8. Learn the basics of marketing and selling your products and services to federal, state and local government agencies. What does it take to become a successful government contractor? Learn about the services and continuous support that the Procurement Technical Assistance Center (PTAC) has available to help companies with the contracting process. Read more...

Mid-Columbia Small Business of the Year Awards Dinner

May 9. The 18^th Annual Mid-Columbia Small Business of the Year Awards banquet will recognize small businesses of Benton & Franklin Counties for their exceptional customer service, outstanding commitment to employees, and superior community relations. The event is being held at TRAC in Pasco, beginning at 6:00 p.m. with dinner at 7:00. Read more...

Life Science Innovation Northwest Poster Session

May 17. Poster Session applications are now being accepted for Life Science Innovation Northwest. The Emerging Company & Technology Poster Session is an opportunity to share your cutting-edge innovation with the "who's who" of life sciences in the Pacific Northwest and across the globe. The Poster Session is aimed at helping very early stage companies, entrepreneurs, and social ventures obtain insights from, and network with, savvy investors, biotech executives, and potential partners. Life Science Innovation Northwest, July 10 and 11 at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, will enable you to communicate your ideas to nearly 1,000 attendees, including executives from public and private life sciences companies, investment firms and strategic partners, research institutions, CROs and CMOs, investment banks, law firms, and the global health community. Read  more...

Introduction to Government Contracting 101

May 21. The government can be a good customer for your business. The seminar is designed to give you the tools to begin the process. A general overview of how the federal, state, and local government buys goods and services, and the seven phases of government procurement, will be discussed. Additional topics include governmental registrations, market research on what the government buys, how government agencies advertise their procurements, how to locate subcontracting opportunities with government prime contractors, and much more. Read more...

Pacific Northwest's 2013 Powerful Business Energy Conference

May 23. Sustainability expert Judith Heerwagen from the Office of Federal High Performance Green Buildings at the U.S. General Services Administration will be the keynote speaker at the Electric League of the Pacific Northwest's 2013 Powerful Business Energy. The conference, being held at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, provides the business community with the information necessary to find partnerships and solutions that will save energy and money, improve comfort, and enhance productivity in their facilities. Read more...

Power Networking: Strategies to Build Your Business and Your Career

May 30. Networking develops relationships, and relationships drive business. Networking can have unlimited benefits - new partnerships, career progress, or increased company profit. Attend this Business Development University seminar from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. at the Tri-Cities Business & Visitor Center to learn strategic tips and tricks from those who network on a daily basis. Read more...

Life Science Innovation Northwest Meeting

July 10 - 11. The Pacific Northwest is home to an expanding and collaborative consortium of biotechnology and biomedical firms, healthcare services, world-class research, innovative startups and established industry leaders. Life Science Innovation Northwest (LSINW) brings together nearly 1,000 attendees from public and private companies, research institutions and the global health community. Public and private investors, investment bankers and business development executives find LSINW one of the most productive conferences they attend. Read more...

PNNL This Month

In Search of the Long-Distance Natural Gas Automobile

The DOE's Advance Research Projects Agency recently doled out $30M in grants to various organizations to figure out how to make natural gas storage more car-friendly. An article in Motor Trends looks at three approaches including PNNL's that layers sheets of metal, and welds lines in them like an air mattress, then heats the metal and "inflates" it with air in a superplastic forming process. Read more...

Biodetection Technologies for First Responders

The Department of Homeland Security's Science and Technology Directorate and PNNL recently released a report summarizing an extensive list of commercially available, hand-portable detection technologies for biological threats. Read more...

DOE Renews Joint BioEnergy Institute for Another Five Years

The Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) is a DOE-funded, multi-institutional partnership for advanced biofuels research headquartered in Emeryville, CA. (Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt, Berkeley Lab)

Reaffirming the Obama administration's commitment to the development of sustainable alternatives to fossil fuel energy, the U.S. Department of Energy announced a five-year renewal of funding for the Joint BioEnergy Institute. Today the JBEI partnership, which is led by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, includes the Sandia National Laboratories, the University of California campuses of Berkeley and Davis, the Carnegie Institution for Science, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Read more...

A Solar Boost for Natural Gas

Energy from the sun is focused by mirrors onto a device that changes natural gas into a more efficient fuel for making electricity.

Researchers at PNNL are working to use solar power to increase the energy content of natural gas. As the New York Times explains, "The new system captures solar energy in a chemical form, using the sun's heat to break open the molecules of natural gas and water, and reshuffle them into something that burns better: carbon monoxide and pure hydrogen." Read more...

PNNL in Competition for Unmanned Aircraft Test Center

Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland is competing to operate one of the nation's six new centers for developing and testing unmanned aircraft. Innovate Washington, a state agency, is taking the lead on the proposal, with the cooperation of PNNL and 10 other state, county and private industry partners. Read more...

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