WASHINGTON The Obama Administration today…
WASHINGTON – The Obama Administration today announced the
six winners of the i6 Green Challenge, an initiative to drive
technology commercialization and entrepreneurship in support of a
green innovation economy, increased U.S. competitiveness and new
jobs.
Projects in Fla., Iowa, La., Mich., New England and Wash., will
each receive up to $1 million from the U.S. Commerce
Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) and up
to $6 million in additional funding and technical assistance from
the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Energy, the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation,
and Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology
and United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Winning i6 Green applicants will support emerging technology-based
businesses as they mature and demonstrate their market potential,
making them more attractive to investors and helping entrepreneurs
turn their ideas and innovations into businesses.
“America’s economy depends on both innovation and
commercialization,” U.S. Chief Technology Officer Aneesh
Chopra said. “These six proof-of-concept centers will help to
accelerate the commercialization of products based on exciting new
research and support the development of green jobs in regions
across the country.”
First announced at the White House launch of Startup America in
January, i6 Green follows last year’s inaugural i6 Challenge,
which focused on accelerating high-growth entrepreneurship in the
United States. This year’s competition focuses on promoting
Proof of Concept Centers methodologies, which support all aspects
of the entrepreneurship process, from assisting with technology
feasibility and business plan development, to providing access to
early-stage capital and mentors that can offer critical guidance to
innovators.
“i6 Green is an important part of President Obama’s
Startup America initiative to promote entrepreneurship and spur
small business development,” Domestic Policy Council Director
MelodyBarnessaid.“These six projects will help to foster growth
in green technologies and create jobs for America’s
workers.”
“We congratulate the organizations and entrepreneurs who came
together to form these vibrant public-private partnerships in an
effort to promote new green technologies and green jobs in the
United States,” Acting U.S. Commerce Secretary Rebecca
Blanksaid. “These investments will help boost U.S.
competitiveness and better position the nation to out-innovate,
out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.”
“Congratulations to this year’s i6 Green winners who
have once again demonstrated the unmatched innovative capacity of
America’s businesses and universities,” EPA
Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said. “These winners prove that
with smart environmental protection, ingenuity and innovative
technology we can improve the health of our communities at the same
time that we strengthen our economy. Their work is in line with the
innovative history of the environmental protection movement, which
has made everything we do cleaner and greener through new ideas and
innovation.”
The winning projects of the i6 Green Challenge announced today
include:
Ames, Iowa: Iowa Innovation Network i6 Green Project
Holland, Michigan: Proof of Concept Center for Green Chemistry
Scale-up
New England: iGreen New England Partnership
Orlando, Florida: Igniting Innovation (I2) Cleantech
Acceleration Network
Ruston, Louisiana: Louisiana Tech Proof of Concept Center
Washington State: Washington Clean Energy Partnership
Project
More information on i6 Green and the winners: http://www.eda.gov/i6