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U.S. Department of Energy Small Business and Clean Energy Alliance Partnership Expands in Scope

Mentoring Available to All Clean Energy Companies With Federal Support

Clean Energy Alliance, Inc. (CEA), the national association of clean energy business incubators, announced that the Department of Energy (DOE) Small Business and Clean Energy Alliance Partnership has been expanded. Originally announced at the 23rd NREL Industry Growth Forum, the DOE/CEA Partnership offered companies identified by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy the opportunity to be matched with CEA member incubators to receive a complete range of mentoring services to support the commercialization of clean energy technologies. The services include technical support, business planning, finance and banking, legal and accounting, marketing, communications, outreach, networking and accessing capital.

The program originally targeted companies that were recipients of support from DOE, such as SBIR, STTR, and Phase III awards. With the expansion of the program, recipients of support from other federal agencies for the commercialization of clean energy technologies can now qualify to participate in the DOE/CEA Partnership program.

To date, about 25 DOE-supported companies have been matched with CEA members, and many of these companies have started to receive, and benefit from, CEA member support. The expansion of the program will enable the benefits of working with highly skilled incubator experts to reach a broader range of companies. The first participant under the newly expanded program scope will be Load IQ, the recipient of an SBIR award from the National Science Foundation. Working with the Nevada Institute for Renewable Energy Commercialization (NIREC), Load IQ will be supported through NIREC's OnTRAC:Connect and OnTRAC:Start commercialization programs.

The DOE/CEA Partnership program will conclude in 2012 with a conference that will present the results of the program and provide an opportunity for companies that have participated to display as well as to make presentations to investor panels.

In addition, all companies participating in the DOE/CEA Partnership program, along with all clean energy companies that are clients of CEA members, can benefit from a new special program that supports their participation in the 24th NREL Industry Growth Forum in Denver, CO, on November 8-10, 2011. Information about this special program is available at http://www.cleanenergyalliance.com/news/special_program.html.

"I'm very excited by our ability to expand the reach of the DOE/CEA Partnership. Companies that are currently participating are enthusiastic about the benefits of the available services, an example of which is the recognition garnered on Monday by Versatilis, a DOE SBIR recipient," said James F. Groelinger, CEA's Executive Director. "Receiving support from CEA member E2TAC, Versatilis won a top prize in an independently judged business plan competition at the Sixth Annual New Energy Symposium in New York. Similar accomplishments are likely to be achieved by many of the mentored companies in the DOE/CEA Partnership program."

Charles Russomanno, Program Manager of DOE's Phase III Xlerator Program, commented: "The value of the services being offered to clean energy technology development companies is exemplified by the recognition given to Versatilis earlier this week. I'm pleased that the DOE/CEA Partnership program has been expanded to allow such companies that have been supported by any federal agency to participate in this unique program. Small businesses are the core of technology development and job creation, but the challenges faced on the path to commercialization are staggering. The breadth and depth of expertise resident in the CEA member incubators is a tremendous resource, and making it available to emerging companies will provide significant and long-lasting local and national benefits."

About the Clean Energy Alliance: The Clean Energy Alliance (CEA), established in 2000 by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), is an organization of leading business incubators dedicated to providing business and financial services tailored to the needs of the clean energy community. Current CEA member incubators are located in Alabama (Business Technology Development Center, Huntsville; Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence, Mobile), California (Environmental Business Cluster, San Jose; CleanStart/McClellan Technology Incubator, McClellan; PortTechLA, San Pedro), Colorado (Boulder Innovation Center, Boulder; CleanLaunch, Golden; Rocky Mountain Innosphere, Fort Collins), Florida (Technological Research and Development Authority, Melbourne), Georgia (Georgia Institute of Technology Venture Lab, Atlanta), Kansas (Enterprise Center of Johnson County, Lenexa), Louisiana (Louisiana Business & Technology Center, Baton Rouge), Nevada (Nevada Institute for Renewable Energy Commercialization, Incline Village), New Jersey (New Jersey Institute of Technology Economic Development Center, Newark; New Jersey Meadowlands Commission Business Accelerator, Lyndhurst; Rutgers Eco-complex, Bordentown), New Mexico (Technology Ventures Corporation, Albuquerque), New York (Energy and Environmental Technology Applications Center, Albany; Emerging Ventures Ecosystem, Troy); Ohio (National Environmental Technology Incubator, Wilberforce), Texas (ATI Clean Energy Incubator, Austin), and Virginia (National Institute for the Commercialization of Clean Energy, Blackstone), For additional information on Clean Energy Alliance, see www.cleanenergyalliance.com.