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NIREC IN THE NEWS
Last week, President Obama signed a bill reauthorizing the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs for another six years. This long-term reauthorization is good news for the innovative small businesses that these programs support. SBIR and STTR invest about $2.5 billion a year in America’s most promising small research and development companies.
The test results are in—and Reno entrepreneur, Hampden Kuhns, has obtained independent validation of the capabilities of his company’s Utility Accountant energy management system. Kuhns has just returned from Nuremburg, Germany, where the Utility Accountant’s innovative technology was put through the paces at Siemens’ sophisticated factory controls and automation systems test lab.
The Utility Accountant is an energy management system . . .
Little did I know at the time I met NIREC’s President and CEO, Jim Croce, that a series of ensuing collaborations would ultimately result in my succeeding him in that role. It was yet another lesson in life about expecting the unexpected.
It was a privilege to meet Jim shortly after he joined NIREC in 2009. His depth of relevant knowledge was impressive and his passion for the organization’s mission was admirable. Jim will definitely be missed as we move forward, but we are the beneficiaries of his numerous contributions to the organization. And we wish him all the best in his new endeavors.
As with almost any change in senior leadership, the unexpected
NIREC congratulates Cleantech Open regional winners: Load IQ (Reno, NV) and May-Ruben Technologies (Minden, NV)!
Load IQ placed first in the Energy Efficiency category and May-Ruben Technologies won the Regional Sustainability Award. We are proud to have worked with both of these fabulous startups!
Read the press release....
The Nevada Institute for Renewable Energy Commercialization (NIREC) is pleased to announce the addition of Bryan McArdle as a Program Manager for the organization.
"I've had the pleasure of working with a number of talented young people over the years, but none that embodied the entrepreneurial spirit more than Bryan,” said NIREC President and CEO Walt Borland. “He has a deep appreciation of the challenges associated with becoming a successful entrepreneur and an enduring passion for the importance of clean energy to our state and our nation. I'm confident that his addition to the NIREC team will prove to be invaluable to our many stakeholders."
NIREC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that supports the commercialization of clean energy innovations and energy efficient technologies. NIREC mentors clean energy companies to accelerate innovation and develop greater economic diversity, ultimately leading to new jobs.
Bryan will initially focus on building greater awareness around NIREC’s Innovation Partners program throughout Nevada, and he will oversee NIREC’s clean energy business development contracts aimed at building a stronger clean energy cluster throughout Nevada.
Prior to joining NIREC, Bryan was a Senior Dealer Representative at Windspire Energy, (formerly Mariah Power). An entrepreneur himself, Bryan also established and owned the first hookah lounge in Reno, Nevada, and owned a popular Irish bar.
Bryan graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno with a degree in environmental and natural resource science. After opening up his first business without previous business education, he returned to school to pursue a master’s degree in business.
Bryan is passionate about renewable energy, clean technology and entrepreneurship. He is a member of the TMCC Renewable Energy Task Force that develops the curriculum to provide students with the necessary skills to enter the clean technology job market. At the University of Nevada, Reno, he was a mentor in the Entrepreneurship Club and contributed to the development of the university’s Entrepreneurship Program. Bryan often advises young entrepreneurs and provides guidance on their business ideas.
Michael Hart founded Sierra Energy in California with the idea of producing iron more efficiently. But he soon found out that his new technology was even better at cleanly converting waste into energy.
Today, he’s leveraging this new discovery, along with a new mentoring relationship through Startup America, to do what our nation’s startups do best: create jobs.
August 8, 2011 (Incline Village, Nev.) – The Board of Trustees of the Nevada Institute for Renewable Energy Commercialization (NIREC) today announced that it has appointed Walt Borland President and CEO of the organization effective immediately. Borland replaces James A. Croce, who has served as NIREC’s President and CEO since June 2009 and led the organization to its nationally recognized role in accelerating emerging clean energy technologies to market and supporting industry growth in Nevada and the broader region. Croce, who stepped down for personal reasons, remains as an Executive-in-Residence with NIREC and will actively support the management transition over the coming months.
Trash to Treasure, Making Clean Energy at Home
Read about NIREC-advised company, Sierra Energy, on the White House blog "Champions of Change: Wining the Future Across America"
Michael Hart knows that America- and the rest of the world- will always have trash. Nevertheless, he started Sierra Energy to fulfill his goal of seeing a zero-waste country. In fact, Mr. Hart has higher visions for everyday items like used water bottles and empty cardboard boxes that don’t include a landfill, but instead
NEVADA NEWS
In The Economist: Nevada is gaming, tourism, mining--and is working on an economic diversification strategy (including renewable energy) to be even more!
Clean energy new years resolutions for Nevada by the Reno News & Review
Some say an education system overhaul is needed to create the skilled work force that high-tech companies require. Others, like LINQ360 Innovation Center founder Scott Garrison, say the answer is money.
That's why Garrison is planning to launch a $100 million investment fund for tech startups and fledgling companies that need a small financial boost. Garrison is in talks with investors and expects the fund to be up and running by January.
This story recaps how Churchil County has handled geothermal development and the additional financial resources it has provided.
Nevada State Office of Energy (NSOE) Director Stacey Crowley named 11 members today to the New Energy Industry Task Force, an existing statutory committee that Gov. Brian Sandoval tasked with examining energy transmission issues in an executive order last week. A technical advisory committee was also appointed to assist the task force in assessing a regional market for Nevada’s renewable energy resources.
Nevada stands at a crossroads, yet it appears ready to remap its future.
Silver Staters sense that the current economic slump has not been just a temporary reversal but a challenge to the state’s traditional growth model—one that has revealed an economy over-dependent on consumption sectors, prone to booms and busts . . .
As the University of Nevada, Reno College of Business hosts its annual Business Week, the College welcomed to campus today alumnus Rick Sontag, who brought a special gift to the University and its students – a $1 million check.
Just over a year after the last push to diversify Nevada's economy got under way, state leaders formally launched another effort -- this time dampening expectations for a gusher of new jobs in the near future.
Monday's board meeting of the Nevada Commission on Economic Development focused on setting up what will become the state's new Office of Economic Development in the next few months, as spelled out in legislation that passed in June.
In Nevada, the odds for success are stacked in a company's favor.
INDUSTRY NEWS
The recently released Supplement to the Solar Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Solar Energy Development (Solar PEIS) identifies 17 solar energy zones for responsible utility-scale solar development on public lands. The zones are located in Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.
The Department of the Interior developed the Solar PEIS...
Nevada small business owners interested in growing their export business are receiving a shot in the arm in the form of a new grant opportunity. Designed to help improve and diversify the state's economy, the Nevada Investment & Trade Revenue Opportunities (NITRO) initiative is offering a State Trade and Export Promotion (STEP) Pilot Grant that provides...
The University of California, Davis, is launching a new interdisciplinary institute devoted to education, research and outreach in innovation and entrepreneurship, with the help of a $5 million commitment from alumni Mike and Renée Child....
The institute, which launches today, builds on the success and experience of the UC Davis Center for Entrepreneurship, which since 2006 has helped researchers and students move their innovations and ideas into the marketplace. The center’s founding director, Professor Andrew Hargadon, is now serving as the institute’s faculty director.
The U.S. Department of Energy today announced that Philips Lighting North America has won the 60-watt replacement bulb category of the Bright Tomorrow Lighting Prize (L Prize) competition. The Department of Energy's L Prize challenged the lighting industry to develop high performance, energy-saving replacements for conventional light bulbs that will save American consumers and businesses money.
A real assets investor, entrepreneur and advocate talks about how the world has changed for startups.
As part of the Obama Administration's Startup America Initiative, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the "America's Next Top Energy Innovator" challenge, which will give start-up companies the opportunity to license groundbreaking technologies developed by the national laboratories for $1,000 and build successful businesses. As part of this effort, the Department is reducing both the cost and paperwork requirements for start-up companies to obtain an option agreement to license some of the 15,000 patents and patent applications held by our 17 national laboratories.
The wind of northwest Nevada, Mark Twain once wrote, "is by no means a trifling matter." But does harnessing its energy make economic sense?
The city of Reno plans to find out.
(membership to WSJ online may be required to read full article)
President Obama unveiled on February 14 a $12.2 billion fiscal year (FY) 2012 budget request for the Department of the Interior (DOI). The proposed 2012 budget continues DOI's "New Energy Frontier" strategy that is intended to create jobs, reduce U.S. dependence on fossil fuels and oil imports, and lessen carbon impacts. Under this proposed budget, DOI's goal is to increase approved capacity for renewable energy production on federal lands by at least 10,000 megawatts by the end of 2012, while ensuring full environmental review.
Although President Obama's fiscal year (FY) 2012 proposed budget for the U.S. Department of Agriculture decreased to $23.9 billion from the $27 billion level in FY 2010, the budget still invests $6.5 billion to support renewable and clean energy.
“Startup America” is a White House initiative to celebrate, inspire, and accelerate high-growth entrepreneurship throughout the nation. This coordinated public/private effort brings together an alliance of the country’s most innovative entrepreneurs, corporations, universities, foundations, and other leaders, working in concert with a wide range of federal agencies to dramatically increase the prevalence and success of America’s entrepreneurs.
"We see billions of dollars flowing into clean-tech, but very few organizations working as effectively as NIREC to make sure that breakthrough products can 'cross the chasm' to commercialization."
- Jim Davis, President, Chevron Energy Solutions
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