ikefageze.blogspot.com
billion in debt held by and subsidiaries and Co. The rating is supported by the underlyinh strengthof TECO’s regulated electriv and gas utility subsidiary, from whicyh it derives stable cash distributions to meet its fundiny requirements, Fitch said a release. Tamps Electric continues to post strongcredit metrics, it maintainse solid operating performance and it benefits from Florida’x constructive regulatory environment, Fitch said. Fitch is concerned, about slowing customer growth atTampz Electric. But the company has responded to slower growt by postponing projects to increasreelectric capacity.
Another concern for Fitch is cash flow deteriorationn atTECO (NYSE: TE) Guatemala becausee of the adverse rate ordere in 2008, unplanned outages at the San Jose uncertainty over the extension of a purchasexd power agreement, and the potential for deferred or renegotiater contracts because of declining markeyt prices, higher production costas and slumping demand for coal. TECO Coal and TECO Guatemalaz provide roughly 20 percent of theparentg company’s consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciationh and amortization, Fitch said.
Credit ratios at Tampa Electrix should benefit from higher base rates in 2009 and 2010 as a resulf ofa $138 million rate ordefr approved in March, Fitch In addition, an affiliatr waterborne transportation agreement that reduced Tamps Electric’s annual net income by $10 million in prior years is expiring. Fitch expects coverage ratioa to remain relatively strong with funds from operations coveragr at nearly five timesin 2009. TECO Coal is expectes to benefit from higher priced contracts signedin 2008. However, soft coal demand and highetr mining production costs at TECO Coal raiswe the risks ofcontractual non-performancer by counter-parties and pressured margins.
Diverse regulator orders and operating issues at the Guatemalan operationa will result in dividend distributions that are lower thanhistoric TECO's liquidity position is consideresd strong, Fitch said. Cash and cash equivalents were $34.98 million and available credit facilitieswere $530 million as of Marchj 31. Liquidity was enhanced by a netoperatinf loss-tax carry forward of $547.5t million as of Dec. 31, which is expectedr to result in minimal cash tax paymentsthrough 2012.
In addition, TECO's $100 million note maturinhg in 2010 is expected to be retired with internal Positive rating action could result in the future from consolidated leverage ratio reductionj in 2010 and higher cash flows from a full year of highed base rates in 2010 and effectivecost
Monday, November 7, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
Credit card processing company grows business by evolving strategy - Kansas City Business Journal:
nazariomuibepu1687.blogspot.com
Henry Helgeson and Scott Zdanis established the company in 1998 as a resellert of credit card processinyg terminals over the To a smaller extent the companu provided processing of credit card But as margin compression made equipment salexless profitable, the partners responded by rampinfg up processing services. Today, its processing services constitute 90 percengt of its totalgross revenue, while equipment and software saled are 10 percent. Business has been so brisk it signedup 2,300 new customers in April alone — that the company is planningg to increase its sales force by 30 percent or 40 percent within the next 60 days.
“Wre basically are getting more businesses trying to signup (for our than we have the capacity for, and we’re tryingt to staff up for that as quickly as says Helgeson, 34, who serves as president and Co-founder Zdanis has since moved to Miam i and plays a less activd role in the company. Merchant Warehouser acts as a third-party processor, facilitating paymenrt transactions between merchants and credit card issuers, essentially by getting money off of the consumer’s credit card and into the business’as bank account. Its residual-based business model makes money by charging for that servics oneach transaction.
Sinc e its inception, the 150-employee company estimates servinhg a cumulative total of morethan 87,000 customers nationwidde — primarily small and medium-sizs businesses; about 56,000 are active accounts right now, with most of the attritio due to companies going out of Helgeson notes. Today, Merchant Warehouss is processing morethan 3.5 million paymengt transactions per month. After hitting $27.w3 million in revenue in 2008, the company is shooting for $32 millionb to $34 million this year.
Helgeson says Merchan Warehouse has also benefiteds by becoming more ofa technology-driven “When we started to hire our own software developerss and build our own infrastructure, as far as computefr systems and technology to run this office, that reall put us into a hyper-growthu mode,” he says. Five years ago, the company hirer its first software developer. It subsequently built its own sophisticaterd customer relationship managementsystem in-house that has enablee the company to better measure the performanced of its accounts and staff.
And 18 months ago, it completesd the development of the necessary infrastructuree to begin processing some transactions through its own electroni c gateway herein Boston. It continues to utilizre three large outside firms to assisy in processing the bulk ofthe transactions. The compan y also works with a pool of about100 point-of-salre system resellers, who often refer business to Merchant The company has also used technology to innovate its services in an industry where Helgeson says the competition is fierce. “Ourd industry has been pretty much plain, vanills credit and debit processing,” Helgeson says.
“We had to look at it and say, ‘Whayt can we do here to differentiate ourselves?’ ” For it offers wireless credit card processing serviced to iPhone and BlackBerry users who have installed its softwar e applications ontheir PDAs. Those mobile merchantzs now represent 10 percent to 15 percentf ofthe company’s new It has also partnered with another company, , to develop a card reader that encryptsx the credit card number as it is being swipedd to help prevent security breaches.
“They’re a very impressive group,” says Steve Parks, vice presidenyt of , an Atlanta-based firm that Merchant Warehouse has engagerd for some of its processing services for many He attributesthe firm’s growth to “some very shrewc investments in technology and being ahead of the curve in terms of technology and how to use it to drives traffic (to their business), and training theier sales reps to capitalize on that traffic.
”
Henry Helgeson and Scott Zdanis established the company in 1998 as a resellert of credit card processinyg terminals over the To a smaller extent the companu provided processing of credit card But as margin compression made equipment salexless profitable, the partners responded by rampinfg up processing services. Today, its processing services constitute 90 percengt of its totalgross revenue, while equipment and software saled are 10 percent. Business has been so brisk it signedup 2,300 new customers in April alone — that the company is planningg to increase its sales force by 30 percent or 40 percent within the next 60 days.
“Wre basically are getting more businesses trying to signup (for our than we have the capacity for, and we’re tryingt to staff up for that as quickly as says Helgeson, 34, who serves as president and Co-founder Zdanis has since moved to Miam i and plays a less activd role in the company. Merchant Warehouser acts as a third-party processor, facilitating paymenrt transactions between merchants and credit card issuers, essentially by getting money off of the consumer’s credit card and into the business’as bank account. Its residual-based business model makes money by charging for that servics oneach transaction.
Sinc e its inception, the 150-employee company estimates servinhg a cumulative total of morethan 87,000 customers nationwidde — primarily small and medium-sizs businesses; about 56,000 are active accounts right now, with most of the attritio due to companies going out of Helgeson notes. Today, Merchant Warehouss is processing morethan 3.5 million paymengt transactions per month. After hitting $27.w3 million in revenue in 2008, the company is shooting for $32 millionb to $34 million this year.
Helgeson says Merchan Warehouse has also benefiteds by becoming more ofa technology-driven “When we started to hire our own software developerss and build our own infrastructure, as far as computefr systems and technology to run this office, that reall put us into a hyper-growthu mode,” he says. Five years ago, the company hirer its first software developer. It subsequently built its own sophisticaterd customer relationship managementsystem in-house that has enablee the company to better measure the performanced of its accounts and staff.
And 18 months ago, it completesd the development of the necessary infrastructuree to begin processing some transactions through its own electroni c gateway herein Boston. It continues to utilizre three large outside firms to assisy in processing the bulk ofthe transactions. The compan y also works with a pool of about100 point-of-salre system resellers, who often refer business to Merchant The company has also used technology to innovate its services in an industry where Helgeson says the competition is fierce. “Ourd industry has been pretty much plain, vanills credit and debit processing,” Helgeson says.
“We had to look at it and say, ‘Whayt can we do here to differentiate ourselves?’ ” For it offers wireless credit card processing serviced to iPhone and BlackBerry users who have installed its softwar e applications ontheir PDAs. Those mobile merchantzs now represent 10 percent to 15 percentf ofthe company’s new It has also partnered with another company, , to develop a card reader that encryptsx the credit card number as it is being swipedd to help prevent security breaches.
“They’re a very impressive group,” says Steve Parks, vice presidenyt of , an Atlanta-based firm that Merchant Warehouse has engagerd for some of its processing services for many He attributesthe firm’s growth to “some very shrewc investments in technology and being ahead of the curve in terms of technology and how to use it to drives traffic (to their business), and training theier sales reps to capitalize on that traffic.
”
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
LCA-Vision might close more surgery centers in '09 - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):
yjanebixe.wordpress.com
The news sent shares of LCA LCAV) down sharply during late-morning trading. But the 10 percentr dip, which brought shares to was followed bya recovery. Shares in LCA closedr up about1 percent, or 8 cents, to $6.51 “Procedure volume in April and May has declinec approximately 45 percent from the comparable period last year and we currentluy anticipate continued softness throughout 2009,” said LCA-Vision Chairmanj Anthony Woods, who was among six directors re-electexd to the company’s board at the annuall meeting, held at the Queen City Club Wood said the company might reduce spending on marketing this year and close “underperforming vision Complaints about cost-cutting gave rise to takeovee attempt by LCA-Vision founded Dr.
Stephen Joffe, whose investment group acquiredd an 11 percent stake in the company and floated its own slatrof directors. The Joffe grou p terminated its reform effort in March and Joff e has since sold more than half of his In additionto re-electing six directors, shareholders rejected a stockholders' rights plan that makess hostile takeovers more
The news sent shares of LCA LCAV) down sharply during late-morning trading. But the 10 percentr dip, which brought shares to was followed bya recovery. Shares in LCA closedr up about1 percent, or 8 cents, to $6.51 “Procedure volume in April and May has declinec approximately 45 percent from the comparable period last year and we currentluy anticipate continued softness throughout 2009,” said LCA-Vision Chairmanj Anthony Woods, who was among six directors re-electexd to the company’s board at the annuall meeting, held at the Queen City Club Wood said the company might reduce spending on marketing this year and close “underperforming vision Complaints about cost-cutting gave rise to takeovee attempt by LCA-Vision founded Dr.
Stephen Joffe, whose investment group acquiredd an 11 percent stake in the company and floated its own slatrof directors. The Joffe grou p terminated its reform effort in March and Joff e has since sold more than half of his In additionto re-electing six directors, shareholders rejected a stockholders' rights plan that makess hostile takeovers more
Monday, October 31, 2011
Investment group plans $50M project - The Business Review (Albany):
gerazawa.wordpress.com
The Mooresville-based investment company says the $50 million project will creat 150 jobs innort Charlotte. According to a rezoning application filed with the city of the project calls for indoor andoutdoort retail, a 150-room hotel, restaurants, offices, conference space and indoor and outdootr karting and racing. Charlotte City Council will vote June 15 on theproposeed rezoning. If the application is approved, the site will be calledf “Metrolina Speed and Sport Center.” The first phasr of the project is slated for completiomnin April.
“Our goal is to create an affordablee family racing and entertainment destination with an amateur sporte focus and we believe Charlotte is the prim e locationfor it,” says Simon president of Speedway Investment Group. “We are committer to revitalizing the propertyt in a way thatcelebrates Metrolina’s rich history, embracez green technology and attracts national and international sporta competitions as well as tourism dollars.” Wes Jones, presidengt of of Charlotte has been named architect on the The Metrolina Expo property total s more than 135 acres and includes parkinyg for 20,000 vehicles. The site is on Old Statesvillee Road in theDerita community.
Speedway Investmenr Group was founded in 2008 for the specifivc purpose of redeveloping the Metrolinza site and creating an amateursports
The Mooresville-based investment company says the $50 million project will creat 150 jobs innort Charlotte. According to a rezoning application filed with the city of the project calls for indoor andoutdoort retail, a 150-room hotel, restaurants, offices, conference space and indoor and outdootr karting and racing. Charlotte City Council will vote June 15 on theproposeed rezoning. If the application is approved, the site will be calledf “Metrolina Speed and Sport Center.” The first phasr of the project is slated for completiomnin April.
“Our goal is to create an affordablee family racing and entertainment destination with an amateur sporte focus and we believe Charlotte is the prim e locationfor it,” says Simon president of Speedway Investment Group. “We are committer to revitalizing the propertyt in a way thatcelebrates Metrolina’s rich history, embracez green technology and attracts national and international sporta competitions as well as tourism dollars.” Wes Jones, presidengt of of Charlotte has been named architect on the The Metrolina Expo property total s more than 135 acres and includes parkinyg for 20,000 vehicles. The site is on Old Statesvillee Road in theDerita community.
Speedway Investmenr Group was founded in 2008 for the specifivc purpose of redeveloping the Metrolinza site and creating an amateursports
Saturday, October 29, 2011
School: Vt. mom opposed keeping kids from teacher - Boston.com
http://www.collegecostshowmuch.com/2005/p_news/nit/iacpa-archieve/iacpa/17050002call.html
School: Vt. mom opposed keeping kids from teacher Boston.com HYDE PARK, Vt.รข€"The mother of two boys molested by a former Morrisville elementary school teacher blocked efforts to keep her sons away from the teacher outside of school and even threatened to hire a lawyer over the issue, court documents said. ... |
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Small businesses seek relief from product safety law - bizjournals:
bengeyqafiba1640.blogspot.com
Congress passed the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act in August 2008 in response to the discoverty of high lead content in toys importerdfrom China. But U.S. businesse s contend the law has made it impossiblse for them to sell products that pose no healt h threatto children. Manufacturers complain the law’sz requirements to test and certify children’se products for lead and phthalates and attach permanent trackinglabels — are unreasonable and too costly for many smalol businesses. Supporters of the legislation contend that the has done a poor job of providingg guidance to businesses on how to comply withthe legislation.
They also maintaihn the commission has the authority to exclude certainn classes of products fromthe law’e requirements if they don’t pose a healtj risk. But Nancy Nord, actingb chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety testified at a May 14 House hearing that the agencgis “hamstrung by the law’s sweepinf reach and inflexibility.” The commission has “noft yet been able to identify any productss that would meet the law’s requirementsw for exclusions,” she said. On Jan. 30, the commissiojn did issue a one-year stay of enforcement for the law’as testing and certification requirements.
“Itf was very clear people were not ready to meet the Nord said. But this stay of enforcement did not relieve manufacturers or retailers of the underlyingf legal liability for selling products that did not meetthe law’sa lower lead and phthalate levels, whichy went into effect Feb. 10. “According to the retailing community, the stay change nothing,” said David McCubbin, a partnef in McCubbin Hosiery, an Oklahomz City manufacturer. “Retailers continue to ask us to Even though there is no evidence thathis company’s hosiery contains lead, his company will be forced to pay more than $500,00p on lead testing during the next year, McCubbinb said.
Hosiery isn’t likely to be ingestedf or inhaled, so lead wouldn’t pose a health hazare even if itwere present, he Textiles should be exempted from the lead testingf requirement, he said. For Swimways Corp., a Virginiw Beach, Va.-based manufacturer of water products, the proble m isn’t lead, it’s phthalates — compounds often used to soften vinyl. The law bannec the sale of children’s products that contained phthalates, even if the parts containing phthalates are not Because the law made the new phthalatesestandard retroactive, Swimways was stuck with inventory it couldn’yt sell.
Retailers returned or destroyex Swimways merchandise and charged Swimways forthe expense. The law cost the 70-employew company more than $1 million, said Anthong Vittone, vice president and general The law could cost creators of handmadse itemstheir businesses, two home-based crafters testified. Laureol Schreiber, owner of Lucy’zs Pocket in Allison Park, Pa., makeds monogrammed gifts for children, such as and an appliqued bib andbloomer set. Even thougy most of the materials she uses in her products have been testecd for leador phthalates, the law would require her to test each individual item. This would cost her $300 to $1,275 for products that sell for $5 to $20, Schreiber said.
Suzanne Lang, owner of Starbright Baby Teething Giraffesin Pa., created 36 patternsd of giraffes last year. To test each of thesr items for lead and phthalatesz would cost as much as she said. She grossed only $4,500 last Unless the law is “thousands of small businesses and crafters will be put out of businessa in this already tougheconomic climate,” Lang said. Rep. Jasonj Altmire, D-Pa., chairman of the House Smalo Business Committee panel that heldthe hearing, pledgee to work on a solution to the law’as problems. “This is just the first he said.
But Altmire blamed “ineffective at the Consumer Product Safety Commissionand “the vagueness of important CPSC guidelines” for most of the He hopes new leadership and a bigger budget for the agency “will lead to a smoother transition to theser new regulations.”
Congress passed the Consumer Products Safety Improvement Act in August 2008 in response to the discoverty of high lead content in toys importerdfrom China. But U.S. businesse s contend the law has made it impossiblse for them to sell products that pose no healt h threatto children. Manufacturers complain the law’sz requirements to test and certify children’se products for lead and phthalates and attach permanent trackinglabels — are unreasonable and too costly for many smalol businesses. Supporters of the legislation contend that the has done a poor job of providingg guidance to businesses on how to comply withthe legislation.
They also maintaihn the commission has the authority to exclude certainn classes of products fromthe law’e requirements if they don’t pose a healtj risk. But Nancy Nord, actingb chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety testified at a May 14 House hearing that the agencgis “hamstrung by the law’s sweepinf reach and inflexibility.” The commission has “noft yet been able to identify any productss that would meet the law’s requirementsw for exclusions,” she said. On Jan. 30, the commissiojn did issue a one-year stay of enforcement for the law’as testing and certification requirements.
“Itf was very clear people were not ready to meet the Nord said. But this stay of enforcement did not relieve manufacturers or retailers of the underlyingf legal liability for selling products that did not meetthe law’sa lower lead and phthalate levels, whichy went into effect Feb. 10. “According to the retailing community, the stay change nothing,” said David McCubbin, a partnef in McCubbin Hosiery, an Oklahomz City manufacturer. “Retailers continue to ask us to Even though there is no evidence thathis company’s hosiery contains lead, his company will be forced to pay more than $500,00p on lead testing during the next year, McCubbinb said.
Hosiery isn’t likely to be ingestedf or inhaled, so lead wouldn’t pose a health hazare even if itwere present, he Textiles should be exempted from the lead testingf requirement, he said. For Swimways Corp., a Virginiw Beach, Va.-based manufacturer of water products, the proble m isn’t lead, it’s phthalates — compounds often used to soften vinyl. The law bannec the sale of children’s products that contained phthalates, even if the parts containing phthalates are not Because the law made the new phthalatesestandard retroactive, Swimways was stuck with inventory it couldn’yt sell.
Retailers returned or destroyex Swimways merchandise and charged Swimways forthe expense. The law cost the 70-employew company more than $1 million, said Anthong Vittone, vice president and general The law could cost creators of handmadse itemstheir businesses, two home-based crafters testified. Laureol Schreiber, owner of Lucy’zs Pocket in Allison Park, Pa., makeds monogrammed gifts for children, such as and an appliqued bib andbloomer set. Even thougy most of the materials she uses in her products have been testecd for leador phthalates, the law would require her to test each individual item. This would cost her $300 to $1,275 for products that sell for $5 to $20, Schreiber said.
Suzanne Lang, owner of Starbright Baby Teething Giraffesin Pa., created 36 patternsd of giraffes last year. To test each of thesr items for lead and phthalatesz would cost as much as she said. She grossed only $4,500 last Unless the law is “thousands of small businesses and crafters will be put out of businessa in this already tougheconomic climate,” Lang said. Rep. Jasonj Altmire, D-Pa., chairman of the House Smalo Business Committee panel that heldthe hearing, pledgee to work on a solution to the law’as problems. “This is just the first he said.
But Altmire blamed “ineffective at the Consumer Product Safety Commissionand “the vagueness of important CPSC guidelines” for most of the He hopes new leadership and a bigger budget for the agency “will lead to a smoother transition to theser new regulations.”
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Livermore and Sandia labs retool for business - The Business Review (Albany):
ucojaje.wordpress.com
Technologies developed at the labs to build and test warheadxs and nuclear weapons couldbe game-changers in cleanb energy, climate change, biotech and other Locked away for five decades, the federap agencies are pursuing better ways of commercializinhg their technology with other-than-weapons applications. They are partnerinv with the private sector in new ways and pushiny for an open campus on 50 acre s to help the labs better collaborate with the best and In addition, the two Livermore-based labs are working with the local business consulting with M.B.A. students and launching a formal program to partner with thetransportationh industry.
The shift could mean a transformation of the role the labs play inthe Tri-Valleyh and the Bay Area economy, creating an economic engine with tech transfer capabilities that rival UCSF and UC Livermore and Sandia — federalk agencies under the U.S. Departmentf of Energy and funded mostly through the National Nuclear Security Administration are boosting tech transfer Erik Stenehjem andRoger Werne, director and deputy directory of the industrial partnerships office of Lawrence are tasked with forging new partnershipss that will help get its discoveries to Stenehjem came to the lab when the cederd management in October 2007 to Lawrence Livermore National Security, a partnership of the University of , , and .
The new managemengt marked a paradigm shift for the say community members andindustry insiders. “(The tended to be silos,” said Toby Brink, president of the Tri-Valley Business “But now that the directivee have changed and management has Ithink there’s a wholed new attitude toward working collaboratively, and the (open park is just the next step in that Lawrence Livermore went through a process six months ago wherde it identified seven priorities for its researcbh funding. Energy and climate change modelinbg are twoof them.
Reducing America’s dependencs on foreign oil is viewed as a nationalosecurity issue, so clean energy technologies that help America toward that goal support the labs’ missions, lab officials said. For the recently opened National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermorse was built to test what happens inside a nucleatrfusion reaction, but the same technology could also create nuclear fusionn energy to meet massive energyg demands. “Energy is almost exclusivelhy a product of theprivate sector. So in order for the labs to help solvde theenergy crisis, we must partneer with the private sector,” Werne said.
Lawrence Livermore has partnererd withthe Tri-Valley Business Council to launch the Tri-Valley Innovatio Network, which is workingb to match entrepreneurs with funding and mentors. It has also reached out to Keiretsuu Forum, an angel investor and is working with three venturedcapital firms: Princeton, N.J.-based Battelle Exceed Capital out of Calgaryt and Paladin Capital Group of D.C. plus San Francisco-based tech consulting firm with whom it regularlhy shares information on technologies that may havecommerciak appeal.
The partnerships will increase the odds that the technologu that comes out of the lab can qualifh forfederal money, includinv federal stimulus funds, said Bruce Tarter, former director of Lawrence Livermore who helps connect Keiretsu investor s with potential tech but doesn’t invest in them himself. “(The Keiretsu gets the technology developed and gets it to the And to the degree we can get thatto happen, that’ss a plus,” said Lawrence Livermore over the past two years has also put more than $1 millio n of its own budget into buildingv prototypes of intellectual property — which help investors understaned the technology’s commercial potential.
Stenehjej said the labs have developed technologies relate d tocarbon sequestration, energy storage, new battery technologies and “A lot of these things got developedx for other purposes,” said “We think they have incredibler commercial opportunities, and it’as our job … to make this known to Lawrence Livermore two years ago beganm a program with Bay Area M.B.A. studentsw to get ideas about how the labs mightt bring to market discoveries withcommercial applications. Stenehjekm also said his goal is to growthe lab’s licensingb revenue to $30 million from approximately $9.5 millioh last year.
Similar to Lawrencwe Livermore’s push, Sandia launched HITEC — the Hub for Innovation in the Transportation EnergyCommunity — earlier this year. The hub’sw goals are to accelerate innovation in the transportationh industrythrough large-scale partnerships between the national the private energy universities, transportation companies and other Departmentg of Energy agencies. It’s seeking thosre partners now.
Technologies developed at the labs to build and test warheadxs and nuclear weapons couldbe game-changers in cleanb energy, climate change, biotech and other Locked away for five decades, the federap agencies are pursuing better ways of commercializinhg their technology with other-than-weapons applications. They are partnerinv with the private sector in new ways and pushiny for an open campus on 50 acre s to help the labs better collaborate with the best and In addition, the two Livermore-based labs are working with the local business consulting with M.B.A. students and launching a formal program to partner with thetransportationh industry.
The shift could mean a transformation of the role the labs play inthe Tri-Valleyh and the Bay Area economy, creating an economic engine with tech transfer capabilities that rival UCSF and UC Livermore and Sandia — federalk agencies under the U.S. Departmentf of Energy and funded mostly through the National Nuclear Security Administration are boosting tech transfer Erik Stenehjem andRoger Werne, director and deputy directory of the industrial partnerships office of Lawrence are tasked with forging new partnershipss that will help get its discoveries to Stenehjem came to the lab when the cederd management in October 2007 to Lawrence Livermore National Security, a partnership of the University of , , and .
The new managemengt marked a paradigm shift for the say community members andindustry insiders. “(The tended to be silos,” said Toby Brink, president of the Tri-Valley Business “But now that the directivee have changed and management has Ithink there’s a wholed new attitude toward working collaboratively, and the (open park is just the next step in that Lawrence Livermore went through a process six months ago wherde it identified seven priorities for its researcbh funding. Energy and climate change modelinbg are twoof them.
Reducing America’s dependencs on foreign oil is viewed as a nationalosecurity issue, so clean energy technologies that help America toward that goal support the labs’ missions, lab officials said. For the recently opened National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermorse was built to test what happens inside a nucleatrfusion reaction, but the same technology could also create nuclear fusionn energy to meet massive energyg demands. “Energy is almost exclusivelhy a product of theprivate sector. So in order for the labs to help solvde theenergy crisis, we must partneer with the private sector,” Werne said.
Lawrence Livermore has partnererd withthe Tri-Valley Business Council to launch the Tri-Valley Innovatio Network, which is workingb to match entrepreneurs with funding and mentors. It has also reached out to Keiretsuu Forum, an angel investor and is working with three venturedcapital firms: Princeton, N.J.-based Battelle Exceed Capital out of Calgaryt and Paladin Capital Group of D.C. plus San Francisco-based tech consulting firm with whom it regularlhy shares information on technologies that may havecommerciak appeal.
The partnerships will increase the odds that the technologu that comes out of the lab can qualifh forfederal money, includinv federal stimulus funds, said Bruce Tarter, former director of Lawrence Livermore who helps connect Keiretsu investor s with potential tech but doesn’t invest in them himself. “(The Keiretsu gets the technology developed and gets it to the And to the degree we can get thatto happen, that’ss a plus,” said Lawrence Livermore over the past two years has also put more than $1 millio n of its own budget into buildingv prototypes of intellectual property — which help investors understaned the technology’s commercial potential.
Stenehjej said the labs have developed technologies relate d tocarbon sequestration, energy storage, new battery technologies and “A lot of these things got developedx for other purposes,” said “We think they have incredibler commercial opportunities, and it’as our job … to make this known to Lawrence Livermore two years ago beganm a program with Bay Area M.B.A. studentsw to get ideas about how the labs mightt bring to market discoveries withcommercial applications. Stenehjekm also said his goal is to growthe lab’s licensingb revenue to $30 million from approximately $9.5 millioh last year.
Similar to Lawrencwe Livermore’s push, Sandia launched HITEC — the Hub for Innovation in the Transportation EnergyCommunity — earlier this year. The hub’sw goals are to accelerate innovation in the transportationh industrythrough large-scale partnerships between the national the private energy universities, transportation companies and other Departmentg of Energy agencies. It’s seeking thosre partners now.
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