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East Bay Innovation Awards Videos:
East Bay Innovation Awards compilation winners
Berkeley Skydeck Catalyst Award winner
Innovation Award Finalist Supplement PDF
February 4, 2013
Contact:
Edit Ruano, Full Court Press Communications
O: (510) 550-8176; C: (530) 305-9427
East Bay Economic Development Alliance
Announces First Cohort of Innovation Award
Winners at Dynamic Event Held at the Fox Theatre in Oakland
Award Recipients – including Pandora, Tesla and Novartis – Took to the
Stage at the Fox Theatre in
Oakland to Receive Recognition for Their Contributions to the Region
Oakland, CA – On Thursday, January 31st, the East Bay’s most innovative
entrepreneurs took center
stage to receive awards from the East Bay Economic Development Alliance
(East Bay EDA) in recognition
of their contributions to the region. The East Bay EDA presented the
first annual East Bay Innovation
Awards to cutting-edge businesses that are making the East Bay one of
the preeminent regions of
innovation in the U.S.
“This was our first Innovation Awards event, and we couldn’t be more
thrilled with the results,” stated
Karen Engel, Executive Director of the East Bay EDA. “Hundreds of
business, civic and community leaders
showed their commitment to the region. We also recognized companies who
directly contribute to the
East Bay’s innovative and dynamic culture.”
Novartis, a pharmaceutical discovery and
development company that began in the East Bay 40 years
ago, received one of the evening’s top honors – the first-ever East Bay
EDA Legacy Award. Novartis
received the award in recognition of its role in growing the biotech
industry in the region.
In addition to Novartis, eight companies received awards for their
impact on the region and for their
innovation.
• Catalyst Award
o Berkeley Skydeck received a Catalyst Award for its city, university,
and private business
partnership. It was also recognized for its commitment to support
start-ups.
• Business and Education Partnership
o Bayer Healthcare received an award for its groundbreaking business and
education
partnership. Bayer’s collaboration with East Bay schools is nourishing
the next
generation of scientists.
• Field-Specific Award Winners
o Pandora (Information / Communication Technology)
o Tesla Motors (Advanced Manufacturing)
o Ecologic Brands (Clean Technology)
o Livescribe (Engineering and Design)
o Penumbra (Life Sciences)
o St. George Spirits (Food)
“These companies are models for businesses in the
region who want to create jobs and grow the East
Bay economy,” said Keith Carson, chairman of the East Bay EDA Board of
Directors. “The East Bay EDA is
proud to play a role in highlighting their work.”
Lead sponsors for the East Bay EDA Innovation
awards were the Chevron Corporation and Bank of
America. The award sponsors were Bayer HealthCare, Wareham Development,
Wells Fargo, and
Wendel, Rosen, Black and Dean.
“Chevron is proud to join the East Bay Innovation
Awards as they celebrate and promote forwardthinking businesses in the
East Bay,” said Matt Lonner, Chevron’s manager of Global Partnerships
and
Programs.
“The Innovation Awards were inspiring and helped
us witness first-hand how innovation is strengthening
the East Bay,” stated Edward J. Achtner, a regional executive at Bank of
America. “We can’t wait to see
which companies are recognized next year.”
The East Bay EDA sees this year’s East Bay
Innovation Awards as the first of many opportunities to
highlight cutting-edge companies in the region. The organization has
already started planning for next
year’s event and will soon begin accepting nominations.
For more information about the East Bay
Innovation Award winners, visit: http://bit.ly/ebedainnovation
To view Micro-Documentaries of the East Bay Innovation Award winners,
visit: http://bit.ly/ebinnovate
###
About the East Bay EDA
The East Bay Economic Development Alliance (East Bay EDA), located in
Oakland, California, is a
public-private partnership founded in 1990 to serve the San Francisco
East Bay (Alameda and
Contra Costa Counties). The East Bay EDA’s mission is to establish the
region as a world-recognized location to grow businesses, attract
capital and create quality jobs.
To learn more about our East Bay EDA, visit: http://www.eastbayeda.org/.
###
November 28, 2012
Contact:
Stephen Baiter,
sbaiter@ehsd.cccounty.us
or 925.766.6665
New Grant for Bioscience Manufacturing to accelerate Job Creation and Economic Development in the East Bay
Pleasant Hill, CA – Bay Area Congressional leaders announce a $2.2
million investment by five federal agencies that will help create high
quality regional jobs in bioscience and medicine manufacturing and make
Northern California an epicenter for biotech careers and innovation.
The Advanced Manufacturing Medical/Biosciences Pipeline for
Economic Development (AM2PED) will build a regional
innovation ecosystem for technology transfer, economic development, and
workforce development in medical device and bioscience manufacturing
along the I-80/880 Corridor in the East Bay which includes UC
Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Congressmen John
Garamendi, George Miller, and Jerry McNerney, joined by Congresswoman
Barbara Lee believe the plan will be a catalyst for job creation and
leveraging private capital. Garamendi, Miller, McNerney, and Lee have
all advocated for strategies to Make It In America, an initiative to
rebuild America's manufacturing sector, support innovation, and encourage job creation.
“I have long advocated for better
integration between public research and private job creation. Many of
the high tech success stories that helped build Americas middle class
originated with this type of technology transfer,” Congressman Garamendi
said. “I’m excited that the AM2PED is moving forward, because
it’s an opportunity to Make It In America and create good local jobs in
manufacturing and research.”
"The last decade has seen a sea-change in our campus-wide investments in high-tech laboratories and the fostering of entrepreneurial educational programs,” said Paul Wright, UC Berkeley professor of mechanical engineering and Director, Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society (CITRIS) and CITRIS @ Berkeley. “These shorten the pipeline between fundamental research in science and engineering and the creation of start-ups, the scaling to large industries and, of course, the important result of new jobs in California and the nation. This new award is a further accelerator of such an ecosystem.
UC Berkeley is proud to be on the team that will make sure these new products and services will be Made in America AMPED partner organizations include: the Workforce Development Board of Contra Costa County, East Bay Economic Development Alliance (East Bay EDA), Manex Consulting – A NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership, University of California, Berkeley, Laney, and the Northern California Small Business Development Center(SBDC) Network. These partners will build connecting networks to link regional efforts focused on medical manufacturing and bio-sciences, constructing a virtual “one stop” center for technology innovation, investment, and job creation. Some specific efforts include the following:
Establishing a regional intermediary to link disparate incubation
strategies into a coordinated and industry-driven system;
·
Creating a regional leadership team with industry and venture
capitalists;
·
Expediting feedback between research and industry through “reverse
pitch” sessions focused on problem solving posed by industry and
organization of research teams to enable on-site interaction between
technology innovators and industry; and
·
Supporting entrepreneurs and spin-off companies through funding
preparation and through connection of enterprises with established
businesses and financial sector representatives, and through technical
assistance focused on productivity, technology transfer,
venture capital as well as private equity funding,
and workforce development.
sbaiter@ehsd.cccounty.us
or 925.766.6665
· Karen Engel,
karen@eastbayeda.org
or 510.381.5292
· Gene Russell, Manex Consulting – A NIST Manufacturing Extension
Partnership
grussell@manexconsulting.com or 925.807.5111
· Tiff Dressen,
tddressen@lbl.gov or 510.642.6671
· James Alva,
jalva@norcalsbdc.org or
415.413.7232
· Peter Crabtree,
pcrabtree@peralta.edu
or 510.464.3218
###
For Immediate Release
Contact: Scott Peterson
December 4, 2012
East Bay Economic Development Alliance Announces Finalists for Its First Annual Innovation Awards
East Bay’s Top Organizations Receive Special Recognition for Their Innovative Approach to Business and Addressing Some of Our Society’s Greatest Needs
Oakland, CA: The East Bay has long been recognized for its regional and national role in advancing new technologies and ideas and, this year, the East Bay Economic Development Alliance (East Bay EDA) is spotlighting some of the most significant contributors to the East Bay’s unique culture and legacy of innovation. Today, the organization announced the pool of 16 finalists who are in the running for the first-ever East Bay Innovation Awards.
The East Bay is home to a wide variety of innovators in job sectors that include clean fuels, food production, digital animation, medical devices, and many more,” said Keith Carson, Chairman of the East Bay EDA Board of Directors. “We want to celebrate those accomplishments, raise awareness about the forward-thinking businesses that are based in the East Bay, and inspire other companies to think outside the box.”
The 16 companies and organizations – selected by independent industry professionals after a public nomination process coordinated and launched by the East Bay Economic Development Alliance – are being recognized not only for being instrumental in advancing the region’s culture of innovation, but also for contributing to regional prosperity.
“Over 85
nominations were received, and we were so impressed by the high quality
of nominees across all the industry categories,” said Karen Engel,
Executive Director of East Bay EDA.
East Bay EDA recognized companies in clean technology, advanced manufacturing, food, information/communication technology, life sciences, engineering and design. The finalists are:
-
Adept Technology
-
Bayer Healthcare
-
Community Grains
-
Deep Ocean Exploration & Research
-
Ecologic Brands
-
Ekso Bionics
-
Kiverdi, Inc.
-
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories
-
Lit San Leandro
-
Livescribe Inc.
-
Pandora
-
Perforce Software
-
Penumbra, Inc.
-
Skydeck / UC Berkeley
-
St. George Spirits
-
Tesla Motors
In
addition to these categories,
nominations were solicited for innovation in business and education
partnerships, thought-leader or catalyst of the year, and a legacy award
to recognize an individual or organization that has had a lasting impact
on the culture of innovation in the East Bay.
The
selected finalists will be recognized at a gala event on January 31,
2012 at the Fox Theater in Oakland. At the event, East Bay EDA will also
announce their first-ever Innovation Award winners, which will be
selected from the pool of finalists.
Lead sponsors for
the event are Bank of America and Chevron Corporation.
Award sponsors also include Bayer HealthCare, Wareham
Development, Wells Fargo, and Wendel Rosen Black and Dean.
Additional, bronze-level sponsors include Cargill and Kaiser
Permanente. Sponsorship opportunities are still available.
###
About the East Bay EDA
The East Bay Economic Development Alliance (East Bay EDA), located in
Oakland, California, is a
public-private partnership founded in 1990 to serve the San Francisco
East Bay (Alameda and
Contra Costa Counties). The East Bay EDA’s mission is to establish the
region as a world-recognized location to grow businesses, attract
capital and create quality jobs.
To learn more about our East Bay EDA, visit: http://www.eastbayeda.org/.
###
Members (in the Business Development group) that find an article or document on the East Bay or its businesses can upload it to this page after logging onto the East Bay EDA Communications Portal and select the Business Development group. If you have any questions or problems, please contact Keith Sutton.
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