>> NOVEMBER 2015   
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In This Issue...
Saving 40% of Energy Used in Large Furnaces
Helping Food Buying Clubs, Farmers
You're Invited! See Our New Office Space on Nov. 20th
Arcimoto Starts Selling its EV Trike
The Women of Our Cleantech Companies Meet the Governor
Oregon Manufacturing Awardees
$120K to Study Eonomic Impacts of Cross-Laminated Timber
Oregon's Tall Wood Buildings Win
Oregon BEST Companies Make News
Oregon BEST Researchers in the Headlines

Oregon BEST
Early-Stage Investments 


Funding Opportunities

This competition is aimed at an innovative, viable building project to serve as a demonstration for the use of cross-laminated timber.


December 8 
(application deadline) 
The EPA's P3 Program is a unique college competition for designing solutions for a sustainable future. Teams are awarded $15,000 to develop their idea, then compete at the National Sustainable Design Expo in April for the P3 Award and $75,000 to take their design to real world application.


Oregon BEST's SBIR/STTR Support Center lists funding opportunities from a range of federal agencies in one place for your convenience.

 

Upcoming Events
Many more events listed on our Events page...
 

November 20 
Leave work a little early and come see our new office space in the Pearl District. Help us celebrate our new co-working space during Global entrepreneurship Week #GEW2015! RSVP here.


November 30  
(application deadline) 
Showcase your company's technology at the largest environmental trade show in the Northwest on December 8-9 in Portland, where more than 550 decision makers from Oregon and Washington find cost-effective, environmentally sound solutions.

   
December 1-3 
Are you a high-tech innovator, technologist, and/or entrepreneur looking for seed funding? This is an opportunity to learn from and connect with important stakeholders across the U.S. technology and innovation ecosystems. Austin, TX


December 4 
(application deadline) 
A unique opportunity to engage with companies looking for new talent, as well as learn about new energy initiatives. The 100 graduate-level students selected receive complimentary registration, participate in student-focused panel sessions, and network with corporate recruiters.


December 8 - 9 
The region's conference for environmental, operations, and sustainability professionals, NWEC provides companies with information they need to stay competitive and ahead of the curve. Portland, OR


December 11 
(application deadline) 
Apply to showcase your innovative energy technology at this gathering in Washington, DC


February 5 
Experience powerful entrepreneurial approaches to creating change locally and globally, and celebrate social entrepreneurship and social innovation with a diverse set of stakeholders. Portland, OR


March 22 - 14 
A lineup of expert speakers from around the world will address how to advance cross-laminated timber and the mass timber industry in North America, and how to increase the use of wood in low- to mid-rise and tall buildings. Portland, OR
 
 

More About Oregon BEST



Contact Us!

P.O. Box 212
Portland, OR 97207-0212
Telephone: 503-928-7902
[email protected] 



Executive Director's Report >>

Eight Years In: Gratitude for Support 
 
David Kenney  

As we head into Thanksgiving next week, I want to highlight my gratitude to Oregon's political leaders who have made a long-term commitment to technology innovation and product development as a core economic development strategy for our state.

Oregon BEST's 8-year anniversary is this month, and the consistent financial support from the Oregon Legislature, Business Oregon, and the Oregon Innovation Council means we have had the time to develop deep and broad relationships with our state's entrepreneur community and university researchers, along with investors (including angel, venture, and corporate) and other resources from all over the country that have enabled us to support and catalyze the path to market for several dozen startup companies, many of which are achieving success. Just this month, three of our Oregon BEST Companies won Oregon Manufacturing Awards from the Portland Business Journal.

As I see the gratitude expressed to us by these winning entrepreneurs and others, I thought I'd take a moment to acknowledge that none of our help would be possible without the support we have received, and continue to receive, from the State of Oregon.  

Also, we hope you'll come check out our new office at the co-working space, DeskHub. We're hosting an Open House this Friday, November 20th from 2:30-5:00 p.m. If you can join us, register here.
 
All the best,  
 
David Kenney, President & Executive Director
Oregon BEST
  
Saving 40% Energy in VAR Furnaces
Technology could save specialty metals industry millions of dollars

Oregon BEST has invested $150,000 in a new technology under development by Corvallis startup KW Associates that has the potential to save the $25 billion specialty metals industry hundreds of millions of dollars in energy costs, while reducing waste and improving safety during production of ingots (pictured above) of titanium and other metals in Vacuum Arc Remelting furnaces. Titanium is used in everything from knee replacements to aircraft parts. More >>
 
Helping Food Buying Clubs, Farmers
Cleanweb tool streamlines group buys, saves fuel 

Oregon BEST has awarded early-stage investment funding to Manage My Co-op, a Eugene, Ore., startup working with the University of Oregon to speed development of a flexible software tool that helps food buying clubs streamline purchases, reduce waste, and work more directly with farmers. The technology saves farmers fuel by more efficiently distributing their products, and reduces waste because all food is pre-purchased. Kimmy Gustafson (pictured, above) co-founded the company with her husband. More >>
openhouse

You're Invited! See Our New Office  

Head out of work a little early this Friday, Nov. 20, to see our new digs (and celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week #GEW2016)! We've moved into the DeskHub co-working space in Portland's Pearl District. Stop by anytime between 2:30 and 5:00 for a tour, drinks, and appetizers on us. It will also be a chance to meet members of the Oregon BEST Board of Directors, who will be wrapping up a board meeting just in time for the Open House. The move to DeskHub is part of our long-term strategy to co-locate with startups and convene the resource partners working to support them. Read more about that strategy.
 
Arcimoto Starts Selling its EV 
Seven years in development, the new EV is ready to hit the roads  

Arcimoto, an Oregon BEST Company located in Eugene, Ore., has started selling its SRK8 electric vehicle the company says will be a game-changer in the EV industry. Oregon BEST helped support early development of the 1,000-lb., $12,000 vehicle Arcimoto hopes will replace many urban automobiles. Read more about Arcimoto's approach in WIRED and Popular Science. Or take a video test drive via YouTube, above.
  
The Women of Cleantech Companies
Women founders of Oregon BEST Companies meet Gov. Brown

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown gave a speech at Oregon BEST FEST in September. Before she took the stage, the Governor (pictured fourth from left, holding a T-shirt that reads, #LADYBOSS, a gift from the group) met with the women founders and CEOs of several Oregon BEST Companies to learn from the cleantech leaders of DR Johnson, eWind Solutions, Manage My Co-op, Energy Storage Systems, Pacific Light Technologies, Onboard Dynamics, and Rogue Rovers. Of our 35+ Oregon BEST Companies, 28 percent are founded or led by women. This is impressive, given that in 2013 women started only three percent of the technology companies in Silicon Valley. #ThisIsCleantech
OregonMfgAwards

Oregon Manufacturing Awardees  
Three Oregon BEST Companies take home top honors  

We were thrilled to see that three Oregon BEST Companies were recipients of Oregon Manufacturing Awards handed out by the Portland Business Journal. DR Johnson, the first U.S. company to manufacture structural cross-laminated timber, won the Product Innovation Award. Energy Storage Systems, maker of all-iron, nontoxic flow batteries for renewable energy storage, won the Sustainable Innovation Award. And Indow, maker of thermal window inserts that save energy and reduce noise, was named the Manufacturing Company of the Year for companies with 11-50 employees. More >>

$120,000 to Study Economics of CLT 
Grant will assess economic impact of cross-laminated timber 

Oregon BEST and partners have received $120,000 from the U.S. Economic Development Administration to conduct an interstate study of manufacturing capacity and market development of cross-laminated timber (CLT) in rural communities in Oregon and SW Washington. The grant brings together a bi-state consortium that includes the Pacific NW Manufacturing Partnership, Business Oregon, Oregon State University, Washington State University, and the Oregon Manufacturing Extension Partnership. More >>

Oregon's Tall Wood Buildings Win 
Oregon project wins $1.5 million, will use cross-laminated timber

We're proud of Oregon's recent win in cross-laminated timber (CLT) and pleased to be playing a role in advancing CLT in our region (see the design contest under Funding Opportunities, above). The recent tall wood buildings win was celebrated in the full-page ad shown here, which included small type at the bottom that read: Projects in Portland and New York have each won $1.5 million in the U.S. Tall Wood Building Competition, placing both cities at the forefront of environmentally responsible construction and cutting edge timber technology. These projects will highlight how the use of wood can help fight climate change and support rural economies. Now, if only New York could brew a drinkable IPA. More >>
 
Oregon BEST Companies Make News
Oregon BEST Companies gain traction, attract funding  
 

Energy Storage Systems, maker of nontoxic flow batteries, has closed a Series A $4.5M round of financing, securing $3.2M from Pangaea Ventures. More >> 
 

Puralytics, maker of solar-activated water purification systems, was featured in a CNBC video about the company and its technology. Watch video >>


Indow, the Portland manufacturer of press-in thermal window inserts, has seen revenue growth at 100+ percent for the last three years and is looking to expand. More >>
 


Oregon BEST Researchers in the News...

��� NICK AUYEUNG, an assistant professor of chemical engineering at Oregon State University, and colleagues have developed an energy storage breakthrough that brings concentrated solar power to the smart grid. The new approach, known as thermochemical energy storage (TCES), holds the promise of a 10X increase in energy storage density at a fraction of the cost. More >>   


 
OSU's David Ji ��� DAVID JI, an assistant professor of chemistry at Oregon State University, has shown that a potassium-ion battery is possible, and can be made from materials that are far more abundant and less costly than the ubiquitous lithium-ion batteries found in cell phones and other devices today. More >>


  UO's G.Z. Charlie Brown ��� The Biology and Built Environment Center (BioBE), co-founded by G.Z. BROWN and colleagues at the University of Oregon, has received $1.3 million from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation to continue to investigate the relationship between architectural design and the indoor microbiome - the collection of bacteria, fungi and viruses found inside of buildings. More >>
  

Oregon BEST funds and assists cleantech startups, bringing together Oregon's significant R&D strengths to support entrepreneurs in the creation of new products and services.
The nexus for clean technology innovation, Oregon BEST builds capability, convenes collaborations, and accelerates the solutions to environmental challenges that deliver prosperity in all corners of Oregon. 

 
Oregon BEST
PO BOX 212 � PORTLAND, OR 97207-0212
PH: 503.928.7902 � WEB: oregonbest.org