Albany, NY - July 13, 2017 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced eight finalists for the $2.5 million 76West Clean Energy Competition in the Southern Tier. In its second round, 76West is one of the largest competitions in the country that focuses on supporting and growing clean energy businesses. The competition complements “Southern Tier Soaring,” the region’s $3.1 billion investment to support economic and community growth.
“The 76West competition is bringing innovative businesses to the Southern Tier, generating new economic opportunities for entrepreneurs and supporting the region’s growing clean energy economy,” Governor Cuomo said. “This competition is not only spurring job growth and combatting climate change, but also attracting top-notch businesses from across the nation to New York. I congratulate these finalists and look forward to their success in helping the Southern Tier Soar for decades to come.”
“The Governor’s Reforming the Energy Vision strategy has made New York a national leader in combatting climate change. We know the future lies in a clean energy economy, and through the 76 West competition, the Southern Tier has become the epicenter of New York State's clean tech and energy industries,” said Lieutenant Governor Kathy Hochul. “We cannot ignore the impacts of global climate change - we will continue to invest in solutions that are renewable, resilient, and affordable."
Finalists were chosen following a marathon pitch session at Alfred State College on Tuesday, July 11, 2017. Fifteen semifinalists pitched to judges, who then selected the top eight finalists that will compete for $2.5 million in prizes. The finalists will pitch their companies to a different panel of judges on Thursday, July 13 in Corning. Judges will then recommend the six award winners, which will be revealed later this summer. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority administers the 76West Competition.
The eight finalists by region are:
Finger Lakes
- MicroEra Power – Rochester, NY: MicroEra Power commercializes novel, ultra-efficient stationary power generation solutions for commercial customers that help produce monthly energy savings and reduces generator footprint.
Long Island
- StorEn Technologies, Inc. – Stony Brook, NY: StorEn Technologies Inc. is an energy storage company that develops evolutionary vanadium flow batteries to target market applications that are considered already economically viable, also without subsidies.
Mid-Hudson Valley
- SunTegra – Port Chester, NY: SunTegra develops, manufactures, and sells solar products that can be integrated directly into the roof, providing a more appealing and efficient alternative to conventional solar panels for target applications such as roofing, garden/patio, sides of buildings, and infrastructure applications.
New York City
- SolarKal – New York, NY: SolarKal is a marketplace that connects solar energy installers with businesses via solar energy brokers and proprietary efficient tools. SolarKal works with hundreds of vetted solar project developers and offers a wide variety of solutions to small-to-medium sized businesses.
Southern Tier
- Biological Energy – Spencer, NY; Biological Energy’s patent-pending wastewater treatment technology reduces energy use, increases water treatment capacity, and eliminates greater than 95 percent of environmentally harmful nutrients, which leads to a significant reduction in residual bio-solids (i.e., landfill waste).
Out-of-State:
- EthosGen – Wilkes-Barre, PA: EthosGen’s engine creates distributed and resilient on-site electric power by capturing waste heat from a variety of sources, including current fuel generators and industrial processes.
- Skyven Technologies – Dallas, TX: Skyven uses the sun (instead of fossil fuels) to produce on-site heat energy for commercial and industrial processes. A single medium-sized Skyven project of 500 collectors offsets roughly 4,500 tons of CO2 over its 20-year lifetime.
- Visolis – Berkeley, CA: Visolis’s platform technology is commercializing the next generation of bio-based monomers for high performance polymers (e.g. plastics), which are used in structural applications, thereby sequestering carbon (carbon negative).
New York State Chairman of Energy and Finance Richard Kauffman said, "Under Governor Cuomo, we’re growing a clean energy economy in the Southern Tier by providing smart, innovative clean technology companies the resources they need to help us build a clean, resilient and affordable energy system under Reforming the Energy Vision, or REV across the state.”
NYSERDA President and CEO Alicia Barton said, “The 76West competition is fostering cleantech economic development while supporting Governor Cuomo’s ambitious clean energy goals. It’s an exciting time for the Southern Tier and we can’t wait to see how the finalists progress and become part of New York’s clean energy sector.”
Senator Tom O'Mara, Chair of the Senate Environmental Conservation Committee, said, "We appreciate and welcome this exciting, ongoing initiative to establish a foundation of clean-energy entrepreneurs throughout the Southern Tier region. The 76West Clean Energy competition promises to attract valuable economic opportunities to the region, create jobs, and enhance the regional and statewide energy future."
Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton said, “My Assembly District stands to benefit enormously from the 76West Clean Energy Business Competition. The Southern Tier has a long history of entrepreneurial success, serving as a home to educational institutions that attract the brightest minds in the world who come here to study and often stay to build their dreams. We’re seeing that history continue today, thanks to 76West and the clean energy innovations being developed at academic institutions and local entrepreneurial startups throughout our region.”
The 76West competition fosters cleantech, economic development, and expands innovative entrepreneurship in the Southern Tier. The 76West competition supports the Governor’s Reforming the Energy Vision strategy and builds on the region’s growing entrepreneurial community by supporting businesses seeking a foothold in New York's thriving clean economy.
This is the second year of 76West, a $20 million competition and support program that will run once a year through 2019. Each year applicants vie for a $1 million grand prize, a $500,000 award, and four $250,000 awards. In total, 76West will provide $10 million in awards and $10 million for business support, marketing and administration through the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and Clean Energy Fund.
As a condition of the award, companies must either move to the Southern Tier or establish a connection with the Southern Tier, such as supplying components to other companies, job development opportunities with Southern Tier companies, or other strategic relationships with Southern Tier entities that increases wealth creation and creates jobs. If the companies are already in the Southern Tier, they must commit to substantially growing their business and employment in the region.
Accelerating Southern Tier Soaring
Today's announcement complements "Southern Tier Soaring" – the region's comprehensive blueprint to generate robust economic growth and community development. New York State has already invested more than $3.1 billion in the region since 2012 to lay for groundwork for the plan – attracting a talented workforce, growing business and driving innovation. Today, unemployment is down to the lowest levels since before the Great Recession; personal and corporate income taxes are down; and businesses are choosing places like the Southern Tier as a destination in which to grow and invest.
Now, the region is accelerating "Southern Tier Soaring" with a $500 million investment through New York’s Upstate Revitalization Initiative, announced by Governor Cuomo in December 2015. The state’s $500 million investment will incentivize private business to invest well over $2.5 billion – and the region’s plan, as submitted, projects up to 10,200 new jobs. More information is available here.
About Reforming the Energy Vision
Reforming the Energy Vision (REV) is Governor Andrew M. Cuomo's strategy to lead on climate change and grow New York's economy. REV is building a cleaner, more resilient and affordable energy system for all New Yorkers by stimulating investment in clean technologies like solar, wind, and energy efficiency and requiring 50 percent of the state's electricity needs to be generated from renewable energy by 2030. Already, REV has driven a nearly 800 percent growth in the statewide solar market, enabled over 105,000 low-income households to permanently cut their energy bills with energy efficiency, and created thousands of jobs in manufacturing, engineering, installation and other clean-tech sectors. REV is ensuring New York State reduces statewide greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent by 2030 and achieves the internationally-recognized target of reducing emissions 80 percent by 2050. To learn more about REV, including the Governor's $5 billion investment in clean energy technology and innovation, please visit www.ny.gov/REV4NY and follow us at @Rev4NY.