Cleantech Benchmark Study / Cleantech Symposium Series

Mayor Richard T. Crotty has announced a double-barreled Orange County initiative to target cleantech economic development—attracting, creating, and growing the companies that produce the products and provide the services that will help the world to go green. . "With cleantech, going green makes good business sense," said Mayor Crotty. "Increasingly, cleantech is becoming recognized as a cutting edge industry, the biggest thing since the dot com boom, and the greatest economic opportunity of the 21^st century."

The first Orange County initiative is a Cleantech Benchmark Study with the working title: "Metro Orlando Cleantech: Assets, Capabilities, Presence, and Potential." This study will be a primer for the further development of cleantech in Metro Orlando—a common body of knowledge for local economic development practitioners and public officials, and a startup guide for a local cleantech economic development action plan.

The Cleantech Study will be conducted by the UCF Institute for Economic Competitiveness (www.iec.ucf.edu). The Institute is uniquely qualified for this work because of its focus on national, state, and regional trends and forecasting. It regularly asks the question, "What's next?" when analyzing the future of the Metro Orlando economy.

Elements of the Cleantech Study, among others, will include: an overview of cleantech investment and growth trends; a description of cleantech hotspots and clusters—states, regions, and cities—and an analysis of the factors contributing to their growth; an inventory of Metro Orlando cleantech companies and the organizations supporting their growth and development; and an analysis of assets in Metro Orlando that are conducive to the growth of cleantech, such as available talent pools, research facilities, assistance available to cleantech companies, and markets for products.

The second Orange County cleantech initiative is a Cleantech Symposium Series that will convene interested parties to better understand the cleantech community and to collectively foster its growth.

The Symposium Series will be spearheaded by the UCF Venture Lab (www.venturelab.ucf.edu), which is uniquely suited to organizing and staging such an effort. Its sole purpose is to nurture new technology spin-offs from UCF faculty, staff, and students, and also new technology startups from outside the university that have the potential for hiring UCF graduates. The Venture Lab already is working with at least six emerging cleantech companies. It is also a member of the Cleantech Network (www.cleantechnetwork.com), a worldwide membership organization of thousands of companies, investors, professional service organizations, and economic development organizations supporting cleantech. Both the Institute for Economic Competitiveness and the Venture Lab were established as part of Orange County's economic stimulus packages in 2002 and 2003.

The Cleantch Study and the Cleantech Symposium Series are mutually supportive initiatives. For example, symposiums initially will help to identify local cleantech companies and organizations to be included in the Cleantech Study. Later on, policies and programs supporting cleantech in other communities, as identified in the Cleantech Study, will be presented and discussed in one of the symposiums to help determine what should be done here.

Cleantech cuts across a broad range of industry sectors, from alternative energy generation to transportation, and from manufacturing to agriculture. It includes solar energy, fuel cells and advanced batteries, wind power, and Internet controlled irrigation systems, to name just a few categories. Cleantech is projected to create millions of "clean collar" and "green collar" jobs throughout the United States, many of these being jobs such as solar panel installers that cannot easily be exported overseas.  According to the American Solar Energy Society, as many as 1 out of 4 workers in the U.S. will be working in the renewable energy or energy efficiency industries by 2030. Cleantech has the potential for creating economic opportunities at every level and in every corner of Orange County and Metro Orlando.

The County's cleantech initiatives will involve its usual and important economic development partners such as the Metro Orlando Economic Development Commission, Enterprise Florida, Florida High Tech Corridor Council, Disney Entrepreneur Center, UCF Technogy Incubator, UCF Small Business Development Center, and Central Florida Research Park. In addition, many other entities at UCF supporting business development and clean technologies will become a more integral part of the County's economic development efforts. These include the Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation, Solar Energy Center, Nanoscience Technology Center, Advanced Materials Processing and Analysis Center, Florida Power Electronics Center, Center for Advanced Turbines and Energy Research, Stormwater Management Academy, Siemens Energy Center, Institute for Simulation & Training, College of Optics and Photonics, and College of Engineering.

Other organizations in Metro Orlando will also be involved, such as AeA (formerly the American Electronics Association). AeA (www.aeanet.org/greentech) is a nationwide nonprofit trade

association that represents all segments of the technology industry, including cleantech. Its National Green Technology platform provides local as well an international knowledge exchange

opportunities, strategies for state and local governments, and political policy recommendations that will further U.S. leadership in global innovation. AeA already has partnered with other communities such as San Diego on their cleantech initiatives

For more information about the County's Cleantech initiatives, and to become involved, contact Orange County Economic Development Administrator John Lewis:  407-836-4141 or John.Lewis@ocfl.net.

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About the Cleantech Index. The Cleantech Index is the first and only stock market index intended to reflect the surging global demand for cleantech products and services. It is comprised of 76 companies that are global leaders in cleantech innovation and commercial deployment across a broad range of industry sectors: from alternative energy and energy efficiency to advanced materials, and from air and water purification to eco-friendly agriculture/nutrition and power generation. In 2007, the Cleantech Index outperformed (+42.9%) the NASDAQ Composite Index (+10.6%) and the S&P 500 (+5.5%). For more information, visit www.cleantechindex.com and www.amex.com.

About Metro Orlando Cleantech Companies. Examples of emerging Metro Orlando cleantech companies include:

·        Sowlar Inc. Designs, develops and markets concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) modules for use in generating solar energy. The company objective is to provide the world's most efficient and lowest cost per watt solar modules. Visit www.sowlar.com.

·        Stormwater Treatment Environments, Inc. Provides unique and aesthetically pleasing green roofs for commercial real estate developers and business owners. Green roofs can save money, protect the environment, help compliance with regulatory requirements, and be visually pleasing. Visit www.stormwaterenvironments.com.

·        Planar Energy Devices, Inc. Developing and manufacturing next generation lithium batteries that hold more energy, last longer, weigh less, and fit in tiny places—a better battery. Visit www.planarenergy.com.

·        AquaFiber Technologies Corp.  AcquaFiber is a biotechnology company that is providing solutions to pollution problems, generating alternative energy sources, and developing innovative renewable sources of textiles for clothing. Its technologies are being used to clean up Lake Apopka and Lake Jessup. Visit www.acquafiber.com.

·        Zerocrete.  Zerocrete is a UCF discovery that converts fly ash into a substitute for concrete. While conventional cement production is responsible for 5% of the worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide, zerCrete releases virtually no carbon dioxide in its production.

Many existing Metro Orlando companies also fall under the banner of cleantech. For example, Mitsubishi Power Systems Orlando Service Center (OSC). OSC repairs, services and manufactures replacement parts for power plants in the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. It can also enhance turbine performance through technology upgrades and modifications that enhance fuel efficiency, output, performance, and service life. The Metro Orlando Cleantech Benchmark Study will inventory existing as well as emerging cleantech companies.

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