Environmental technology markets, with revenues surpassing $500 billion, are dominated by small businesses. Battelle’s Environmental Technology Commercialization Center (ETC²), funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), recognized the need for an incubator to help environmentally focused small businesses achieve success. Few of the nation’s 600 small business incubators are focused on environmental technologies. To address this gap, ETC² collaborated with Central State University (CSU) near Dayton, Ohio, to establish the National Environmental Technology (NET) Incubator.

In March CSU President John Garland presided over the Incubator’s grand opening ceremony and the first meeting of its board of directors.

“The Battelle team, with funding support from EPA, is honored to be part of the NET Incubator project and to have the opportunity to work with President Garland and the CSU community. Together we are committed to creating a technology incubator that is also an educational incubator to produce the technologies and entrepreneurs of tomorrow,” said Martin Kress, a Vice President with Battelle.

The Incubator provides affordable facilities, equipment, expertise and services to help small businesses develop products and services that align with the long-term growth trend in environmental technologies. Tenants will be poised to take advantage of EPA’s Cincinnati laboratories – one of the premier environmental laboratory complexes in the world – and the resources of the co-located International Center for Water Resources Management.

Analytical test equipment will be available at affordable hourly rates, as well as trained and knowledgeable technical personnel. Available equipment includes gas chromatography mass spectrophotometer, atomic absorption spectrophotometer, high-pressure liquid chromatograph, and centrifuge.

The Incubator’s first lessee, AMR Technologies, is completing development and commercialization planning for a patented process to use waste byproducts from electricity generation to manufacture plastic products.

“AMR Technologies will sell technically superior products and address an environmental problem through beneficial reuse of materials that would otherwise go to the landfill,” said Executive Director Mahone. “This is what we want to encourage–market-driven products that improve the environment.”

“I am excited about the opportunity to move this forward with help from the Incubator,” said Mike Robinson, AMR President and CEO. “This is the first step in commercializing this environmentally friendly product. The Incubator gives me the resources that I needed to really bring it together. I couldn’t have independently put together the funding required for a building and equipment. In addition, I have a full engineering support team literally next door.”

For more information, please contact Jerome Mahone at (937) 376-6234, jmahone@csu.ces.edu.