MEP and Clean Energy Alliance (CEA)

A collaboration to commercialize
innovative clean energy technologies

Benefits of this collaboration for U.S. manufacturers:

Technology commercialization involves a diverse set of skills and activities that you may not have available within your company.  Through this collaboration, you will have access to all business and manufacturing related services by accessing:
 

• MEP’s - Manufacturing expertise; prototyping; design for manufacturing; scale-up; quality control, management, and certification; technology scouting; technology-driven market intelligence and many other engineering services; AND
  

 

• CEA’s - technical support, business planning, finance and banking, legal and accounting, marketing and communications, outreach, and access to capital.

 

Benefits of this collaboration to MEP Centers:

• Services needed by a company seeking to commercialize a technology often go beyond CEA member capability/capacity.  Companies identified by CEA members needing manufacturing and commercialization expertise would be referred to an MEP with the appropriate skills
  

• CEA Member resources and services provide a partnership opportunity for MEP in areas of expertise not currently being provided by an MEP Center.  CEA members could partner with an MEP Center to provide services including: business planning, finance and banking, legal and accounting, marketing and communications, outreach, and access to capital.

Collaboration Background

• The Clean Energy Alliance (CEA) is a national organization of non-profit incubators with a focus on cleantech. The CEA is a network of 37 incubators that offer business services to cleantech-focused emerging companies through physical and virtual relationships.

• As part of the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) efforts to accelerate the commercialization of clean technologies, CEA was awarded $1.2M DOE grant to support cleantech companies that have in the past received other federal funding.  CEA and DOE formed the DOE Small Business and Clean Energy Alliance Partnership.

• Recently expanded in scope, the DOE-CEA Partnership offers small cleantech firms a complete range of mentoring and commercialization services to support the commercialization of clean energy technologies.  Services include technical support, business planning, finance and banking, legal and accounting, marketing and communications, outreach, and access to capital.

 

Collaboration Project

Our first collaboration has already begun with Cambrian Innovation, an environmental product firm, located in Boston, Massachusetts. Cambrian Innovation, a client of Massachusetts MEP, focuses on solving problems at the energy/water nexus by developing a pipeline of complementary products using advanced biology. The firm is able to help a range of industries including wastewater treatment, renewable natural gas, distributed sensing, and aerospace reuse materials and energy to reduce costs and maximize resources. 

In addition to the services Massachusetts MEP provides, CEA will also support Cambrian Innovation by connecting them with an incubator from their network. Fraunhofer USA incubator, an applied research and development laboratory dedicated to the commercialization of clean energy technologies, will provide Cambrian Innovation with a variety of mentoring and business services.

 

To learn more about this collaboration, get details on how this can be part of your growth and partnership strategy and/or step up and be part of it, please contact:

Clara Asmail
asmail@nist.gov
301-975-2339

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RELATED INITIATIVES

Technology Acceleration:  As manufacturers develop new products, enhance existing products, strive to expand and diversify markets, develop and improve production and engineering systems and processes, and work to strengthen competitive positions within supply chains – technology in some shape or form is frequently a lynchpin enabler. As such, MEP is developing a multi-faceted approach to assist U.S. manufacturers’ ability to systematically identify and capitalize on opportunities to leverage technology toward the realization of their growth and competitiveness objectives. 

Click here to learn more about MEP Technology Acceleration programs

Sustainability: MEP will help companies gain a competitive edge by reducing environmental costs and impact by developing new environmentally-focused materials, products and processes to gain entry into new markets. Sustainable practices also increase manufacturing's contribution to the economy by helping companies embrace environmental goals profitably. MEP will develop and expand strong and effective partnerships with government and industry to ensure sustainability is embraced at all levels of the economy – from the largest employers to the smallest suppliers to the workforce itself.

Click here to learn more about MEP Sustainability programs

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