Who is Your Favorite Colorado Cleantech Leader?

Nominations for the Colorado Cleantech Awards are due tomorrow.

The awards will be presented during the Colorado Cleantech Industry Awards Celebration dinner on Nov. 7 at the Grand Hyatt Denver. This is the main event this year where Colorado's cleantech community come together to honor the creativity and innovation of Colorado's clean technology leaders.

Finalists and winners will be selected by the CCIA Awards Committee to receive recognition in the following categories:

• High Impact Cleantech Company of the Year
• Breakout Cleantech Company of the Year
• Emerging Cleantech Company of the Year
• Colorado Cleantech Entrepreneur of the Year
• National Cleantech Leader

If you know a company or an entrepreneur that you feel is leading the way for Colorado's cleantech industry, we encourage you to nominate them today. See you at the dinner!

Upcoming Event: Hot Topics in Cleantech Patents and Licensing

Hot Topics in Cleantech Patents and Licensing

When: Sept. 29, 7:30 - 9:30 a.m.

Where: Holland and Hart, 555 17^th Street, Suite 3200, Denver, CO 80202

There is no cost to attend, but space is limited

This Thursday, Holland and Hart and CCIA will be presenting Hot Topics in Cleantech Patents and Licensing, a special event on how small cleantech businesses can protect their intellectual property portfolios with patents and licenses. An often-overlooked area, several problems can surface when companies fail to protect their brands, R & D strategies, patents and even licensing agreements. Some of the consequences can include:

1. Loss of competitive strategy in the market
2. Infringements
3. An intangible true-market value when an opportunity to sell presents

Other topics will include: an overview of new cleantech patent initiatives, accelerating the patent process and benefits in the U.S. and internationally and the practical application of critical licensing fundamentals for your business.

Event presenters will include two partners at Holland and Hart, Tracy Gray, who specialized in a full spectrum of intellectual property and privacy matters, and Greg Osterloth, the firm’s patents practice chair. The expertise of Gray and Osterloth will be invaluable for any cleantech industry business owner as the two provide insight from their experiences.

You can register here for the event. Remember, space is limited so register today.

Cleantech Open Regional Semi-Finalists to Compete for Shot at Nationals Tuesday

Every year some of the most promising clean technology start-up companies compete in Cleantech Open. Cleantech Open 2011 is a business competition is designed to take ambitious start-ups to a level where they can pitch venture capitalists and get their business funded and functioning. The competition began in California in 2006 and expanded to the Colorado and Rocky Mountain region two years ago.

Tuesday, the semi-finalists from the Rocky Mountain Region will compete in a regional mock judging so they can develop a 10-minute pitch geared at venture capitalists. The Rocky Mountain Region Awards Ceremony will be in Denver on Oct. 6. Three regional winners for each category and one sustainability winner will be selected to advance to the National Cleantech Open in San Jose, Calif. in November.

The Colorado Cleantech Industry Association support and sponsors the Cleantech Open because of its track record of helping bring cleantech companies to market faster. CCIA and the CTO share the same vision of fostering education and business connectivity to all the necessary stakeholders throughout the region, expanding Colorado as a cleantech industry hub.

A rich blend of mentoring, business-class training, meetings with industry experts and a strong emphasis on building a successful business model make the competition unique. For participants, the opportunity to gain access to these resources can make all the difference in their business journey.

Knowing how multi-faceted the program is, it’s hard to pin down only one thing that competitors get from it. Richard Franklin, the director for the Rocky Mountain Region, knows how well developed the program is. “I don’t know that you could isolate one single piece. If I had to sum it up, it would be education, and business connectivity to all the necessary stakeholders,” says Franklin of the program’s greatest asset.

Often in any industry where economic success is critical, good ideas can’t make it off the ground. Sometimes it can be a lack of funding, a poor business model or even misguided management practices that prevent a company from evolving. A central goal for Cleantech Open is to foster growth from a dynamic cleantech idea to a successful, functioning business. “All of it together translates to a comprehensive process of education and business modeling that mitigates risks and hopefully accelerates their speed to market,” said Franklin.

Winners can receive prizes valued anywhere from $10,000 to $250,000 in funding and in-kind awards. However, the true prize for Cleantech Open participants is the experience itself. No monetary award can compare to the invaluable mentoring, development and evolution a young company gets from participating.