Statewide Alternative Energy Technology Support Network Brings Industry Players Together

As Featured in the Vol. 6 No. 5 Fall/Winter 2008

NextEnergy, an alternative energy business accelerator and research catalyst, received 21st Century Jobs Fund awards of over $2.9 million in 2007 for the formation of the Network, which aims to enable the commercialization of alternative energy technology while positioning Michigan as a leader in the industry. Program Manager Pamela Hurtt said the Network accomplishes its goals in three ways. First, it supports commercialization by offering technology validation to developers. Second, the Network collaborates with the university community through an extensive online database, a “one-stop shop” identifying all of Michigan’s alternative energy assets. University partners are listed along with research underway, intellectual properties available for commercialization, and facilities and capabilities available through the universities. Third, the Network offers numerous programs targeted at supplier diversification. For example, a Michigan-based manufacturer may have the technical capability to transition from the automotive realm into production of wind turbines. The Statewide Alternative Energy Technology Support Network can help to facilitate that kind of transition.

“In the State of Michigan, we have all these great assets in terms of manufacturing capability. No one can make things better than we can, probably in the world,” said Hurtt. “What we’ve been doing is educating the supplier community in the state on the opportunities that exist in the alternative energy industry.” One way the Network achieves this is through matchmaking sessions that bring alternative energy developers together with Michigan manufacturers. “We’re understanding their requirements and introducing them to suppliers that can meet those requirements, and helping to meet those Michigan suppliers to generate business,” said Hurtt. “It’s building a community of people, from universities, academia, to industry people, entrepreneurs, emerging companies that are coming together around this topic.”

The Network offers its services, including entrepreneurial educational seminars, for free or at minimal cost. It works with collaborators such as Shepherd Advisors, Automation Alley, The Right Place, Inc., TechTown, Michigan’s SmartZones, VC firms such as Nth Power, and public and private universities to offer business owners and technology developers a wide-reaching network of resources. “It’s a very promising economic development opportunity,” said Hurtt. “If you think about the assets that we have here in terms of manufacturing capability, in terms of the natural resources that we have that lend themselves to the alternative energy industry, it really sets the foundation for an industry that can really develop here. It’s an exciting place to sit.”