THORNPRODUCTS, LLC IN MELBOURNE BEACH, FL AWARDED $80,000 FOR LOW COST WIRELESS TRANSMISSION METHOD

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 22, 2012

THORNPRODUCTS, LLC IN MELBOURNE BEACH, FL AWARDED $80,000 FOR LOW COST WIRELESS TRANSMISSION METHOD

Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov

ATLANTA -- ThornProducts, LLC in Melbourne Beach, Fla. has been awarded $80,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to develop a low cost wireless transmission method for monitoring electricity usage in receptacles and switches, which will allow users to identify efficiency improvements in their electricity usage.  The SBIR program is part of EPA’s Technology Innovation for Environmental and Economic Progress: An EPA Roadmap, which focuses on linking research and development, policy and finance.

EPA’s SBIR program supports small businesses’ development of new technologies addressing key environmental areas. The technological concepts submitted to this year’s competition include drinking water monitoring and treatment, sustainable infrastructures, green building, innovation in manufacturing, greenhouse gas reduction, air pollution monitoring and control and waste monitoring and management.

Nationally, SBIR awarded $2 million in contracts to 25 companies to compose Phase I of this year’s annual competition. The winners will compete for Phase II funding to commercialize their technologies, helping to protect Americans’ health and the environment. To be eligible to participate in the SBIR program, a company must be an organized, for-profit U.S. business and have fewer than 500 employees. Phase I awards may be up to $80,000, and Phase II awards may be up to $300,000.

More information on the winners:  http://www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir/12awards

More information on the Technology Innovation Roadmap:  http://www.epa.gov/envirofinance/innovation.html

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