U.S. launches energy challenge

Mar 30 - Donna Goodison, Boston Herald

The U.S. Department of Energy announced the "America's Next Top Energy Innovator" challenge to make it easier for start-ups to license the 15,000 patents and patent applications held by the agency's national labs.

Speaking in Cambridge yesterday, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the agency will reduce the cost and paperwork to license technologies developed by the 17 labs, only 10 percent of which have been commercialized to date.

"It's a good deal," Chu said at the Startup America Partnership's roundtable on reducing governmental barriers for entrepreneurs.

Chu urged those in attendance to take advantage of the pilot program, the goal of which is to double the number of start-up companies across the country. Entrepreneurs are the "engines" of job growth and creation, and "we need you more than ever," he said.

The upfront cost of licensing DOE patents will be reduced to $1,000 for up to three patents, a savings of $10,000 to $50,000. The DOE plans to cut in half the time it takes to negotiate a license with new standard terms for start-ups. The program launches May 2, and entrepreneurs have untilto submit a business plan.

"It takes away the large cash deposit you would have to make at a lab to get things going," Chu said.

Entrepreneurs who demonstrate progress toward commercializing the technologies will have the chance to showcase their work for clean energy investors at the 2012 ARPA-Energy Innovation Summit.

Government can play a catalyzing role in emerging industries such as clean technology, but the worry is the effort will become "empty rhetoric," said Michael Greeley of Boston's Flybridge Capital Partners.

"These programs, if done properly, can really get a lot of entrepreneurs off the ground," he said. "They should make it easier, faster and cheaper to get started."

Another hurdle for business owners is local regulations.

Getting certified to do business with the city has been one of the biggest business hindrances for Roxbury Technology, a Hyde Park re-manufacturer of toner and ink cartridges. CEO Beth Williams, who was at the roundtable yesterday, increased revenue from $4 million to $16 million between 2003 and 2009.

"However, I have not been able to sell one cartridge to the state, to the federal or the city government," said Williams, who called for reciprocal certification across U.S. cities. "You almost need a staff to understand government policies and regulations."

dgoodison@bostonherald.com

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