CCIA announces CO Cleantech Awards finalists

The Colorado Cleantech Industry Association (CCIA) has released names of the finalists for its inaugural "Colorado Cleantech Awards Celebration" recognition event, honoring leadership in advancing cleantech.  "Winners will be announced Tuesday, October 19, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Denver Marriott City Center, at our now officially sold-out event,"  Christine Shapard, Executive Director of the CCIA announces, "We're extremely pleased to share the twenty finalists who emerged from our recent statewide call for nominations."

 CCIA  - Leadership in Advancing Cleantech Awards - Finalists Include: 

High-Impact Cleantech Company of the Year
Abound Solar (Loveland, CO) - http://www.abound.com/
Advanced Energy Industries, Solaron Business (Fort Collins, CO) - http://www.advanced-energy.com/
CoorsTek (Golden, CO) - http://www.coorstek.com/
Infinite Power Solutions, Inc. (Littleton, CO) - http://www.infinitepowersolutions.com/
Tendril (Boulder, CO) - http://www.tendrilinc.com/

Breakout Cleantech Company of the Year
Ice Energy (Windsor, CO) - http://www.ice-energy.com/
OPX Biotechnologies, Inc. (Boulder, CO) - http://www.opxbiotechnologies.com/
ZeaChem, Inc. (Lakewood, CO) - http://www.zeachem.com/

Emerging Cleantech Company of the Year
Green Garage (Boulder, CO) - http://www.greengarage.com/
RavenBrick LLC (Denver, CO) - http://www.ravenbrick.com/
VanDyne Super Turbo (Fort Collins, CO) - http://www.vandynesuperturbo.com/

Colorado Cleantech Entrepreneur of the Year
Raymond R. Johnson, Infinite Power Solutions, Inc. (Littleton, CO) -    
http://www.infinitepowersolutions.com/
Doug Schatz, Advanced Energy Industries (Fort Collins, CO) -  
http://www.advanced-energy.com/en/Officers_Board.html
Adrian Tuck, Tendril (Boulder, CO) - 
http://www.tendrilinc.com/about/management-team

National Cleantech Leadership
Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory - http://www.coloradocollaboratory.org/
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (Golden, CO) - http://www.nrel.gov/
Rocky Mountain Institute (Snowmass, CO) - http://www.rmi.org/ 

Governor's Award for Excellence in Cleantech Leadership
Ron Bernal, NEA (Boulder, CO) - http://www.nea.com/Team/Default.aspx?id=27
Richard Franklin, Clean Tech Open (Denver, CO) - http://www.linkedin.com/in/dickfranklin
Paul Nelson, Saoradh Energy (Boulder CO) - http://www.saoradh.com/

Further, according to Shapard,  "We have simply been overwhelmed by the response for advance reservations to the event. We thank the Colorado Cleantech Industry and business community at large for welcoming our new cleantech awards event with such gusto."

Ira Ehrenpreis, noted venture capitalist and cleantech industry expert is the keynote speaker for the event.  Widely regarded as one of the most experienced cleantech investors, Mr. Ehrenpreis will deliver a keynote address covering "The State of the Cleantech Industry."  As one of the pioneers in the cleantech sector, he'll share how the sector has evolved over the past decade and review the drivers behind cleantech's emergence as the fastest growing area of the venture asset class.  Mr. Ehrenpreis will also review the challenges the industry faces and those issues notwithstanding, why he believes cleantech will continue to be a good bet in the years and decades to come.

About Ira Ehrenpreis
Mr. Ehrenpreis has been with Palo Alto-based Technology Partners since 1996, leading the firm's Cleantech investment practice with investments in Energy Technology, Water Technology, and Advanced Materials opportunities. He is an investor in Colorado's Abound Solar, as well as in Tesla Motors. He is a recognized leader in both the venture capital industry and the Cleantech sector, and in 2007, was named one of the "Top 50 Most Influential Men Under 45"by Details Magazine.

In the venture community, Mr. Ehrenpreis serves on the Board of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and on the Board of the Western Association of Venture Capitalists (WAVC). He is also the Co-Chairman of both the VCNetwork and the YVCA, two non-profit organizations comprising more than 1,000 venture capitalists.

In the Cleantech sector, Mr. Ehrenpreis has served on several industry Boards, including the Clean-Tech Investor Summit (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 Conference Chairman), Cleantech Venture Network (Past Chairman of Advisory Board), ACORE (American Council on Renewable Energy), Energy Investors Forum (Past Conference Chairman), Energy Venture Fair, and California Climate Change Advisory Board.  He has also served on the Advisory Boards of the Southern California Tech Coast Alliance, Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), and the Comerica Venture Capital Advisory Board. Ira is also an active leader at Stanford University, where his contributions have included helping to teach the course on Venture Capital and serving on the Board of Visitors of Stanford Law School. He is a Contributor to Nimmer on Copyright, the leading copyright treatise.

Mr. Ehrenpreis received his JD/MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business and Stanford Law School, where he was an Associate Editor of Stanford Law Review. He holds a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, graduating Phi Beta Kappa and Summa Cum Laude.