Vision Award Winner Announced by EngenuitySC for Ignite! 2013 Celebration, Bill Mahoney of SCRA

COLUMBIA, SC – November 11, 2013 – EngenuitySC announces that the winner of the Ignite! 2013 Vision Award is Bill Mahoney, Chief Executive Officer of South Carolina Research Authority (SCRA), and a member of the Executive Committees for the Fuel Cell Collaborative and the Coursepower initiative.

“I am honored to receive this recognition,” said Bill Mahoney. “SCRA’s work is critical to improving South Carolina’s knowledge economy, and our internationally recognized SC Launch program has been a driving force in attracting and retaining technology-based companies in the state. I look forward to our state’s continued growth and success in furthering economic development.”

Under Mahoney’s leadership, the Fuel Cell Collaborative has successfully brought numerous projects in hydrogen storage and fuel cell technologies to the Midlands of South Carolina. The Palmetto State has been consistently ranked a “Top 5 Fuel Cell State” by Fuel Cells 2000 due in large part to activities led by SCRA. Under Mahoney’s steady hand, the Fuel Cell Collaborative has attracted to our region multiple companies, entrepreneurs, researchers, and national conferences, resulting in millions of dollars of investment into our economy.

With Mahoney’s support, the Coursepower initiative was born in early 2013 to turn the Midlands and South Carolina into top producers and consumers of digital talent. This initiative brought together four local institutions of higher education – Benedict College, Columbia College, Midlands Technical College, and the University of South Carolina – to develop academic programs that will empower themselves to grow technically adept talent for South Carolina. All four schools have successfully developed these curricula and already have students enrolled in these classes and programs.

Mahoney’s support for these initiatives has made our region and state more prosperous and economically competitive. SCRA’s cumulative economic impact on South Carolina is over $15.3 billion and has deployed $72 million in the state.

Bill Mahoney brings over 35 years of technology management and applied systems innovation and leadership to the role of CEO at SCRA. Under his leadership, SCRA has grown dramatically. Revenues have increased from $74 million to $266 million.

In addition to financial results, Mahoney’s leadership has positioned SCRA as an emerging global leader in targeted applied research and commercialization vertical markets for federal and corporate clients. During his tenure, SCRA Technology Ventures’ SC Launch program was formed, helping grow South Carolina’s knowledge economy. To date, SCRA has deployed over $72 million in funding and infrastructure to support over 280 high-tech, early-stage enterprises, and has directly invested nearly $16 million in South Carolina start-ups, attracting over $250 million in private investment.

Mahoney will receive the Vision Award at Ignite! 2013, to be held at The Zone at Williams-Brice Stadium on Nov. 20, 2013 from 5:15 to 8:30 p.m. Guests will enjoy an evening of engaging speakers; open bar; a networking cocktail hour sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina with heavy hors d’oeuvres by Scott Hall Catering; banquet seating; and a high-energy audience voting session to select the winner of the $5000 Ignite! 2013 Ideas contest, sponsored by Wells Fargo. The Ignite! afterparty, which is free and open to the public, will be held at Social Bar and Lounge in the Vista from 9 to 11 p.m.

EngenuitySC would like to thank the current Ignite! 2013 sponsors:

 

Anchor Sponsors: Wells Fargo Bank, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina

Innovation Sponsor: BB&T

Commercialization Sponsors: Flock and Rally, SCE&G, Scott Hall Catering, The State Newspaper

Talent Magnet Sponsors: Adams and Reese LLP, Midlands Technical College, Nephron Pharmaceuticals Corporation, IT-oLogy, Savannah River National Laboratory, Columbia College

Collaboration Sponsors: Bauknight, Pietras, & Stormer, Ben Arnold Beverage Company, Big Eyed Bird, Celebrations Event Rentals, Chernoff Newman, Columbia Metropolitan Airport, EDENS, Faber Center for Entrepreneurship, First Community Bank, First Citizens Bank, Flextronics, Liquid Assets, Mariner Group, Mashburn Construction, Nelson Mullins, Ogletree Deakins, Palmetto Health, Pendleton Street Advisors, Sagacious Partners, South Carolina Bank and Trust, TD Bank, University of South Carolina Office of Economic Engagement

 

If you are interested in sponsoring Ignite! 2013, please contact Franklin Buchanan at [email protected].

 

Tickets for Ignite! may be purchased online at http://www.engenuitysc.com/ignite/i-want-a-ticket.

 

Stay on top of Ignite! 2013 updates by following the #IgniteCAE hashtag and @EngenuitySC on Twitter or via Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/engenuitysc.

 

Ignite! 2013 Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/198047843704277/

 

The Ignite! 2013 video was made by local production company Dust of the Ground and can be found on EngenuitySC’s YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/engenuitysc.

 

About EngenuitySC

Headquartered in Columbia, S.C., EngenuitySC is a public-private partnership focused on enhancing our region’s economic competitiveness and prosperity. Through collaboration with business, government, higher education and community leaders, EngenuitySC builds partnerships and measures success around five indicators of competitive communities: innovative capacity, talent, entrepreneurial/business environment, livability and strong industry clusters. Through our innovative process, unique vision and ability to create a plan and deliver results, EngenuitySC is working to build a more competitive and prosperous Midlands region. For more information, visit http://www.engenuitysc.com.  

 

About The Fuel Cell Collaborative

The Fuel Cell Collaborative is a five-member collaboration between SCRA, the City of Columbia, the University of South Carolina, Midlands Technical College, and EngenuitySC, launched in 2006 to discover, develop, and deploy the world’s top hydrogen and fuel cell innovations from Columbia, S.C. For more information, visit http://www.fuelcellcollaborative.com.

 

About Coursepower

Coursepower was created to turn South Carolina into a top producer and consumer of digital talent. It prepares students for success in today’s technological world through a new academic track called Applied Computing. The academic track adds a valuable technology underpinning to students’ existing course of study, better preparing them to thrive in today’s global digital marketplace and providing local businesses with the talent that they need. For more information, visit www.coursepower.org.

 

About SCRA

SCRA is an applied research corporation with over 30 years of experience delivering technology solutions with high returns on investment to federal and corporate clients. To fulfill our mission, SCRA has three sectors: Our Technology Ventures sector helps early-stage companies to commercialize innovations and create jobs, our Applied R&D sector manages over 100 national and international programs worth over $2 billion in contract value and our R&D Facilities sector builds and manages research facilities that include wet labs, secure rooms for sensitive work and advanced high-tech manufacturing shops. Multiple economic impact studies show SCRA’s cumulative output on South Carolina’s economy to be over $15.3 billion. For more information, visit http://www.scra.org/