SCRA's SC Launch Invests in Charleston, SC-Based Terressentia

CHARLESTON, SC – August 2, 2010 – SCRA, a global leader in applied research and commercialization, announces that its affiliate, SC Launch, presented a $200,000 big check investment today to Terressentia at a Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce board meeting.

Terressentia has created a patented, award-winning manufacturing technology process called TerrePURE® that quickly refines high quality distilled spirits for retailers and private brand owners. This revolutionary process uses energy-driven oxidation and filtration.

Terressentia was founded in 2007 in Charleston, SC, a group led by Earl D. Hewlette, a Columbia, SC native with an MBA and law degree from the University of South Carolina. Hewlette serves as the company’s president. His distinguished career has included more than a decade of practice in law and 25 years of successful leadership of several resort and hospitality businesses. O.Z. Ty Tyler, Terressentia co-founder and its Chief Technology Officer, earned an MBA from Tulane University and a BA in Chemistry from Bowdoin College. He has deep expertise in new product development with major corporations, including DuPont, Hercules and WR Grace, as well as smaller firms, including his own market development and consulting companies. His revolutionary product development introductions include soft drinks in cans, washable wallpaper, outdoor latex paints for wood and indoor/outdoor carpet. He was the co-inventor of the TerrePURE® patent, which is officially entitled the Process for Enhanced Flavoring of Beverages and Product Produced Therefrom. This patent is the basis for Terressentia’s technology. Another of Terressentia’s principals, Edward W. Bailey, is the VP of Operations. Bailey is the co-inventor along with Tyler. He has more than 20 years of experience as a professional architect, and has designed more than 80 commercial and residential projects. He manages the design and construction of the Terressentia plant and its equipment.

We at Terressentia are thankful for the SC Launch recognition and investment in our company, said Hewlette, Terressentia Chief Executive Officer. These funds will expand our sales and marketing efforts, enabling us to achieve more market recognition of the way our patented technology can dramatically improve the purity and flavor of distilled spirits at a very low relative cost.  As we gain more exposure, we hope to continue to increase the number of restaurant, hotel, grocery, and liquor store chains that are adopting our products for their own private label.

Terressentia is already contributing to local knowledge-based economic development with its involvement in a College of Charleston chemistry research project. Chemistry Professor Wendy Cory says that research is being carried out by undergraduate students at the College of Charleston, who are working with a faculty mentor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Students are working with different methods of chemical analysis, including gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and solid phase microextraction (SPME) to find and measure the traces of flavor-producing molecules found in the Terressentia vodka product.  The research allows students to apply what they have learned in the classroom to solving a real-world problem and exposes them to independent laboratory work and a variety of specialized instrumentation.  Students present their findings in written reports as well as poster presentations on campus and at a regional scientific meeting.

Utilizing sophisticated engineering technology, Terressentia’s innovative process enables an acceleration of traditional fermentation and filtering, which produces a very high quality product in real time, said Dave McNamara, SC Launch Executive Director. This company is applying its award-winning chemical engineering processes to support the hospitality industry in South Carolina as well as its national and international clients.

Since the inception of the SC Launch Program four years ago, SC Launch has assisted, helped form and/or land more than 230 knowledge-based entities in South Carolina, providing both funding and services to over 178. The Program has attracted more than $104 million in add-on, private equity investment in South Carolina companies. SCRA operations have made a cumulative economic contribution of more than $13.7B to South Carolina.

About SCRA
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SC Launch, an SCRA program, assists entrepreneurial start-up companies with up-front counseling, seed-funding, and access to a powerful resource network. The SC Launch mission is to help generate knowledge economy jobs in South Carolina, enhance the state’s quality of life and provide opportunity for all South Carolinians in the new economy.