Global Midwest Alliance
888.808.0462
Driving Innovation and Growth
Press Release
September 10, 2013
Global Green Products LLC Wins 2013 Polsinelli Innovation Competition
Chicago-Area Companies HE System Technologies and Altium Energy, Inc. Named Runners-Up
Global Green Products, LLC markets a series of catalyzed polymer based products that are environmentally friendly, biodegradable, non-hazardous, non-toxic, hypoallergenic and easy to use. These catalyzed polymer products are made from a natural ingredient, L-aspartic acid, using benign processes that are also environmentally safe. GGP also provides technical service capabilities to help customers use the most effective products to optimize their operations. GGP’s patented “end-cap” polymer technology represents second generation products and show outstanding performance and biodegradation properties.
Two Chicagoland companies were runners-up in the Polsinelli Innovation Competition. The first runner-up, HE System Technologies, based in Willowbrook, IL, was represented at the competition by Jim McSweeney. HE System Technologies produces natural gas refueling compressor systems. Through proprietary design and manufacturing techniques, they have developed the most advanced, reliable, safe and cost-effective natural gas refueling system available. The company's system expands the market to smaller fleets while maintaining the ability to scale up to larger applications.
Second runner-up, Altium Energy, Inc., is a brand new start-up formed to commercialize a patented flow battery invented at the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) in Des Plaines, Illinois. Its products represent a breakthrough in cost and energy density for stationary energy storage applications. The company was represented at the competition by Neil Kane.
The Polsinelli Innovation Competition helps emerging and venture-ready clean and green tech companies gain visibility for their technology and make connections with early-stage investors, researchers, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and financiers that are focused on clean technologies, along with corporate R&D and business development executives. Entries are judged by a panel of experts from regional universities, venture capitalists and business executives familiar with clean and green technologies.
Entries in the competition were required to provide solutions to global challenges in such areas as environmental technologies, renewable and alternative energy, infrastructure and community improvements, or green building science. Those solutions must offer competitive returns for investors and customers. Products, services and processes eligible for entry must improve and promote the productive and responsible use of natural resources; reduce or eliminate negative ecological impact; and provide superior performance at lower costs compared to other approaches.
In addition to a cash prize awarded to the top three finalists, winner Global Green Products received a Tech Start-Up Legal Service Package valued at $10,000, which was sponsored by Polsinelli. University Technology Park at IIT offered all five finalists the option to lease lab space in the tech park at a reduced cost (valued up to $8,500).
The Polsinelli Innovation Competition is presented by the Global Midwest Alliance and the Midwest Research University Network and sponsored by the law firm of Polsinelli and University Technology Park at IIT.
About Our Sponsors
Polsinelli
Serving corporations, institutions, entrepreneurs and individuals, our attorneys build enduring relationships by providing legal counsel informed by business insight to help clients achieve their objectives. This commitment to understanding our clients' businesses has helped us become the fastest growing law firm in the U.S. for the past five years, according to the leading legal business and law firm publication, The American Lawyer. Our more than 660 attorneys in 17 cities work with clients nationally to address the challenges of their roles in health care, financial services, real estate, life sciences and technology, energy and business litigation. The firm can be found online at www.polsinelli.com.
Midwest Research University Network
The Midwest Research University Network (MRUN) is a commercialization collaborative focused on fostering the formation and growth of high tech start-ups in the Midwest. MRUN members include individuals engaged in venture formation at universities and research institutions, investors, entrepreneurs and those who help them. All are either in, or interested in, the Midwest. The MRUN community helps members make connections informally to solve common problems in startup business development including, angel and seed–stage financing, placement of management talent and opportunities for collaboration. MRUN is built around the idea that working together regionally in new business formation can accomplish more than working independently locally. For more information: www.mrun.us
Global Midwest Alliance is the only business-led economic development group for the Midwest region. The Alliance facilitates collaboration among key stakeholders to provide access to global business opportunities to the Midwest and realize economic value from existing world-class assets in the Midwest. The Alliance focuses on programs and platforms that help high growth companies develop and expand markets for businesses based in the Midwest, encourage and assist international business activities in the region, and integrate business, financial and scientific resources for successful commercialization of technology in the Midwest. For more information, visit www.globalmidwestalliance.org.
CHICAGO – Global Midwest Alliance today announced that Global Green Products LLC (GGP) is the winner of the 2013 Polsinelli Innovation Competition. GGP develops, manufactures, markets and sells “green” polymer products that are used to keep oil and natural gas wells and shale formations clean of scale and deposits to maximize the production of oil and natural gas. The competition was held on September 10 during the Alliance's annual clean tech industry program, What's in the Future for Clean Tech?, which featured the Polsinelli Innovation Competition Showcase. HE System Technologies of nearby Willowbrook and Altium Energy, Inc., based in Des Plaines, IL, were runners-up in the competition.
“Global Green Products LLC came into this opportunity grateful for a platform to share our technology," said Rick Van Dyken, General Manager, Global Green Products LLC. "We left with an award that will move us forward to success.”
Left to Right: Polsinelli Innovation Competition Runner-Up Neil Kane of Altium Energy; Finalist Gary Klinefelter of Irrigeen; Finalist Robert Pricone of 10X Technology; Winner Rick Van Dyken of Global Green Products; and First Runner-Up Jim McSweeney of HE System Technologies.
