ATI getting energized
Austin Business Journal - by Stacey Higginbotham Austin Business Journal Staff
The Austin Technology Incubator is going clean.
ATI has launched a "clean energy" incubator that will nurture companies seeking to make renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies become viable business operations, including solar power, wind power and fuel cells.
The Clean Energy Incubator has a $150,000 grant from the Texas Energy Conservation Office.
It also is part of the National Alliance of Clean Energy Incubators, established by the National Renewable Energy Lab in Golden, Colo. There are eight incubators in seven states in that alliance, with Austin the first chosen.
According to Lawrence "Marty" Murphy, who manages enterprise development programs at the National Renewable Energy Lab, Austin was the first choice for a clean energy incubator because of ATI's reputation.
"We are seeing a great surge of interest in the financial community in these types of technologies."
Leading Austin's new incubator is former oil tanker executive Richard Amato.
Amato says he will spend the next year searching for public or private grants to keep the energy incubator running and will consider taking equity stakes in the incubator's companies.
Amato expects the earliest a company could enter the incubator would be mid-September. In the three weeks Amato has been at the incubator, he has received a dozen business plans and executive summaries. He is seeking five to 10 companies for the incubator.
Amato reports to Joel Wiggins, director of ATI.
"I chose Richard because he has connections in the industry and he has a technical background with his mechanical engineering degree and an MBA that will help him build a sustainable business model," Wiggins says.
Amato's MBA is from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. His bachlor's degree in mechanical engineering is from Texas A&M University.
Before taking this job, he was vice president of Houston-based American Shuttle Tankers Inc., an oil tanker company, and had opened the U.S. headquarters in Houston for a Norwegian shipping company.
Amato says he's considering allowing a few companies to be "virtual members" of the incubator. They would require only expertise, not office space.
Although Amato says Austin's location "is definitely a challenge" because it's not a hub for energy activity, Central Texas is home to several "green energy" companies.
Gillan Taddune, vice president of the Texas region for Austin-based clean energy provider Green Mountain Energy Co., says: "We think this endeavor is outstanding, and from our perspective this will provide an additional range of opportunities for us with new technologies."
STACEY HIGGINBOTHAM can be reached by email at (shigginbotham@bizjournals.com).
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