MEDIA RELEASE

The APEC Hawaii Host Committee, in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii, Kauai County, the City and County of Honolulu, Maui County and Hawaii County, is pleased to announce the selection of the 2011 Hawaii Business Innovation Showcase awardees.

Those selected are: Skai Ventures (statewide), Big Island Carbon, LLC (Hawaii County), Sopogy (City and County of Honolulu), TREX Enterprises Corporation (Kauai County) and HNU-Energy (Maui County).

The Honolulu selection – Sopogy – also has Big Island ties. Founder Darren Kimura is a Hilo native and the company has a facility at NELHA in Kona.

“The Hawaii Business Innovation Showcase highlights the achievements of Hawaii’s business communities and the high caliber of innovation taking place in the state,” said Peter Ho, APEC 2011 Hawaii Host Committee Chairman. “The showcase introduces these businesses to a unique and influential audience while positioning Hawaii as an attractive place for business and investment.”

The awardees, selected from each of the four counties and one overall statewide winner, will receive recognition at various APEC 2011 Hawaii programs during Leaders’ Week.

Each company will be highlighted within displays at the Hawaii Convention Center, Ala Moana Center and the NCAPEC CEO Summit at the Royal Hawaiian hotel, as well as receive feature profiles in APEC Hawaii TV in-room hotel channel, APEC 2011 Hawaii virtual online exhibit, and the special edition Hawaii Business magazine that will be distributed to APEC delegates.

“We are very pleased to have been selected to represent Hawaii County with this Best in Business Innovation Award,” said Big Island Carbon CEO Rick Vidgen. “Big Island Carbon now has the opportunity to meet and interact with the member economies and possibly even potential new customers at the APEC conference in November, particularly since our main market will be in the APEC-member zone.”

Big Island Carbon is integrating biomass material (macadamia nut shell) from Big Island macadamia processors together with cutting-edge new technology developed for activated carbon production. Activated carbon is a critical component that improves the performance of products from cell phones to green energy applications in hybrid and electric cars and wind turbines.

This is being achieved through improvements in electrode materials for ultracapacitors that have a rapidly increasing market, as well as a component in fuel storage devices.

Big Island Carbon has a range of high end adsorbant qualities which allow it to clean up gas and liquid phase materials, ranging from municipal water (where a very high purity is required) to air for “clean rooms” and other similar uses.

Other diverse uses include gold refining, catalyst support for the pharmaceutical industry and even directly as catalysts. Activated Carbon also finds extensive use in cleaning up some aspects of nuclear accidents.

Furthermore, the nature of Big Island Carbon’s biomass and process make their product sustainable. Their process is a genuine green technology as they will produce virtually all their power from the process itself resulting in a clean footprint.

The awardees were selected from across the state:

* Statewide Awardee: Skai Ventures
Founder and CEO – Hank C. K. Wuh, M.D., M.P.H.
Skai Ventures is a venture accelerator focused on inventing, acquiring and commercializing disruptive technologies in the security, bio-medical and healthcare markets.

* County of Hawaii: Big Island Carbon, LLC
CEO – Rick Vidgen
Big Island Carbon is manufacturing a premium specialty Granular Activated Carbon in Kawaihae on land leased from the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands by integrating biomass material (macadamia nut shells) from Hawaii’s Big Island macadamia processors together with cutting-edge new technology.

City and County of Honolulu: Sopogy
President and CEO – Darren Kimura
Sopogy is a developer of patented micro-concentrated solar power (MicroCSP) technologies, which uses mirrors and optics to intensify the heat energy from the sun, creating thermal energy.

County of Kauai: TREX Enterprises Corp
Chairman and CEO – Kenneth Y. Tang, Ph.D.
TREX Enterprises has developed Trex Chemical Vapor Composite Silicon Carbide, or Trex CVC SiC, used to manufacture optical and structural components.

County of Maui: HNU-Energy
President – Michael Reiley, Ph.D.; CEO – Dan O’Connell
HNU Energy, a Maui-based complete energy solution provider and engineering firm, offers renewable energy generation, energy storage and high-efficiency lighting products for all types of residential and commercial customers.

The five awardees were selected from 35 finalists, by a statewide judging panel consisting of community and business leaders, who have made innovative contributions to Hawaii’s community.

Members of the panel included Robin Campaniano, general partner, Ulupono Initiative; Ann Chung, director of Economic Development, City and County of Honolulu; George Costa, director, Kauai County Office of Economic Development; Randy Kurohara, director, Hawaii County Department of Research and Development; Richard Lim, director, Hawaii State Department of Business Economic Development & Tourism; Virginia Pressler, executive vice president and chief strategic officer, Hawaii Pacific Health, chair, Board for the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii; and Teena Rasmussen, coordinator, Maui County Office of Economic Development.

Announced in May, the Showcase recognizes leading edge innovation and achievement in Hawaii’s business community, reinforcing Hawaii as a place of strong economic opportunities and engaging the Hawaii business community in APEC 2011 Hawaii.

The criteria required of businesses and business-related projects included being attractive to markets outside Hawaii, including the APEC member Economies; having developed unique, leading and cutting-edge innovations in product development, technology, marketing or delivery; having positively impacted Hawaii’s business environment, having growth and investment potential; and having adopted environmentally sound programs and practices.

The APEC 2011 Leaders’ Week will take place in Honolulu on Nov. 7-13 with the Leaders’ Meeting on Nov. 12-13, and is the culmination of a series of events held throughout the year in the United States.

— Find out more:
www.apec2011hawaii.com
www.BigIslandCarbon.com