2018 Nomination Period Opens for Third Annual Sacramento Region Innovation Awards

For the third consecutive year, Stoel Rives LLP, Moss Adams LLP and the Sacramento Business Journal will present awards program recognizing business innovations from emerging to established Capital Region entities.

SACRAMENTO, CA - The submission period for the third annual Sacramento Region Innovation Awards, presented by Stoel Rives LLP with support from Moss Adams LLP and the Sacramento Business Journal, opens June 1, 2018. The awards program recognizes recent business innovations in eight categories, honoring the people and organizations that bring new products, services and processes to the regional* economy. Qualifying entries are accepted by online submission through July 20, 2018.

A notable change in this year’s awards is the expansion of the number of categories from six to eight—Government and Civic is newly added and Medical and Health is separated into MedTech and BioPharma categories.

“As home to the state capital, our region offers an ideal testing ground for innovations that streamline government processes and improve public accessibility to civic amenities,” said Chris Russell, Stoel Rives partner and Innovation Awards co-chair. “Adding the Government and Civic category to our program was a natural step, as Sacramento-area leaders embrace new thinking from this evolving sector.”

In reference to the new Medical and Health submission areas, Matt Bethards, a patent attorney with Stoel Rives, suggested that “medical technologies and devices have very different paths to market compared to biotechnologies and pharmaceuticals.” He noted the separate categories will “create more level playing fields for the applicants in each distinct group, considering the rigorous evaluation process used by our expert judges.”

Organizers have highlighted an “Innovation of the Year” honoree as part of the yearly awards ceremony, choosing from candidates nominated by the program selection committee as having a widespread effect on the region. “Innovation of the Year” and winners from 2017 include: 

Innovation of the Year

• UC Davis as “Champion” of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Advanced Manufacturing

• CNC Machining Processes & Educational Platform by Titans of CNC – CNC online educational platform to “engage a new generation of machinists, inventors and builders.”

Food & Agribusiness

• VOC-based Citrus Disease Detection by XTB Laboratories -- Non-invasive, high-throughput, mass spectrometry-based method of detecting disease in citrus crops by testing volatile organic compounds or “odor.”

Hardware & Electronics

• ADS1000 NVMe Storage Network by Apeiron Data Systems, Inc. -- Storage networking platform with enhanced performance and scalability achieved by networking NVMe SSDs – the fastest internal storage drives.

Medical & Health Technologies & Services

• Automated Data Entry Process Technology (ADEPT) by Applied Science, Inc. -- Software platform that automates patient point-of-care processes, including those that require interaction with medical devices, ensuring that every patient record is accurate, complete, consistent and compliant.

Software

• Government Fraud Detection as a Service (FDaaS) by Pondera Solutions – Detection system that “leverages advanced prediction algorithms and the power of cloud computing to combat fraud, waste, and abuse in government programs.”

Sustainability

• Tenkiv Solar Thermal Water Treatment Solutions by Tenkiv, Inc. -- Modular solar thermal system for energy acquisition, distribution, storage, and conversion for use for water purification or desalination.

 
Stoel Rives has celebrated innovative companies and their accomplishments since hosting the first Innovation Awards in Salt Lake City in 2002. Each consecutive year, the law firm has honored groundbreaking advancements from emerging to established businesses. In its commitment to foster the innovation ecosystem across its footprint, Stoel Rives has since expanded its Innovation Awards program to Boise, Idaho (2006) and Sacramento, California (2016). In 2017, the firm partnered with the Puget Sound Business Journal as a presenting sponsor of the publication’s inaugural innovation awards program in Seattle, Washington.
 
In each of the past two years, the SRIA Selection Committee reviewed more than 75 entries, which were judged on novelty, market need, economic impact and disruption. Upon conclusion of the final vote last September, members of the committee addressed the landscape of innovation in the region, applauding the competitiveness of the pool of finalists. The committee will announce 2018 finalists on September 19, with category winners to be revealed during the Awards Luncheon on November 1.
 
*The innovation must be created or a primary portion of the work on the innovation must have been performed by a Sacramento-region entity. Sacramento-region is defined as Butte, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Solano, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.

About Stoel Rives LLP: Stoel Rives is a leading U.S. corporate and litigation law firm. One of the largest national firms focused on energy, natural resources, climate change and the environment, Stoel Rives also serves the agribusiness, food and beverage, health care, life sciences, and technology industries. With more than 350 attorneys operating out of 10 offices in seven states and the District of Columbia, Stoel Rives is a leader in regulatory and compliance matters, and business, labor and employment, intellectual property, land use, and real estate development and construction law. 

About Moss Adams LLP: With more than 2,600 professionals across 20-plus locations in the West and beyond, Moss Adams and its affiliates provide insight and expertise with specialized accounting, consulting, and wealth management services to help organizations and individuals gain traction, manage risk, and seize opportunity.

About the Sacramento Business Journal: The Sacramento Business Journal provides coverage on the latest in Sacramento business news, digitally and in print, and is an industry leader in our region for delivering breaking news to the business community. In addition, the Business Journal hosts a number of events each year to provide content relating to current news in a variety of industries.