Muskegon, Mich. — A start-up company working on the development and commercialization of portable power products technologies is the newest tenant in Grand Valley State University's Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC).
The company, Energy Partners, LLC, has signed an agreement with
Grand Valley for use of lab and office space at the MAREC incubator
facility. Energy Partners moved to MAREC this month and will lease
office and laboratory space totaling 1,000 square feet. The company
works closely with Grand Rapids-based Coffman Electrical Equipment in
an effort to expand product offerings in energy storage and management
systems.
Energy Partners founder, James Wolter, is a recently retired
physicist and professor of business and new product market development
at Grand Valley. He has worked on development of alternative energy
products for a number of years. The company will start with one
employee with plans to grow in the future. The first employee of
Energy Partners will be George Jaeger, a Hope College trained
biologist who brings an “organic” dimension relevant to the
development of bio-based fuels and energy as a complement to the
“inorganic” focus by Wolter on battery and power systems.
“As the technology that will be developed by Energy Partners and
its collaborators is successfully commercialized, many direct and
indirect jobs will be added to the West Michigan economy," said
Arnold (Arn) Boezaart, executive director of the MAREC facility.
Wolter added, "Locating Energy Partners at MAREC represents
a perfect match based on the company’s focus and current needs and
MAREC’s role in advancing new technology and business
development."
Energy Partners, LLC, is the third incubator tenant at MAREC and
joins Logical Lighting, Co. who moved in last October; and Smart
Vision Light who has been with MAREC for two years. With the addition
of Energy Partners, MAREC’s incubator laboratory space is now
two-thirds full.
About the Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center
Grand Valley’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center
in Muskegon is a business incubator offering office and laboratory
space to start-up technology companies in the alternative and
renewable energy fields. MAREC is a distributed generation energy
center which produces energy to heat, cool, light, and power the
facility. The center is equipped with a fuel cell that converts
natural gas into electricity, photovoltaic roof array to capture the
sun's energy, a small demonstration wind turbine, a microturbine and
nickel metal hydride battery system to store excess energy. MAREC is
one of 11 SmartZones created by the Michigan Economic Development
Corp. in 2001 as part of an effort to promote and attract
high-technology business development in the state. The facility opened
in 2003 and is certified LEED Gold by the U.S. Green Building Council.
MAREC's mission is to be an economic development catalyst — a business
accelerator as well as research and development center. MAREC links
business, education and government resources with an emphasis is on
the development, commercialization and advancement of emerging
technology, with particular focus on alternative and renewable
energy. For more information visit www.gvsu.edu/marec.
