NEW YORK (March 19, 2020) Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced $2.3 million in funding for 23 contracts with small businesses through its Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to develop technologies that will help protect human health and the environment. This year’s funded technologies are focused on clean and safe water, air quality monitoring, land revitalization, homeland security, sustainable materials management, and safer chemicals. Included in the funding announced would be up to $100,000 grants each to RemWell LLC in Potsdam, NY for their project to remediate PFAS contaminated groundwater and to Capro-X Inc. in Ithaca, NY for its project to reduce food waste in yogurt production. 

“EPA’s funding supports the economy and the environment by fostering and encouraging small businesses to bring environmental technologies to market,” said EPA Regional Administrator Pete Lopez. “With EPA funding, these entrepreneurs will be able to develop their ideas like addressing PFAS and reducing food waste.”

RemWell LLC plans to design a remediation technology using sonolysis for PFAS contaminated groundwater and Capro-X Inc. plans to develop a fermentation process to upgrade processing waste streams from yogurt production into biochemicals. These small businesses are receiving Phase I funding of up to $100,000 from EPA’s SBIR program, which awards contracts annually through a two-phase competition. After receiving a Phase I award, companies are eligible to compete for a Phase II award of up to $400,000 to further develop and commercialize the technology.

EPA is one of 11 federal agencies that participate in the SBIR program, enacted in 1982 to strengthen the role of small businesses in federal research and development, create jobs, and promote U.S. technical innovation. To be eligible, a company must be an organized, for-profit U.S. business and have fewer than 500 employees.

For more information on EPA’s SBIR Phase I recipients, visit www.epa.gov/sbir.

Learn more about the Federal SBIR Program at www.SBIR.gov.

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