As Chair of this year’s 2010 Finals, I would like to welcome you to the 6th Annual Ignite Clean Energy Competition here at Babson College.
There are two simple messages I would like to share this year.
The first— We have reunited West Coast and East Coast cleantech competitions this year to create now the oldest and largest cleantech competition. Ignite Clean Energy Competition is now the Northeast regional competition for the national CleanTech Open (www.cleantechopen.com ). The CleanTech Open now has 5 regional competitions that feed regional winners to a national finals held this year out in Northern California in November. Participating regions in addition to the Northeast include Rocky Mountain based out of Denver, North Central based out of Minneapolis, Northwest based out of Seattle, and California anchored in the Bay area. We’re excited to be part of what is a growing organization, and we welcome all interested to participate in any of the other regions and/or spread the word to those you know share our passion for cleantech innovation at the seed stage.
The second message is a simple “thank you.” And that thank you is to all volunteers in ICE over the past 6 years, competitors, mentors, sponsors, and other passionate supporters who have sustained our success through the unprecedented growth of the cleantech sector. From our first year of the competition to 2010, we have seen the New England cleantech ecosystem grow from a small yet unorganized band of passionate visionaries, to a veritable army of well-organized constituents of a new industry sector and connected ecosystem. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, headed by Patrick Cloney, is the latest evolution of our anchor underwiter for Ignite Clean Energy. Across those 6 years they have made ICE possible, organizations like the New England Clean Energy Council was born and under Nick Darbeloff and now Peter Rothstein’s leadership, they have become the nucleus to no less than a dozen other cleantech-related organizations in New England from the Massachusetts Hydrogen Coalition to the Clean Economy Network, from New England’s own cleantech-focused angel investing group, Clean Energy Venture Group to a website dedicated exclusively to cleantech ecosystem events CleanTech Boston.
Is it a fad? A bubble? Unlikely. Sustainable energy solutions are a fundamental part of making the 21st century not our last century of civilization as we know it, but rather a bridge to sustainable centuries of civilization, innovation, and evolution that lie beyond.
