For
over 36 years, AeA has worked diligently to
connect the technology industry with
opportunities to access capital and
visibility with key investors and industry
analysts. No other technology association
has committed more resources or provided
more consistent opportunities to connect
industry with capital, a crucial component
in driving growth, innovation, and job
creation in our industry. In addition to
hosting the AeA
Classic Financial Conference, AeA
Micro Cap Conference, and
various private AeA
Venture Forums throughout the
country, we are eager to support additional
efforts to attract interest and financing
opportunities for our industry.
In our
ongoing efforts to support growth in the
high-tech space, AeA's Midwest Council is
proud to be an organizing partner for the
2008 Midwest Venture Summit on May 17-18 in
Chicago, IL. This expanded 2 day Midwest
Venture Summit (MVS) is the region's
premier gathering of VCs, entrepreneurs,
business leaders and angel investors. The
2008 MVS will provide more networking and
deal opportunities than ever before, with
attendees from all over the "Greater
Midwest," including: IA, IL, IN, KY,
MI, MN,MO, NB, ND, OH, Western PA, SD and
WI. Information on exclusive sponsorship
opportunities and conference details can be
found by visiting: www.aeanet.org/AeACouncils/mwms_2008MVSsponsordetail1207.asp.
Even though
Venture capital investments in the United
States were up in the first three quarters
of 2007, when compared to 2006, national
venture capital investments declined
slightly in Q2 and Q3 from Q1
in 2007, according to the
PricewaterhouseCoopers MoneyTree survey.
Third quarter 2007 data is the most recent
available. These slight declines at the
national level contrast with the venture
capital investments in the Midwest, which
increased during the first three quarters
of 2007, from $308 million in Q1 to $343
million in Q3 of 2007. On a sector
analysis, software was the leading
recipient of venture capital investment
nationwide in the 3rd quarter of 2007.
We
appreciate your ongoing support and wish
you all a happy holiday season. Thank you.
Nanophase Technologies Corporation
is a leading nanomaterials
innovator and commercial
manufacturer of unique
nanomaterial products.Our customers employ
these nanomaterial products to
significantly improve the
performance their products –
such as scratch resistance, UV
resistance, mechanical strength,
and polishing finish.Nanophase serves diverse
markets as the following list
illustrates: personal care,
sunscreens, coatings and plastic
additives, architectural paints,
textiles, printed electronics,
and semiconductor (CMP) and
optical polishing.
Our
business model is based on
strategic market partners and
direct customer sales.Our market partners are
typically global companies which
occupy a market channel, such as
BASF (personal care and
sunscreens), Rohm and Haas (CMP
polishing), and BYK (coating and
polymer additives).Nanomaterials are new to
the market place and Nanophase
constantly explores new
applications and works
collaboratively with customers
to reduce the cycle time for new
product innovation.The Company markets its
products to target industries
and customers, including
multinational corporations and
Fortune 500 companies, in the
U.S.
, Europe and
Asia
.
Nanophase
uses patented and proprietary
integrated nanotechnologies to
create products with unique
performance attributes.Nanomaterials typically
provide multiple benefits in
application.For example, nanosized
zinc oxide provides transparent,
UV protection, as well as other
application specific advantages
in markets from cosmetics to
paint additives.The Company has complete
capability from application
development through pilot
quantities to commercial
production in metric tons.As of November 1, 2007,
the Company owns or licenses 19
U.S.
patents and patent applications
and 48 foreign patents and
patent applications.
Nanophase
created an integrated platform
of nanomaterial technologies
which deliver nanomaterial
solutions for targeted market
applications.Nanophase’s
technologies consist of two
nanoparticle manufacturing
processes, nanoparticle surface
treatment technologies, and
dispersion technologies.Our nanoparticles are
unique – they are
nanocrystalline metal oxides,
typically 5-100 nanometers in
diameter, and are dispersible as
discrete nanoparticles.Nanophase applies surface
treatment to the nanoparticle to
manipulate electrical,
mechanical, optical and other
application properties.Products are available as
nanoparticles and
surface-treated nanoparticles,
but the greatest demand for our
products is in dispersed format.Our nanoparticle
dispersions are stable in
aqueous or organic media, and
formulated to provide
Nanophase’s market partners
and customers with a
nanomaterial product in a
readily usable format.
Nanophase
has extensive R&D facilities
and application laboratories, as
well as manufacturing capacity
based in two
Chicago
area locations.Nanophase’s
state-of-the-art facilities are
certified to ISO 9001:2000, the
internationally recognized
standard of manufacturing and
quality excellence,
ISO14001:2004, the international
environmental standard and are
cGMP compliant.All processes are
practiced under Lean Six-Sigma
discipline with the capability
to manufacture precisely to
application requirements.Nanophase employs a
cellular, team-based
manufacturing approach to
continuously advance production
capabilities.We have 100% shipping
performance to customer
requirements and 99+% customer
satisfaction rating.
It is my honor to join you as President
and CEO of AeA. I’ve had the sincere
pleasure of meeting several of you at the
last Board meeting in San Jose where my CEO
confirmation occurred. I am now
speaking with the
Board members and staff to listen and
learn. I am also planning my first
trip to California and will continue to
set-up face-to-face meetings with members
and staff. I want to
learn more about your companies and hear
thoughts regarding the benefits of
AeA membership and
what you think we can do to improve the
benefits.
I also want to understand what kinds of
engagement provide the most value for you.
By way of introduction, I will share my
biographical information (read
below). By many ways, I feel that
coming to AeA allows me to fully connect
the various aspects of my career. I
spent 26 years of my career in the
aerospace industry. That time was
divided between Boeing and General Dynamics
where I became familiar with the
technologies that a number of AeA companies
provide the aerospace industry. I have
directed large organizations since 1983 and
have focused particularly on Government
Relations and Management of distributed
operations with strong regional and state
components. I understand and value
how effective such organizations can be.
For AeA to be fully effective, we need to
leverage all of our parts: state,
federal, international, and fully engage
our membership so that our grassroots and
grasstops (you) have the voice and the
influence you deserve.
Beyond my personal interests and
professional experiences with technology, I
have been impressed with AeA’s work on
competitiveness and agree with our
continued message that even if the U.S.
were doing everything right (which we are
not) other countries are catching up by
copying from our playbook from years past.
We must act today to guarantee our future
economic competitiveness tomorrow.
During my aerospace career, I particularly
enjoyed working closely with engineers.
I have always appreciated their talent and
pragmatism. Their ability to create,
invent, and manage programs that have huge
value to our society has always inspired
me. Government needs to renew our focus on and investment
in science, math, and engineering education today.
They also need to
entice the best and brightest to come into
the U.S. through high-skilled visas;
and
provide a permanent R&D Tax Credit.
If we don't do this other countries who are
more focused will have a major advantage in
the world marketplace. We will need
to continue to be aggressive in this area.
As I work with Bill Archey (bio)
and AeA staff, I have heard many anecdotes
of what great things we have been able to
offer to our members. In the few
weeks that I’ve been on the job I’ve
witnessed the publishing of a new
AeA paper on the benefits of Telemedicine,
received confirmation that Steve Ballmer
will deliver the keynote at our annual
Technology for
Government Dinner in June, and I have
also learned of many of our significant
state legislative successes.
I have every intention of building upon
our current regional and state investment
so we can continue to expand our presence
and influence. I will be traveling to
each council in the coming months. I
look forward to meeting as many of you as I
can during these trips. If you’d like
to reach me to introduce yourself before
then, please contact my executive assistant
Denise Robanos.
AeA Efforts Contribute to 285-132
Vote by House Approving Peru Free
Trade Agreement
For
the past two years AeA has been actively
lobbying Congress along with a broad
coalition of business groups to approve the
pending free trade agreements with
Peru,
Panama,
Colombia, and
Korea. On
November 8, 2007 the
House finally approved
the Peru FTA with a strong bipartisan vote
that included 109 Democrats voting in
support of the trade deal. Key to
this successful vote was an agreement
worked out between the Administration and
House leadership last May on adding labor
and environment provisions to the
agreements.
AeA helped build support in the House by
organizing meetings with over 50 offices
during the past year to explain the
benefits of the agreements for the
high-tech industry. The reports
developed by the AeA research team on
high-tech trade with Peru, Panama, Colombia
and Korea provided persuasive data in
support of the agreements. In
addition, Rob Mulligan, AeA Senior Vice
President International, spoke about the
benefits of the FTAs for high tech to
Senate and House staff in two separate
briefings organized by the high-tech
industry.
Despite this strong show of bipartisan
support for the Peru FTA, it may still be
very difficult to get the remaining
agreements with Colombia, Korea and Panama
approved by Congress next year. Most
of the Democratic presidential contenders
have indicated their opposition to these
agreements and the Unions are expected to
aggressively lobby against at least the
Colombia and Korea FTAs. In this
environment, it may be especially difficult
to get the Democratic leadership in the
Senate and House to vote on the trade
agreements. The Administration is
working very hard to build support for the
Colombia FTA and AeA will continue to work
with other business groups to press for
action on the agreements that would open
new opportunities for our members.
For more
information on the trade agreements please contact
Rob Mulligan, Senior Vice President
International,
at 202.682.4452.
Rob Mulligan (bio)
Senior Vice President International
For more information on the International Issues affecting your company, visit:
Adan’s video
wowed the judges by effectively linking the
importance of federally funded research to
innovations such as the MRI and GPS that
have revolutionized our society. You
may watch the video as well as find links
to the four additional runner-up videos
below.
The task
force launched the competition in August as
part of a Congressional lobbying campaign
to keep the U.S. globally competitive by
reinvesting in science, math, and
engineering research and education.
The winning
video and the first runner-up from Delaware
State University were shown during a
Capitol Hill briefing entitled "Sputnik in
the YouTube Age" on November 8. The
program was co-hosted by the Congressional
Research & Development (R&D) Caucus and
also featured two prominent former
astronauts – Dr. Mae Jemison, the first
African-American woman to travel into
space, and Dr. Kathryn Sullivan, the first
American woman to perform a space walk
–
discussing the importance of government
funding of R&D.
Participants
throughout the country submitted entries on
YouTube for the contest, which required
them to show how federally funded research
has led to innovations that have changed
our lives.
Rep. Rush
Holt (D-NJ) and Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL),
the co-chairs of the R&D Caucus, also spoke
at the event which focused on asking
Congress to reignite the investment spark
of 50 years ago, when the Soviet Union
launched Sputnik, to today's threat of
increased global competition.
Rep. Judy
Biggert (R-IL) and Rep. Rush Holt
(D-NJ), Co-Chairs of the
Congressional R&D Caucus, Speak with
Students (L-R)
Winning
students from Lewis & Clark College
and the University of Delaware with
former NASA astronauts Mae Jemison
and Kathryn Sullivan
John
Palafoutas (bio) Senior Vice President for Domestic
Policy & Congressional Affairs
Winner from Lewis & Clark College in
Portland, OR:
Attend AeA's State Government
Affairs Conference; Updates to
Taxing Tech in MD and Online Safety
in NJ
Join
Chris Hansen, AeA's new President & CEO, to
plan the future of AeA's State Government
Affairs program on January 23-24 in San
Francisco. Members will also
discuss the latest legislative developments
in the states and set AeA's priorities on
broadband, e-commerce, RFID, and other hot
issues.
The meeting will be held at the Le Meridian
Hotel in San Francisco, CA. Register
today at
www.aeanet.org/SGA08 or by contacting
Israel Shamir at 202.682.4455.
For examples of
information to be discussed at this
meeting, please review these recent
activities of the state program in Maryland and
New Jersey:
Maryland's Taxing
Technology
Before the Maryland State Assembly
adjourned its special session on November
19, lawmakers included a new 6%
sales tax on computer services in its
budget measure.
AeA staffers made several trips to Annapolis
in order to fight this
measure and to testify before the House Ways
and Means Committee in opposition to this
provision. After lawmakers indicated
that this controversial new tax would not
be included in the final bill, the
estimated $200 million per year in revenue
expected to be raised in by taxing
computer services was too tempting to
overcome. The revenue-raising
provision was included in the final
legislation with an agreement to revisit
the measure in five years to assess the
tax's effects.
Computer services
subject to the new tax include programming
services, computer system planning, and
hardware and software installation and
maintenance. For more information on
this issue
read AeA's letter to House Ways and Means
Committee Chairwoman Sheila E. Hixson
urging the legislation to exclude the new
tax or contact Marie Lee, Director/Counsel,
Finance Tax Policy, at 202.682.4445.
AeA Testifies in New
Jersey ID Theft & Internet Dating Safety
Hearings
Also on November 19, Linda Klose,
AeA's Executive Director of the
New
Jersey-Pennsylvania Council, was in Trenton
to testify in opposition to the identity
theft (A. 4413) and Internet dating safety (S. 1977)
bills being heard.
The identity theft bill would have
held businesses
strictly liable to financial institutions for
any security breach they report, even when
the security breach is not their fault. AeA
opposes such regulations because retailers’
obligations to pay damages to a bank are
already effectively governed by contracts
between retailers and acquiring banks.
The Internet dating safety bill law would
require Internet dating services to notify
customers whether criminal background
screenings have been performed as well as
detail other safety measures. However, AeA
believes that criminal background checks
provide users of online dating with a false
sense of security and are unreliable
because of fraud and problems getting
information from states with different laws.
Benjamin
Aderson
(bio)
Manager/Counsel, State Government Affairs
Microsoft Corporation
CEO to Deliver Keynote
at
AeA Technology for
Government Dinner
AeA is excited to announce that Steve
Ballmer, Chief Executive Officer, Microsoft Corporation, will deliver the
keynote address at the 2008 AeA Technology for Government Dinner.
The annual dinner is the premier Washington, DC networking event bringing
hundreds of industry, congressional, and government leaders together at
one venue.
Mr. Ballmer is Chief Executive Officer of
Microsoft Corporation, the world's leading manufacturer of software
for personal and business computing. During the past 20 years, Mr.
Ballmer has headed several Microsoft divisions, including operations,
operating systems development, and sales and support. In July 1998,
he was promoted to President, a role that gave him day-to-day
responsibility for running Microsoft. He was named CEO in January
2000. Together with Bill Gates and the company’s other business and
technical leaders, Ballmer is focused on continuing Microsoft’s innovation
and leadership across the company’s seven businesses. Microsoft’s
goal is to provide an integrated platform to enable a seamless experience
across a wide range of computing and non-PC devices and services.
More than 600 people attended the 2007 AeA
Technology for Government Dinner including Chief Information Officers and
procurement officials from several federal agencies, Members of Congress
and their staff, CEOs and senior executives representing high-tech
companies, and officials from the Administration.
This year, the dinner will be held on
Tuesday, June 3, 2008, in the Independence Ballroom at the Grand Hyatt in
Washington, DC. For more information about the annual AeA Technology
for Government Dinner, please visit
www.aeanet.org/t4g2008 or
contact Goldy Kamali at
202.682.4432.
Early
Applications Now Being
Accepted for 2008 AeA/Stanford
Executive Institute - Apply
by January 7th and Save
$1500
Join high-tech executives from
around the world at the
2008 AeA/Stanford
Executive Institute, being
held on August 10-21.
During eleven intensive and
invigorating days on the Stanford
University campus, attendees
advance their business and
leadership perspectives, explore
operational best practices, and
address critical technology
industry challenges with
colleagues and top professors in
high-tech management.
With an accelerated
MBA-style format, renowned
business and engineering faculty,
and a technology industry focus,
the Institute has assisted over
3,500 executives address the
pressures of fierce global
competition and rapid innovation
since 1975.
Apply online by January 7,
2008 and receive $1,500 off
tuition. In addition, companies
that send three or more executives
receive a team discount of 5% per
attendee. To hold your company
spots or request more information,
visit
www.aeanet.org/stanford.
If
your company would like to expand its
visibility with other AeA members,
enroll today in the AeA Member to
Member Discount Program.
Visit
www.aeanet.org/MtoM for complete
details and an application and don't
forget when you are shopping for
technology products and services to
check the directory for potential
savings from fellow AeA members!
U.S. Headquarters -
Dallas, TX
ES OnDemand will
provide any active
AeA member with a
20% discount from
standard pricing of
monthly service
fees, based on size
of employee base and
services retained.
Custom web design
and custom software
development fees are
specifically
excluded from this
offer. To
obtain this
discount, AeA
members should
advise us of their
AeA affiliation at
(877) 453-8814.
About AeA
) indicate exclusive features available to AeA Members.
For
over 36 years, AeA has worked diligently to
connect the technology industry with
opportunities to access capital and
visibility with key investors and industry
analysts. No other technology association
has committed more resources or provided
more consistent opportunities to connect
industry with capital, a crucial component
in driving growth, innovation, and job
creation in our industry. In addition to
hosting the 
For
the past two years AeA has been actively
lobbying Congress along with a broad
coalition of business groups to approve the
pending free trade agreements with
