Greenville’s CA4I Awarded SAFE Energy Security Prize

Greenville, S.C. – The Carolinas Alliance 4 Innovation (CA4I) has been awarded the 2017 Securing Americas Future Energy (SAFE) Energy Security Prize Powered by The InterTech Group. The award enables CA4I to partner with SAFE, Clemson International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR), and Connexx: America Israel Business Connector to launch and build a mobility innovation pipeline called the Global Mobility Network (GMN).

The prize marks the first nationally recognized foundation to join CA4I’s expanding network of partners seeking to promote innovative mobility solutions in the region.

Based in Greenville, South Carolina, GMN leverages global, regional, and local partnerships to promote innovative solutions in transportation, infrastructure, engineering, and education for the purposes of spurring economic development. GMN partners include advisory groups, investors, non-profits, academia, and incubators.

“This prize award is a significant investment with CA4I and CU-ICAR, and will enhance our ability to bring the kind of innovative companies we seek in Greenville and the United States,” said CA4I Chairman Doug Webster. “These incubator companies in Israel are some of the most forward-thinking solution providers in the world.”

The SAFE Energy Security Prize is given each year to companies whose innovations are poised to advance American energy security by helping to end the United States’ dependence on oil.

“Innovation is the key to driving economic growth by reducing the country’s crippling oil dependence, and this partnership leverages a group of organizations with a rare collection of skills and connections to help develop and deploy the technology we need to solve this problem,” said Robbie Diamond, President and CEO of Securing America’s Future Energy. “It is our honor to partner with them through the Energy Security Prize and we look forward to a productive collaboration moving forward.”

As the Upstate seeks to broaden its perspective on the future of mobility and advanced manufacturing, the GMN will provide a platform to engage a network of industry and community partners to leverage CU-ICAR’s unique local assets and global engagement strategy. CU-ICAR seeks to support the expanding mobility ecosystem by connecting global sources of innovation to a customer anywhere in the world.

These relationships will help foster the development of startup companies at the forefront of emerging technologies by forging new relationships, opening market access, and promoting a pipeline of innovation. These startups have the potential to fuel economic development and find solutions to imminent problems related to transportation and mobility.

Founding GMN partners include CU-ICAR, CA4I, SAFE and Conexx. CA4I is a 501.c.6 non-profit public benefit entity that builds public-private partnerships in the areas of transportation, engineering, infrastructure and education. SAFE will play an essential role in bringing perspective, expertise and resources to the successful launch and growth of GMN. Conexx will provide support for GMN to foster relationships among all key stakeholders through constant communication between Israeli companies and other GMN stakeholders.

The SAFE Energy Security Prize is sponsored by the Zucker family and The InterTech Group in memory of the company’s founder, President and CEO, Jerry Zucker. Mr. Zucker, over his lifetime, invented groundbreaking technologies which he developed into one of the most successful businesses in America. “Supporting innovation and mentoring entrepreneurs is at the very heart of my father’s legacy. He would be proud of the work we are doing through the Global Mobility Network,” said Jonathan Zucker, Mr. Zucker’s son and the President of The Intertech Group.

CU-ICAR, in collaboration with CA4I, SAFE and others, will identify domestic and international start-ups that have the potential to transform mobility and energy security to participate in GMN. Future start-ups that are identified as potential participants may be candidates for the SAFE Energy Security Prize award designation.

Carolinas Alliance 4 Innovation (CA4I)

Carolinas Alliance 4 Innovation is a non-profit public benefit corporation whose mission is to promote innovative solutions in transportation, infrastructure, engineering and education for the purpose of economic development.

Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research
The Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR) is a 250-acre advanced-technology research campus where university, industry and government organizations collaborate. CU-ICAR offers master’s and Ph.D. programs in automotive engineering and is conducting leading-edge applied research in critical areas, such as advanced product-development strategies, sustainable mobility, intelligent manufacturing systems and advanced materials. CU-ICAR has industrial-scale laboratories and testing equipment in world-class facilities available for commercial use.

Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE)

Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) is a nonpartisan organization that aims to reduce America’s dependence on oil and improve U.S. energy security to bolster national security and strengthen the economy. SAFE advocates for expanded domestic production of U.S. oil and gas resources, continued improvements in fuel efficiency, and in the long-term, breaking oil’s stranglehold on the transportation sector through alternatives like natural gas for heavy-duty trucks and plug-in electric vehicles. In 2006, SAFE joined with General P.X. Kelley (Ret.), 28th Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Frederick W. Smith, Chairman, President, and CEO of FedEx Corporation, to form the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC), a group of business and former military leaders committed to reducing the United States’ dependence on oil.

About Conexx: America Israel Business Connector

Conexx: America Israel Business Connector was established in 1992 as the American-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Southeast Region. Conexx is a private, not-for profit, non-governmental business organization to connect Israelis and Americans in business and explore new market opportunities. With over 500 members today, Conexx is headquartered in Atlanta and connects US and Israel from its Southeastern US (Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi) stronghold.