The Authority Board Approves Funding For a Web-Based Employee Acknowledgement Site, Tax Credits to Authority Clients and Grants for STEM Empowerment.

Monday, Mar 30, 2009

In its latest meeting the Authority Board of Directors voted to approve a Seed Capital Investment to Maumelle-based Meritbuilder.com . The web site allows thank-yous and kudos to be sent, received, collected and displayed in association with a specific individual. The goal is to allow a company to create a list that will serve as an addition to the person’s resume and work history. The target market is for individuals and Human Resource departments.

In addition, the Board approved requests for Research and Development Tax Credits for 11 Authority clients: BioDetection Instruments, Vegrandis, NanoMech, SFC Fluidics, NN-Labs, Arkansas Power Electronics International, Inc, Ecosystems, Mesolight, Eureka Aero, Axept, and BlueInGreen.

They also released funding for EPSCoR Round Two NSF Pilot Seed Grants to UALR and ASU. The projects, being funded through separate disbursements of $25,000 each, are part of the Bioproduction Project.

Additional approvals included 34 STEM Empowerment Proposals going to high schools and colleges around the state, funding of a Basic Research Grant to Dr. Billy Hargis at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, and revisions to the state’s EPSCoR Administrative Charter.

The Authority’s next Board Meeting will be Friday, May 15, 2009.