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Constellation Technology Corporation in Largo, FL wins EPA research contract

Release Date: 02/05/2009
Contact Information: Dawn Harris-Young, (404) 562-8421, harris-young.dawn@epa.gov

(Atlanta, Ga. – February 5, 2009) -- Constellation Technology Corporation in Largo, Fla. has been awarded $70,000 from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program to develop an integrated recovery and detection system for online water supply monitoring. The integrated system is designed to efficiently capture and recover pathogens such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, and toxins from water supplies and to detect and identify those pathogens in an automated fashion.

EPA’s SBIR program provides financial support to small businesses to translate their innovative ideas into commercial products that address environmental problems. SBIR has helped spawn successful commercial ventures that not only improve our environment, but also create jobs, increase productivity and economic growth, and enhance the international competitiveness of the U.S. technology industry.

Approximately 25 million small businesses in the United States employ more than 50 percent of the American workforce and develop most of the country's new technologies. SBIR was established to ensure that new technologies are developed to solve priority environmental problems, and is just one example of EPA's commitment to achieving real world environmental results through the use of innovative technology.

Since its inception in 1982, EPA’s SBIR program has helped fund more than 600 small businesses through its two-phased approach. Phase I awards are used to investigate the scientific merit and technical feasibility of a proposed concept. If the results of this phase are successful, businesses can submit proposals for Phase II contracts, which can reach amounts up to $225,000.

The Environmental Protection Agency SBIR Phase I Solicitation is now closed and the next SBIR solicitation will open in March 2009. EPA technology needs are described in the last Phase I Solicitation which is still available on the EPA SBIR Website (www.epa.gov/ncer/sbir).