High-tech firm nabs top honor.Byline: CHRISTIAN WIHTOL Register-Guard Business Editor The U.S. Small Business Administration has given one of its annual Tibbetts Awards to Eugene-based Molecular Probes Molecular Probes is a biotechnology company located in Eugene, Oregon specializing in fluorescence. The company was founded in 1975 by Richard and Rosaria Haugland in their kitchen in Minnesota, then moved briefly to Texas and finally to Oregon in the early 1980s. , citing the firm as a "model of excellence" in the high-tech sector. The award was presented to Richard Haugland, co-founder and chief scientific officer of Molecular Probes. The company was among 71 firms, government agencies and individuals from around the country who won the award. Molecular Probes was the only Oregon recipient. The awards recognize the economic impact and technical innovation of the recipients' work. Molecular Probes makes and sells dyes for biological research. The company has 224 workers at its lab and office complex off Willow Creek Road in west Eugene, and about 15 in The Netherlands. The company is in expansion mode, talking about going public, buying other bioscience firms, or both. In August, the company hired veteran bioscience executive Tony Martin as CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. to head the growth drive. All of the award recipients are participants in the SBA's Small Business Innovation Research program, which gives grants for high-tech and medical research and prototype development. Molecular Probes has received eight first-phase grants from the program, and has received further funding under it for five of those projects, SBA SBA abbr. Small Business Administration Noun 1. SBA - an independent agency of the United States government that protects the interests of small businesses and ensures that they receive a fair share of government spokeswoman Shirley Smith said. The first-phase grants, which help companies develop ideas, have totalled $469,617, Smith said. The second-phase grants, which help companies develop product prototypes, have totalled $1,026,399, Smith said. The company says most of its research is funded with profits rather than grants. The privately held company privately held company A firm whose shares are held within a relatively small circle of owners and are not traded publicly. had revenues of $43.9 million last year. The firm doesn't disclose profits. The Tibbetts Award is named for Roland Tibbetts, who spearheaded the creation of the program. It is administered by the SBA and implemented by federal agencies with research and development budgets of more than $100 million: the departments of Defense, Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services Noun 1. Health and Human Services - the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with health and welfare; created in 1979 Department of Health and Human Services, HHS , Transportation, and Agriculture, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites (see satellite, artificial), , the National Science Foundation, and the Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and . |
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