SCRA Supports BMW Diversity Event

April 9, 2015 | By Business Wire News

GREENVILLE, S.C.

SCRA is leading sessions and supporting, for the fourth consecutive year, the BMW Supplier Diversity Tier I Matchmaker Conference in Greenville, South Carolina this week. The event includes opportunities for small businesses to meet with BMW Tier I suppliers and acknowledges winners of the Intercultural Innovation Awards (IIA).

SCRA, due to its growing reputation as an emerging global leader in the high-tech economy, will participate in reviewing and mentoring the IIA finalists. Investors and advisors include: SCRA leadership, SCRA’s SC Launch Board members, S.C. Department of Commerce Office of Innovation Director Amy Love and other leaders from across the state. The IIA fosters innovative projects that promote intercultural dialogue and understanding, and is part of a partnership of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations and BMW, as part of their global diversity strategy.

Yesterday, SCRA led a workshop for entrepreneurs, with guest speakers from the S.C. Department of Commerce and founders of Greenville-based KIYATEC and CareCam Health Systems and will host a dinner tonight, where BMW leadership will meet with SCRA and United Nations representatives to recognize the IIA winners and to discuss innovation in the state.

“SCRA is delighted to have been selected to judge the IIA awards as part of our commitment to the continued growth of South Carolina’s technology-based economy,” said SCRA CEO Bill Mahoney. “Our reputation as an innovation leader has led to our multiple roles in this year’s conference, and we are honored to partner with BMW and other top corporations to offer opportunities for South Carolina businesses and acknowledge the importance of intercultural efforts.”

SCRA has been a partner with BMW since 2010. SCRA, together with BMW and the U.S. Department of Energy, is currently engaged in a pilot program that will convert landfill gas to hydrogen and, if successful, could provide an on-site hydrogen production capability for the company to use in its fuel cell-powered equipment.

About SCRA

http://www.scra.org/

SCRA is a self-sustaining non-profit R&D company that grows the technology-based economy in South Carolina by commercializing intellectual property and supporting and making investments in early-stage companies. Multiple economic impact studies show our cumulative output into South Carolina’s economy to be over $18.1 billion since 1983, creating approximately 15,000 technology-related jobs with annual wages averaging between $55,000 and $77,000.

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