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Winners ECI Biotech develops and licenses inexpensive, rapid, and simple biosensors for bacterial pathogens. The company has strong intellectual property (16 patents pending and 1 issued), trademarks, and confidential partnerships with Fortune 100 companies. ECI Biotech’s ExpressDetect™ technologies are simple enough to be incorporated into any consumer product or medical device. ExpressDetect™ sensors are designed to work as quickly as five minutes without any special instrumentation. Imagitas, founded in 1992 by Brett Matthews and Ginger Salazar, creates proprietary distribution channels and products that allow its clients to communicate with hard-to-reach customer segments. They partner with the US Postal Service to help advertisers reach 22 million households that move each year and with several state Departments of Motor Vehicle to allow clients to target advertisements within car registration renewal mailings, while strictly adhering to consumer privacy guidelines. Netezza Corporation is the market-leading provider of enterprise-class data warehouse appliances that deliver breakthrough performance and ease-of-use at a fraction of the cost of traditional data warehouses. Customers who have recognized the performance benefits of Netezza’s approach include Ahold USA, Amazon.com, Cingular Wireless, CNET Networks, Epsilon, Orange UK, Premier, Inc., Shoppers Drug Mart Corporation and The TJX Companies. Reveal Imaging Technologies, Inc. was founded in response to new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) regulations following September 11, 2001. Reveal’s experienced explosives detection management team developed the first Explosives Detection System (EDS) designed to provide 100 percent inspection of checked baggage at airports. In December 2004, the TSA certified Reveal’s first EDS, making Reveal one of only three companies in the world to be certified. VistaPrint is the source for high-quality graphic design, Internet printing and premium service. The company’s groundbreaking, proprietary and patented technologies enable VistaPrint to offer custom designed, full-color, low-cost printed products even in small quantities. VistaPrint has more than 4 million customers, operates 17 localized web sites and serves over 120 countries around the world. SmartPak Equine, LLC has created a dynamic, profitable and fast-growing business based on mass-customized manufacturing. The patented SmartPak system simplifies horse care by providing nutritional supplements and pharmaceuticals critical for horse care in custom-manufactured, daily dose packages delivered automatically each month. This innovative solution to a chronic problem has propelled the company to $20 million in revenues in less than five years. PointCare Technologies, Inc. developed and is marketing a FDA-cleared, portable,T-cell counting flow cytometer for monitoring AIDS treatment in rural areas of the developing world. PointCare created new optical science using gold anoparticles that eliminated the cost, complexity and fragility of traditional methods. Caregivers with no previous laboratory training can operate the system and produce immediate results at the patient’s side. Taggies, Inc., creator, manufacturer and distributor of patented children’s products based on the concept that looped tags offer comfort and developmental opportunities, was born by moms in 1999. Julie Dix and Danielle Ayotte evolved this simple idea into smartly branded and upscale products.With no business experience, the cofounders built company and product from the ground up, doubling sales yearly. Finalists athenahealth offers the only physician revenue cycle management service to integrate workflow, billing and collections into a single service on a single Web-based technology platform. The results are faster payment at lower cost, higher revenue retention and less hassle. The company is dedicated to helping providers make optimum use out of their time, ultimately improving the quality of service delivered and the financial reward for it. Excel Dryer Inc., is a Massachusetts based manufacturer that has re-invented the hand dryer! Their patented new XLERATOR® is three times faster and uses 80% less energy than conventional hand dryers. Converting to XLERATOR represents a 95% cost savings vs. paper towels and is an excellent source reduction alternative. XLERATOR is LEED® rated (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and the only hand dryer to achieve GreenSpec® approval. Genstruct, Inc. is a biotechnology company that is leading the paradigm shift towards systems approaches to biology. Genstruct develops computable models of biology that, for new and existing drugs, are used to define the causes for efficacy and toxicity, and to identify molecular mechanisms for disease. Genstruct partners with pharmaceutical companies to commercialize the results of its systems biology platform. GotVMail Communications offers small and homes-based businesses, entrepreneurs, and mobile professionals the industry’s most innovative and advanced virtual communications services. GotVMail delivers the image, productivity, and professionalism of a Fortune 500 corporate telecommunications system — but without the need to purchase capital equipment or software. In less than 2 years, nearly 10,000 small businesses have turned to GotVMail for their communications needs. Headwall Photonics, Inc. designs and manufactures advanced optical engines that manage wavelengths for customers in the Analytical, Life Sciences, and Telecommunications industries. Headwall’s products consist of spectral products delivering application-specific performance. These products are used by OEMs and end-users for process monitoring, quality control, telecommunication networks, and hyperspectral imaging. Headwall was established in 2003 through a management buy-out of the optical division of Agilent Technologies. JENTEK Sensors, Inc. develops and sells sensors that use physics-based modeling techniques to deliver high ROI solutions. In addition to physics-based modeling, JENTEK’s core competencies also include parallel-architecture, multi-channel instrumentation and fully integrated systems. JENTEK products and software provide capabilities far exceeding current practice, resulting in transition to military and commercial use with demonstrated high returns for customers. JENTEK’s leading customers include NASA; U.S. Navy, Air Force and Army; major government primes; commercial aerospace OEMs; power plant, consumer products and industrial manufacturers. Lexia Learning Systems, Inc. is an educational software, curriculum and professional development company, specializing in tools for improving reading and cognitive skills. Our products and services are designed according to the latest research in education and interface design, and are tested for outcomes in schools. Lexia has been dedicated to facilitating the learning process for students of all ages since 1984. WebGen Systems, Inc. makes IUE™, the most advanced software available for energy conservation and control. The system uses open protocols and neural networks to measure and manage energy consumption in real time for commercial properties. IUE™ produces significant savings for owners while serving as emergency curtailment infrastructure for the grid. Customers include Bank of America, State of California, and University of Miami.