Electric Power (EP) Systems and Utah State University (USU) recently became the newest recipients of a USTAR grant through the Industry Partnership Program (IPP).
Previously headquartered in California, EP Systems has announced relocation to northern Utah specifically to take advantage of IPP and other state programs and opportunities.
“The USTAR IPP is a very unique incentive that will allow EP Systems to partner with Utah State to create a world class battery test lab,” said Nathan Millecam, CEO and co-founder of the company. “Cache County offers a good supply of engineering and manufacturing talent from USU and other applied technology institutions.”
EP Systems develops high performance, lower cost energy storage systems for high reliability applications, specifically focusing on the aerospace sector. The partnership between EP Systems and USU aligns with USTAR’s mission to accelerate the commercialization of technologies in order to benefit the state of Utah.
“This is a great example of the type of industry-university collaboration we hoped to see when the IPP launched,” said Ivy Estabrooke, Ph.D., USTAR executive director. “We were delighted for the opportunity to work with our partners at the Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah) and Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), as well as Utah State and Logan City, to bring this project to fruition. EP Systems will strengthen Utah’s innovation ecosystem through its partnership with USU.”
IPP aims to create pipelines between industry and academia by identifying technology gaps within a company that can be solved by researchers at Utah institutions of higher learning. USTAR acts as a matchmaker between the two entities and provides matching funds for the collaborative project. The relatively new program already has multiple participants across the state.
“Utah has world-class research capacity and a notoriously innovative business culture,” said Andrew Sweeney, Ph.D., a regional director at USTAR. “We are excited to build more connections between the two moving forward to achieve lasting benefits for the state.”
EP Systems’ presence in Utah will greatly impact the state’s established aerospace sector while production of two battery projects will bring substantial revenues to Utah’s economy. It is estimated that 120-160 new jobs will be created over the next several years.
“USTAR’s IPP grant connects industry leaders with Utah’s world-class universities, promotes entrepreneurship and creates employment opportunities for Utahns,” said Val Hale, executive director of GOED. “Utah is nationally recognized for its business-friendly environment and innovation ecosystem and USTAR enhances that reputation.”
In addition to the USTAR program, a post-performance tax incentive agreement with GOED helped EDCUtah successfully recruit EP Systems to Logan, Utah.
For more information on USTAR’s Industry Partnership Program, as well as other statewide initiatives, visit USTAR.org.
