BELGRADE, Mont., June 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Belgrade-based Bacterin International was awarded the National Business Incubation Association's 2006 Outstanding Incubator Graduate award. The award was presented to Bacterin's CEO Guy Cook at the National Business Incubation Association's 20th International Conference in St. Louis, Mo. The award is designed to recognize a start-up company that has met its respective incubator's graduation criteria and since then has been operating on its own. Bacterin graduated from local incubator TechRanch at the beginning of 2002 and moved its operations to Belgrade, Montana.
The National Business Incubation Association has an extensive membership of over 1,000 organizations. The Outstanding Incubator Awards acknowledge incubation programs, clients, and graduates for outstanding performance and that exemplify the best in the industry. For the graduate award, the NBIA focuses on growth by assessing the company at three different milestones of business development: the first year in an incubation program, the time of graduation from the incubator, and the most recent fiscal year. Revenue growth, company growth with respect to number of employees, and salaries and wages paid are assessed, as well as the overall company visions, strategies, and goals, and potential to significantly impact an industry. Bacterin was the 2006 recipient in the graduate category for a technology based business.
Bacterin joined TechRanch in 2001 and was one of the incubator's first client companies. Aside from providing lab space that was necessary for performing contract research and testing for major medical manufacturers, the TechRanch was also integral in helping Bacterin establish a strong business foundation by providing networking contacts with other entrepreneurial companies, business personnel, and introductions to accredited investors.
Bacterin's list of accolades is extensive. In 2003, Bacterin received the outstanding research award from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control. In 2005, Bacterin was named as a top breakout company by Fortune Magazine. The first medical device utilizing Bacterin's coating was successfully launched in May 2006.
Bacterin has also expanded its intellectual property and patents to include the areas of bone repair, tissue engineering, and thermosetting hydrogels. Its scientists have patented three products and have several more pending; it can boast the federal government as a client, developing coatings with battlefield applications for the Department of Defense.
Additional Information:
About Bacterin:
Bacterin -- named by Fortune magazine as a top breakout company of 2005 -- has developed coatings for medical devices that help prevent biofilm infection; these products also help the body recognize an implant not as a foreign object but as something that belongs there. Guy Cook, the company's founder, CEO and chief scientific officer, is recognized as a world expert on biofilms. Visit Bacterin at www.bacterin.com.
About TechRanch:
TechRanch was formed in 2000 to assist Montana State University and other Montana-based research institutions with their quest to commercialize research. Additionally, TechRanch works with many Montana-based high tech entrepreneurs to help them launch and build profitable, long-term operating companies in Montana. The value proposition for TechRanch is to help entrepreneurs create companies that will be attractive to sophisticated, early-stage private equity investors. Visit TechRanch at www.techranch.org.
About NBIA:
The National Business Incubation Association is a worldwide organization striving to advance business incubation and entrepreneurship. Nearly 1000 organizations across the world belong to NBIA. Each year, the NBIA Incubation Awards honor the business incubation programs, graduates and client companies that exemplify the best of the industry. Bacterin International is one of 36 companies recognized by NBIA as an Outstanding Incubator Graduate. Visit NBIA at www.nbia.org.
Bacterin InternationalCONTACT: Media, Guy Cook, President, gcook@bacterin.com, or Molly Mason,Investor Relations/Marketing Manager, mmason@bacterin.com, both of BacterinInternational, +1-406-388-0480
