| Tellurex Corporation Named Michigan 21st Century Jobs Fund Recipient
Tellurex Corporation, a global manufacturer of thermoelectric cooling and power generation modules, is one of 61 awardees of Michigan's 21 st Century Jobs Fund announced September 6, 2006 by Governor Jennifer M. Granholm. The Fund, administered by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and its Strategic Economic Investment and Commercialization Board, is a ten-year, $2 billion initiative to create jobs in Michigan's emerging competitive-edge technologies. The Tellurex share of this year's $100 million investment fund is $1,263,950.
Clyde McKenzie, chairman of the company, commented, "We are very pleased and honored to have been chosen to receive this investment by the State. It immediately positions us to broaden our new product development activities and to deepen our talent pool. When a smaller company moves to a position where it can address a number of opportunities at the same time, everything accelerates, including the creation of jobs.
"The 21 st Century Jobs Fund was created through bi-partisan effort in Lansing, and we have certainly had the benefit of personal attention from both sides of the aisle at Tellurex. It's a great time to build a company in Michigan."
The SEIC Board received 505 initial proposals in the areas of alternative energy, advanced automotive materials and manufacturing, life science, and homeland security/defense. An independent panel convened by the American Association for the Advancement of Science narrowed that list down to 179 finalists and ultimately selected the 61 winners.
| Other award winners include researchers from private research institutes, Michigan public universities, and other companies like Tellurex working to commercialize technology-based products. "Today, we are creating the 21st century jobs of tomorrow," Granholm said. "These awards recognize some of the most promising and innovative job creating ideas Michigan has to offer." The 21 st Century Jobs Fund is part of the Governor's "Jobs Today, Jobs Tomorrow" economic plan to stimulate and grow Michigan's economy.
Tellurex plans to utilize the 21 st Century monies to broaden its technical capability and position the company's resources and workforce to take full advantage of opportunities it has created in the automotive, military, and other industries. The new resources will contribute to underwriting new high tech science and engineering-based positions as well as desirable, clean and well paid assembly jobs to meet the growth expected in the near future.
Tellurex Corporation is a world leader in solid-state thermoelectric power generation and cooling technology. Tellurex was the first small business in the United States to win the U.S. Navy Best Manufacturing Practices Award. It has also received the Michigan Builders Award, presented by the Governor for excellence in expanding high tech industry in Michigan. Tellurex Corporation recently received an SBIR Phase II grant from the Office of Naval Research that evidences the company's leadership and capability in advanced thermoelectric technology application. Tellurex occupies a new facility in Traverse City, Michigan, and supports a sales office in Southfield, Michigan.
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