Fairfield Firm Honored with SBA Tibbetts Award at White House Ceremony for Driving Innovation

Mitrajit Mukherjee, president and founder of Exelus, Inc. of Fairfield was one of 37 small business owners to receive the prestigious Tibbetts Award from the US Small Business Administration (SBA), during a recent White House Ceremony.  Each owner was recognized for the critical role they play in research and development as well as successfully driving innovation and creating new jobs through the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs.

SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, who was also honored at the ceremony with the 2016 SBIR Person of the Year award for her work, dedication and promotion of the SBIR/STTR programs, said, “SBA is proud to lead the SBIR/STTR program – America’s Seed Fund, as I call it – to ensure small businesses engage in research and development to continue to propel our nation’s high-tech innovation forward, from nanotechnology to aerospace to therapies for life-threatening illnesses.  Today we celebrate, honor and recognize the important technological advances pioneered by these small high-tech firms.  These innovators are creating jobs and building new industries while helping to address many of the nation’s most pressing challenges.”

Exelus, Inc., an advanced technology company that develops and licenses chemical processes for the production of chemicals and clean fuels, has successfully utilized the SBIR program.  Over a 10 year period, under Mukherjee’s direction, the company has successfully secured a total of 38 SBIR research grants for $10.4 million from the Department of Energy, National Scientific Foundation and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We are honored to receive the Tibbetts Award,” said Mukherjee, “which recognizes our Research and Development capabilities that have enabled our company to offer technologies that produce clean fuels and chemicals from multiple sources and feed stocks.”

“Years of dedication and perseverance that went towards developing and commercializing the ExSact technology-an environmentally friendly oil-refinery process which produces a clean-gasoline blendstock-has certainly paid off for our company,” said Mukherjee. “Our world today derives its energy from many sources, such as oil, natural gas and biomass. Exelus’ mission is to develop new catalytic processes that are practical, green and economical and provide measurable benefits to both the producer and the end user.”

SBA New Jersey District Director Al Titone said, “The mission of the SBIR program is to support scientific excellence and technological innovation through the investment of federal research funds. This funding is critical to American priorities and helps contribute to building a strong national and local economy.”

According to Titone, the SBIR/STTR programs represent the nation’s largest source of early stage research and development funding for small businesses. The programs are administered by the SBA in collaboration with 11 federal agencies, who collectively supported more than $2.5 billion in federal research and development funding. In 2016, 53 New Jersey technology firms received 75 SBIR/STTR awards for a total of  $26.2 million

“There is no doubt that the SBIR program is highly competitive,” added Titone.  “However, it encourages domestic small businesses to engage in federal research and provides those small technology firms with the potential and hope of bringing that R&D to commercialization.  Exelus, Inc. is proof that the SBIR program is paying dividends here in New Jersey.”