Tom Lederle, right, and his wife Gale stand by a mobile solar energy station developed by their business NEST Energy Systems, Inc. for the military, in Prescott Valley, Ariz. on Monday, Aug. 16, 2010. NEST received nearly $1 million from the... more » The Daily Courier, Brett Soldwedel Associated Press

PRESCOTT VALLEY, Ariz. (AP)

JASON SOIFER, The Daily Courier Associated Press

— An old golf cart, a sick friend and an unwanted retirement aren’t necessarily factors that are the foundation of a successful business.

But those three events all played vital roles in Tom Lederle’s budding Prescott Valley business.

As the recipient of a nearly $1 million grant from federal stimulus money through the Arizona Department of Commerce, Lederle’s success actually began in 2001.

That’s when the former computer programmer left his software job because of some prodding from that employer in Phoenix.

“I wasn’t ready to retire. It was kinda like a shock,” he said.

Retreating to a cabin in the mountains about an hour outside Seattle, Lederle spent his time trying to help a family friend battling cancer.

That led Lederle to drop $500 on a golf cart for his friend to get around in and, unknowingly, this served as the first step in his business.

“That had a big impact on us,” he said.

From there, Lederle went on to start selling golf carts in Prescott Valley later that year.

He took a cart that wouldn’t sell, bolted two solar panels on the roof and tinkered with it until he got it to work with six 6-volt batteries in the cart.

“The lesson from that carries forward to now,” he said.

Lederle figuratively drove into the mobile solar sector and spent the following four years selling solar carts to people and educating them about the carts and the fact that they give more power, torque and were quieter than traditional gas-powered carts.

Business was good as Lederle sold 40 solar carts and it became 30 percent of his golf cart sales.

“It was interesting; we learned a lot,” he said. “I think we broke new ground.”

In 2005, Lederle formed NEST Energy Services in town and sold the cart business the next year to focus on the mobile solar angle.

Lederle and his employees spent about six months securing a contract with the General Services Administration to do business with the federal government.

In the meantime, Lederle and his crew created a mobile power station with solar panels and electrical outlets in fall 2006.

Lederle took it to trade shows and began talking with the different branches of the military about its uses.

A 2005 executive order from former President George W. Bush requiring all federal agencies to cut their fossil fuel use by 3 percent annually was another piece of Lederle’s puzzle to fall into place.

Lederle and his staff ultimately created the NEST Eagle-MC hybrid Power Trailer that comes with three solar panels on top, 24 batteries, three inverters, Ethernet and GPS capabilities and a computer inside.

The trailer is ideal for the military because it provides power in remote areas without the hassle and danger that fuel convoys attract. It also helps the military fulfill Bush’s executive order.

Lederle took it to 29 Palms in California a couple of weeks ago to show it to the U.S. Marine Corps.

The grant and praise from the Marines on the trailer are huge, Lederle said.

“We feel honored,” he said. “We feel like we have the device at the right moment in time.”

The folks at the Northern Arizona Center for Emerging Technologies also get credit in Lederle’s success.

The Flagstaff-based business incubator assists entrepreneurs and technology start-up businesses reach success in northern Arizona.

Russ Yelton, president and chief executive officer of NACET, said they began working with Lederle this past May and encouraged him to apply for the grant.

“We started talking to Tom and we realized he was at a very critical point in his business,” he said.

Yelton said he saw where Lederle could use some help.

“They were getting products into the military, but they really needed to ramp up and that’s really a critical phase in business development, an area that we specialize in,” he said.

And Yelton said the grant will help Lederle in many ways.

“It really means the immediate creation of jobs, It accelerates the development of future products with the military so that they can move faster in getting these things to them, which not only helps his company, but frankly it helps protect the men and women who serve our country,” he said.

Lederle is also looking at applying his work to first responders.

Regardless of what happens, Lederle appreciates the evolution from golf cart to potentially saving lives.

“I’ve been very fortunate,” he said. “We happen to have come to a point in time with an idea and the people to make a difference, that’s an extreme privilege.”

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Flagstaff, AZ

PathoGene, LLC – a molecular diagnostics company located in Northern Arizona – has completed its first round of financing and raised 150% of its stated goal of $500K in seed money for a total of $750K.  This new venture is being championed by top tier scientists, successful laboratory managers and experienced biotech executives who are using licensed technology from Northern Arizona University (NAU) and The Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) as a launching pad for building a successful bioscience business. During the financing period (April-July, 2010) Todd Snowden, President of PathoGene, was a featured speaker at the Southwest Bioscience Expo in Tucson, Arizona where he presented the business case for investing in PathoGene.

PathoGene’s assays have the potential to dramatically improve patient care, reduce the inappropriate use of antibiotics, and lower healthcare costs associated with treating life-threatening infections. A main differentiator is the ability to quickly uncover critical genetic information about resistance to antibiotics so as to better target treatment to drugs that are more likely to work.  PathoGene is focused on infectious diseases where treatment is currently difficult and drug resistance is a growing problem.

PathoGene is developing and validating assays for clinical use that will provide physicians with information essential to the timely and accurate treatment of several infectious diseases. Specifically, the company is focused on drug resistant pathogens including Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) (a common “super bug” and deadly hospital-based infection that already kills more people each year than HIV in the US), Influenza (including H1N1) and Valley Fever (human and animal).  Currently the global market for molecular diagnostics is approximately $5B and is expected to grow by 15% to 20% over the next 5 years, largely driven by advances in testing for infectious diseases.

“Given the growing incidence of “super bug” infections worldwide, the increasing resistance to antibiotics, and the high cost of treating these infections, diagnostics that can provide earlier and better information to the treating physician will have a significant global impact” said Dr. Paul Keim. Dr Keim is Director of the Pathogen Genomics Division of TGen and is a Regents Professor and holder of the Cowden Endowed Chair in Microbiology at NAU.  He is internationally known for his work in human pathogen epidemiology using DNA identification techniques including his groundbreaking work with Anthrax.  He has been instrumental in producing the scientific discoveries underlying PathoGene’s novel molecular assays.

PathoGene’s aim is to license the world-class science coming out of Dr Keim’s laboratory at NAU and TGen and convert it into diagnostic tools that help medical practice achieve a higher standard of care. A board and management team has been assembled who have significant experience doing just this.  “The combination of unique, high value technology with a well balanced and experienced management team focused on a rapidly growing worldwide market creates a tremendous business opportunity for PathoGene and an important addition to Arizona’s bioscience community” said Todd Snowden, President of PathoGene.

In addition to founding board member, Dr. Paul Keim, PathoGene board and executive team members bring a full complement of skills and experiences essential to the company’s commercial success. Dr. Thomas Vorpahl is a board certified pathologist with over thirty years experience in laboratory medicine, including several successful entrepreneurial endeavors.  David Engelthaler is the Director of Operations at TGen North where he oversees a group of investigators working on pathogen genomics projects targeting clinical medicine, public health and bio-defense. David was previously the State Epidemiologist for Arizona.  William Gibbs is CEO of Norchem Laboratories, which is a high volume toxicology laboratory that has experienced 25% annual growth since 1997. Jeanne Ambruster recently joined PathoGene as Board Chair and is CEO of The Avenues Company – a marketing consulting group that has been focused for over ten years on the translation of bioscience innovations from bench-top to clinical practice. Prior to that she was instrumental in growing W.L. Gore and Associates’ medical device business and launching a genetic testing company through the completion of a successful IPO. Todd Snowden recently joined PathoGene as President and combines extensive experience in medical device and diagnostic sales, marketing and business development with a track record of success in operating and growing his own businesses.

PathoGene now has adequate start-up capital and a committed team of experts who can  accelerate delivering value to the health care community. The company will do so by out licensing high value, validated assays to leading diagnostics companies who will in turn incorporate them into their platforms and sales channels. Board Chair Jeanne Ambruster summed it up, “The confidence our investors have shown in PathoGene and the team we have assembled is humbling. This will give us the necessary seed funds to launch a company that will ultimately provide valuable information to physicians treating infectious diseases and save lives… doing well by doing good.”

Three northern Arizona businesses tied to the Northern Arizona Center for Emerging Technologies business incubator have recently received more than $2.4 million in new grant funding.

Two Flagstaff-based businesses, Southwest Windpower and Motor Excellence, and NEST Energy Services out of Prescott Valley received the money as part of a federal stimulus program designed to encourage the manufacturing of energy-related technologies in Arizona.

The Arizona Department of Commerce, which was given the stimulus money, issued the grants. NACET assisted all three clients in applying for the funding.

Southwest Windpower will use the nearly $460,000 to modernize its production line. The grant will allow the manufacturer to produce its wind turbines at a lower cost.

Motor Excellence, which is developing a new class of electric motors and generators, received a $960,000 grant. The funding will help the business hire new engineers to further develop the first application of the technology, an electric bicycle motor.

NEST Energy Services, which manufactures transportable, computer-assisted alternative energy power support systems, received a $999,300 grant.

NEST’s products are specifically engineered to meet the rigorous requirements of government and military customers in harsh, and often hostile, environments.

The Accreditation application, review and audit process was the result of almost a year’s work and Southwest Windpower is proud to be a worldwide leader in installer training.  Accreditation means that installers and dealers who complete this program, regularly held here at NACET, have attended recognized training which is accepted by governments and regulatory authorities.   Further, Southwest Windpower was approved to begin offering accredited weeklong Entry Level Wind Energy courses in an effort to grow interest in wind as a renewable energy source.  These courses will also be offered here, at NACET.

Along with state of the art facilities, NACET is currently providing student research teams both domestic and international focusing on new markets and product strategies.   Come this fall, the student team’s research will begin to be implemented in all of Southwest Windpower’s over all company strategies.

JOE FERGUSON Sun Staff Reporter | Posted: Sunday, June 20, 2010 5:20 am

Flagship Biosciences CEO and Chairman Steve Potts looks at a microscope slide from a biotech study with a NAC.ET data center server in the background. (Rick Wacha/Arizona Daily Sun)

Glass microscope slides with thin tissue slices are a common sight in most college biology courses.

Millions of new slides are produced every year for common medical tests as well as the research that is being performed by pharmaceutical and medical device companies.

But how the glass slides are handled does not reflect advances in technology — the slides are still shuffled from laboratory to laboratory as pathologists and techs review the results under powerful microscopes.

Maybe a little faster thanks to Fed Ex and UPS, but there are still rooms filled with the delicate pieces of glass.

A Flagstaff company is trying to revolutionize the industry, offering to bring companies largely dependent on slides into the 21st century.

Flagship Biosciences still might require companies to ship them the slides. But then they are transformed into digital pathology files that can be reviewed by a pathologist anywhere in the world.

Each electronic slide is scanned into ultra-high resolution, which allows pathologists and researchers the ability to zoom in to the tiniest detail.

“I call it the Google Earth for the microscope,” said Steve Potts, the CEO and chairman of Flagship Biosciences.

The company was founded in Boulder, Colo., by two renowned pathologists, Drs. David Young and Frank Voelker. Both men offer their expertise to clients, allowing smaller companies to have a well-respected pathologist consult on their slides.

Potts was hired earlier this year after the company moved to Flagstaff.

Having the top experts review new slides is only one of the advantages in using their digital services, said Potts.

The key, he says, is building a digital pathology library to compare hundreds of similar slides with the touch a of a few keystrokes. The libraries, often containing sensitive research, are not shared between clients.

In his office at the local small business incubator known as Northern Arizona Center for Emerging Technologies, twin slide scanners hum nearby. The Aperio ScanScope scanners used by Flagship Biosciences are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and can scan hundreds of slides on a daily basis.

The company moved this year from Boulder to Flagstaff to tap into NACET’s integrated technologies.

A hyperfast connection to the Internet through NACET allows Flagship Biosciences to upload hundreds of images per file in a reasonably short time — they easily eat up a gigabyte or more. A secured server room behind several locked doors and with constant surveillance from security cameras assures that the client’s sensitive data is protected.

The company, which was founded last summer, has several clients.

Potts said despite the high costs of the scanners, the company has always made money.

“We were profitable from day one,” Potts said.

Potts said the company is looking to hire another pathologist for their digital pathology services in the near future. He believes that Northern Arizona University will be a good source for techs as the company grows.

Joe Ferguson can be reached at jferguson@azdailysun.com or 556-2253. ]]> http://www.nacet.org/2010/06/slides-go-digital/feed/ 0 http://www.nacet.org/2010/06/nacet-accompanies-incubator-graduate-senestech-to-mexico/ http://www.nacet.org/2010/06/nacet-accompanies-incubator-graduate-senestech-to-mexico/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 16:24:56 +0000 NACET http://www.nacet.org/?p=1750 Flagstaff, Arizona. The Northern Arizona Center for Emerging Technologies (NACET) continues to support incubator graduate SenesTech with international research and support.  SenesTech, Inc. (SenesTech) is a platform biotechnology company specializing in reproductive physiology.  Its mission is to complete the development of non-surgical reproduction management technology that could profoundly change the world via wildlife and companion animal population control.

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Digital Pathology Scanning Laboratory