East Bay Innovation Awards Celebrating Local Businesses Set Thursday

ALAMEDA AND CONTRA COSTA COUNTIES, CA - Eight East Bay companies will each receive an award Thursday in the Fourth Annual East Bay Innovation Awards, celebrating companies that have had the most impact on innovation in the East Bay in the last year, officials with the East Bay Economic Development Alliance said.

The award ceremony will take place from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Fox Theater in Oakland.

Officials with the alliance received more than 100 nominations across eight categories including catalyst of the year, clean technology, education, life sciences, advanced manufacturing, engineering & design, food, and information and/or communications technology.

A separate award, called the Legacy Award, will be given to an organization that has had a lasting impact on promoting innovation in the East Bay. This year’s Legacy Award will be given to the University of California at Berkeley.

Award Finalists in the eight competitive categories include (in alphabetical order):

Advanced Manufacturing:

· Emerald Packaging www.-empack.com Union City

· Inland Metal Technologies www.inlandmetal.com Hayward

Catalyst of the Year:

· Delta Diablo www.deltadiablo.org Antioch

· Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory/CalCharge Berkeley

Clean Tech:

· Hack the Hood www.hackthehood.org Oakland

· The Bread Project www.thebreadproject.org Berkeley

Engineering & Design:

· Energy Recovery www.energyrecovery.com San Leandro

· Sila Nanotechnologies www.silanano.com Alameda

Food:

· CORE Foods www.corefoods.com Oakland

· OCHO Candy www.ochocandy.com Oakland

Information and/or Communications Technology:

· CallidusCloud www.calliduscloud.com Dublin

· Clef https://getclef.com Oakland

Life Sciences:

· Caribou Biosciences www.cariboubio.com Berkeley

· Ekso Bionics www.eksobionics.org Richmond

About the East Bay EDA

The East Bay Economic Development Alliance (East Bay EDA) is a public-private partnership founded in 1990 to serve the Bay Area’s East Bay region (Alameda and Contra Costa Counties) through business attraction, retention and growth strategies. The East Bay EDA’s mission is to be the regional voice and networking resource for strengthening the economy, building the workforce and enhancing the quality of life in the East Bay.

--Bay City News contributed to this report