�A federal
grant of $20,000 is the first step for the North Ferrisburgh,
Vermont-based firm to expand its international market in
ground water remediation products. The company is focusing
its new marketing efforts in Taiwan, Thailand, and Malaysia.
It will launch these efforts with a trade mission to Taiwan
this month, which will include product demonstrations,
meetings, and other events with petroleum companies and
regulatory agencies.
"The threat from industry to these countries� ground
water is very real, and there is a growing awareness that
action must be taken to protect this vital resource now,"
David Bowles, President of Clean Earth Technology said. "Our
products bring an effective, affordable technology that can
be used immediately to solve their pollution problems."
With 18 employees and nearly a decade of experience in
the environmental business in the U.S. and Canada, the
company is well established in the marketplace with its
remediation products. With the decline in demand in the U.S.
in the mid-90�s, the company was forced to expand into the
markets of Italy and France. "Without market opportunities
around the world, the company would not be in business
today. Now, with the resurgence of the Asian economies, it
is the right time to be in on the renewal of this rising
commerce," Bowles noted.
The Environmental Technology Fund, administered by NASDA
under sponsorship of US-AEP, provides matching funds of up
to $20,000 to generate business relationships that foster
Asian and American economic development and help address the
environmental challenges facing Asia. The grants assist
small- to medium-sized businesses�less than $50 million
annual revenue�in undertaking projects involving pollution
prevention and control, clean technology, and energy
efficiency.
Launched as a presidential initiative in 1992, US-AEP is
a public-private, interagency program led by the United
States Agency for International Development and utilizes
expertise from the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
The program�s goal is to promote a "clean revolution" by
the development and adoption of less-polluting and
more-resource-efficient products, processes, and services in
the Asian region. The program fosters environmentally sound
economic growth in Asia by mobilizing American technologies,
services, and experience, and promoting activities in one or
more of four main component groups: Clean Technology and
Environmental Management, Technology Transfer, Policy, and
Urban.
