FINDLAY, Ohio—Endurica L.L.C. was one of only 38 companies in the country to receive the prestigious Tibbetts Award from the U.S. Small Business Administration, and the only Ohio company to do so.
The Tibbetts Award is given to companies that demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit and mission of the SBA's Small Business Innovation Research Program. Endurica makes simulation software and testing instruments and conducts material characterization and training services focused on fatigue analysis of elastomers.
"I am very proud to receive this prestigious recognition on behalf of our team," said Will Mars, president of Endurica. "We won the U.S. Army as our first paying customer through the SBIR program, and this enabled us to commercialize game-changing tools for analyzing the fatigue performance of elastomers."
Past Tibbetts Award winners have included Qualcomm, 23andMe and Symantec—all companies that have created cutting-edge technologies, according to the SBA. The award is named for Roland Tibbetts, the founder of the SBIR program.
"The Tibbetts Awards highlight our nation's next generation of competitive creators who help push the U.S. economy into the future," SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza said in a Jan. 14 press release. "SBA continues to play a key role in administering these research and technology funding programs, providing 'seed money' to help our nation's greatest and most innovative research entrepreneurs start, grow and transition into high-growth companies. The companies and the technologies they create played a unique role in job creation, the building of new industries and communities and addressing the nation's most pressing challenges."
The umbrella program over the SBIR, known as America's Seed Fund, focuses on funding critical technology areas that are too high risk or early-stage for traditional venture capital.
Since its inception in 1982, the program has awarded more than 170,000 awards with more than $50 billion funneled toward small businesses.
"Over the last decade, we've continued to improve our tools and the business," Mars said. "Today, we have a growing user base, six of the top 12 global rubber product producers (by revenue) are using Endurica solutions in their applications, and there are hundreds of trained users globally."
Details on each of the 2020 winners can be found at tibbettsawards.com.
