Osprey Biotechnics Presented with the First ‘Innovation by Creative Design Award’ by Ringling College and the EDC of Sarasota County
(PRWEB) September 14, 2015 -- Ringling College of Art and Design and the Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County honored Osprey Biotechnics with the first annual ‘Innovation by Creative Design Award’ at the EDC’s 2015 Annual Meeting at the Hyatt Regency Sarasota.
Link to images and documents from today's award presentation
The award recognizes Osprey Biotechnics’ use of creative innovation to develop a product or service over the past five years to address a market need that has consequentially demonstrated financial success and generated a majority of its revenues from outside Sarasota County.
Osprey Biotechnics focused on the problems attendant with poultry producer’s use of antibiotics to speed weight gain in their flocks, and the resultant development of drug resistance in both animals and humans. This leads to resistance to antibiotics that are making more and more infections potentially life-threatening for humans.
As detailed by Lauren Danielson, Osprey Biotechnics president and CEO, “We decided to get creative in eliminating non-medical antibiotics use in feed for growth promotion and looked at using probiotic bacteria to keep poultry healthy and increase the efficiency of their digestion – which could then lead to their desired weight gain. We developed Microlife™ L as the result of testing many beneficial bacteria and we are pleased to say that our product has had tremendous results in allowing poultry farmers to enhance production while eliminating antibiotics from their feed chain. We will do over $500,000 in sales this year and project sales of $6 million for 2016 in poultry products alone. We are pleased and proud to be recognized by Ringling College and the EDC and this inspires us to continue to drive creative innovation in this and other markets.”
“Creativity comes in all shapes and sizes and is applicable to any challenge, as evidenced by Osprey Biotechnics’ brilliant work in applying probiotics to improve feed utilization and thus eliminate the need for antibiotics in poultry farming,” said Dr. Larry R. Thompson, president of Ringling College of Art and Design. “Their work is especially significant as it will result in a healthier world not just for us, but for generations to come as antibiotics eventually are eliminated from our daily food chain and can become more effective in treating dangerous infections in the future.”
The ‘Innovation by Creative Design Award’ is a joint effort between the EDC and the Ringling College of Art and Design, honoring a business or nonprofit for an innovative product or service that demonstrates a creative design solution that has achieved market success.
“Osprey Biotechnics exemplifies the type of innovative, problem-solving creativity that is essential to so much of our modern economy,” said Mark Huey, president and CEO of the EDC. “We are thrilled to be part of this inaugural award and know that our community is filled with companies that are innovating to meet a changing market.”
Judges from the EDC Board’s Executive Committee and Ringling College ranked all nominees on the following criteria: significance of the problem or issue that the design solution addresses; quality of the design/innovation process, including research, conceptual development, prototyping and final solution; quality and success of the final design solution, including function and impact on the end user; market success.
The EDC of Sarasota County is the private, not-for-profit corporation leading the community’s economic development strategy to add high-wage jobs and diversify the local economy. The EDC provides business assistance to companies in Sarasota County and helps forge solutions to community challenges that affect our capacity to build a diversified economy. The EDC works in partnership with chambers of commerce, local governments and other organizations throughout the county and the region. For more information, visit http://www.edcsarasotacounty.com.
About Ringling College of Art and Design
Ringling College of Art and Design is a private, not-for-profit, fully accredited college offering the Bachelors of Fine Arts degree in 13 disciplines: Advertising Design, Computer Animation, Film, Fine Arts, Game Art, Graphic Design, Illustration, Interior Design, Motion Design, Photography & Imaging, Creative Writing (pending SACSOC approval), Critical and Visual Studies and a Bachelor of Arts degree in the Business of Art & Design. Located in Sarasota on Florida’s Gulf Coast, the picturesque 48-acre campus now includes more than 110 buildings, and enrolls nearly 1,300 students from 44 states and 54 countries. It is recognized as being among the best and most innovative visual arts colleges in the United States as well as a leader in the use of technology in the arts. Visit the Ringling College website at http://www.ringling.edu, or follow Ringling College on Facebook and Twitter for more news and information.
Media Contacts:
Rich Schineller, Ringling College of Art and Design, 941.780.8100, rschinel(at)ringling(dot)edu
Chris Purnell, Corporate Relations Director, Economic Development Corporation of Sarasota County
(941) 309-1200 ext. 106, cpurnell(at)edcsarasotacounty(dot)com
Rich Schineller, Ringling College of Art and Design, http://www.ringling.edu, +1 (941) 780-8100, [email protected]
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