Los Angeles, CA -- Apr 25, 2007 -- /prbuzz/ -- California Innovation Corridor partners selected the best innovative companies in the State today from more than 75 Innovation All-Star candidates originating from over 300 initial nominations. The California Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth, a nonprofit corporation whose members are chosen by the Governor to advise him on how to expand job and economic growth, will be presenting the awards tonight at the Irvine Hilton/Orange County Airport.

“We believe innovation and entrepreneurship are the drivers of economic growth in California,” added Mark Mosher, Executive Director for the California Commission for Jobs and Economic Growth. Mosher, along with Duane Roth, Commission Member and chairman of Alliance Pharmaceutical Corporation who are presenting the California Innovation Awards to 15 market-leading companies.

The award recipients include Autobytel, Inc. in Irvine, DJO Inc. in Vista, FormFactor, Inc. in Livermore, Symantec in Cupertino, QAD in Carpinteria, Kintera, Inc. and QUALCOMM in San Diego, IXYS Corporation and NETGEAR in Santa Clara, and Callidus Software and Covad Communications Group, Inc. in San Jose. The City of Sunnyvale was the big winner though with four local companies winning the award: Kyphon, Juniper Networks, Network Appliance, Inc., and Trimble.

The awards cap off the California Tech 100 event—the “first-of-its-kind” statewide conference that has brought together a unique ensemble of angel investors, venture capitalists, CEOs, educators, and workforce talent professionals focused on celebrating the Golden State's success as an innovation hotbed. California State Secretaries Victoria Bradshaw of the Labor Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) and Dale Bonner of Business, Transportation and Housing (BTH) both spoke before enthusiastic audiences yesterday.

The California Innovation Corridor partners, managed by the California Space Authority (CSA), a statewide nonprofit organization, and administered through the Labor Workforce Development Agency (LWDA), chose the final recipients based on market leadership within their industry, employment figures, continuous innovation of products and services, contribution to the California economy, and significant accomplishments in 2006.

“These innovative companies” added CSA Executive Director Andrea Seastrand, “give people hope and dreams. They make us globally competitive and proud of our heritage as a nation of inventors, creators, and thinkers.” The California Innovation Corridor is a region spanning the length of the state from Alameda county in the north to San Diego county in the south, and eastward into the Inland Empire.

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