Wendy Jameson’s life slogan is “Fear Mediocrity: don’t be afraid to be bold”; a motto that Wendy and her partner in Colnatec, Scott Grimshaw (whom she met on Twitter), established. Wendy has always been an individual who stands out from the crowd and takes risks each and every day, the epitome of an entrepreneur. She is a former business consultant and coach with 25 years experience in sales, marketing, and business strategy for growth companies. A wife and mother of two boys, family has always been an important part of Wendy’s life, too. But they are not the only people she calls family–the nine employees who work for Colnatec care for each other and believe in the success of Colnatec as much as she does.
Colnatec is a woman-owned “greentech” company from Gilbert, AZ that designs and builds thin film process control sensors for nanotechnology manufacturing. They have developed and patented groundbreaking film thickness measurement products for making solar cells, mobile displays, optics, and flexible lighting & electronics that increase production yields, decrease manufacturing costs, and improve efficiencies.
The holder of eight patents, they are recipients of a Department of Energy Phase I SBIR award for a revolutionary sensor to be used in manufacturing CIGS solar cells. This sensor will enable manufacturers to achieve cell and module efficiencies well beyond current capability. Colnatec is also one of 8 winners of the Arizona Innovation Challenge grant program, which was established through $1.5M in ARRA funds provided to Arizona to promote innovation, specifically in the technology sector, and encourage export manufacturing. These funds have enabled Colnatec to hire 3 people in 2011, purchase production machinery, finalize product development, and market globally.
The funding we’ve received has been like a shot in the arm—a significant morale boost,” said Wendy. “It’s proof our science is sound, but even more importantly, that others believe in us too. It gave us not only confidence, but also hope that we really could achieve our dreams.”
Article by Anne Filipic, Deputy Director of the Office of Public Engagement
