The article below appeared in today’s Charleston Daily Mail.

This evening’s annual meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Technology, Research & Innovation Center, also known as MATRIC, will showcase the nine start-up companies it has launched since 2004.

MATRIC was established five years ago as a nonprofit research institute to harness the brainpower that Union Carbide Corp. brought to the Kanawha Valley over the decades.

The nine companies MATRIC has launched “are solving some of the most important environmental and technical issues facing our state and nation, such as selenium in run-off from surface mines to treatment of water from natural gas wells,” Keith Pauley, MATRIC’s president and chief executive officer, said in a prepared statement.

This evening’s meeting will be in the Benedum Grand Lobby of the Clay Center.

There will be a reception from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., with presentations and awards at 6 p.m.

The start-ups launched by MATRIC are:

–NG Innovations Inc., which has deployed a large-scale system in western Pennsylvania that treats brine, a by-product of natural gas production.

–Liberty Hydrologic Systems Limited Liability Co., which has successfully deployed selenium removal units in West Virginia and Idaho.

–Polyplexx Limited Liability Co., which has demonstrated new transparent polymers for applications that require high-impact resistance.

–Certus Scientific Limited Liability Co., which has developed a product to help lunar vehicles land safely on the moon’s surface.

–Mountaineer Biofuels Limited Liability Co., which manufactures biodiesel fuel.

–Moonshine Fuel Ethanol Limited Liability Co., which makes ethanol from wood chips.

–Hydrus Membranes, which makes reverse osmosis membranes.

–Reactive Filtration Limited Liability Co., which manufactures membranes

–CNT Development, which develops carbon nanotubes.

MATRIC is headquartered in the South Charleston Technology Park. The organization has been seeking to hire as many Dow Chemical researchers as possible as Dow downsizes here. In MATRIC’s 2008 annual report, Pauley said the organization ended the year with more than 100 full- and part-time scientists, engineers, administrators and support personnel.

MATRIC has received funding from numerous sources:

–On April 27, the West Virginia Jobs Investment Trust — the state’s venture capital fund — loaned MATRIC $2 million. The first two years of the seven-year loan carry a 5 percent interest rate. MATRIC will pay the interest — but no principal — for the first two years. In the final five years, MATRIC will pay quarterly principal installments of $25,000 plus interest, which will be the prime interest rate plus 1 percent. The loan has a seven-year balloon and is amortized over 20 years. After seven years the $1.5 million in remaining principal will be refinanced or paid off. Gov. Joe Manchin endorsed state support for MATRIC; the Legislature appropriated the money.

–The city of South Charleston has committed to loaning MATRIC $100,000 each year for the next five years. Mayor Frank Mullens handed Pauley the first $100,000 check in April. The loan has an unusual feature: Every dollar MATRIC generates in city business and occupation tax will be deducted from the loan’s principal. MATRIC has 10 years to generate tax revenue to offset the principal. Mullens has said the loan is all about creating jobs.

–The Charleston Area Alliance has an ownership stake of about $200,000 in MATRIC and has extended a $250,000 line of credit.

Pauley said in April the Kanawha County Commission decided not to fulfill MATRIC’s request for $500,000.