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Luna Innovations receives Governor's Technology Award

Western Virginia-Based Company Acknowledged for Entrepreneurship

BLACKSBURG, VA, Sept. 19, 2005 – Luna Innovations, a technology development company headquartered in Blacksburg, VA, is the 2005 recipient of the Governor's Technology Award for Entrepreneurship – an honor that recognizes a business which best exemplifies the Virginia entrepreneurial spirit through use of technology to grow into new markets, to markedly increase jobs inside the Commonwealth of Virginia, and/or participate in local or regional business associations or activities.

Virginia Secretary of Technology Eugene J. Huang, presented the award to Ben Plowman, Luna’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, at the sixth annual awards ceremony held during the Commonwealth of Virginia Information Technology Symposium (COVITS) 2005 at the OMNI Hotel in Richmond on September 18.

"Luna is honored to be selected for such a distinguished award,” said Plowman. “Not only do we appreciate the recognition of such an award from the Virginia government, but I am gratified that our business model has allowed us to push the innovation process forward quickly, providing new jobs and opportunities throughout the Commonwealth.”

The spirit of entrepreneurship was fundamental to the creation of the company. That same spirit has led the growth that Luna is experiencing. Within the past five years, Luna has developed four new businesses and expanded to five locations. In spring 2004, the company opened Luna nanoWorks through a collaborative partnership with federal, state and local officials that brought new economy jobs to Danville--an economically challenged part of the state. In June 2005, came the announcement of a partnership with Carilion Health Systems to establish a biomedical cluster in Roanoke.

On September 1, the northern Virginia office opened in McLean in an effort to better serve both commercial and government partners.

The Governor’s Technology Awards program honors outstanding achievements and recognizes successful technology and economic development initiatives in the public and private sectors throughout the Commonwealth of Virginia.

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