Daytona Beach, Fla. (July 28, 2021) – Any company nearly tripling in size over a year would be a cause for celebration. To do that during a pandemic, is nearly unheard of.
But such is the case for Sensatek Propulsion Technology, who’s CEO Reamonn Soto was named Entrepreneur of the Year tonight by the Volusia County Business Incubator Powered by the UCF Business Incubation Program.
“Reamonn truly embodies everything an entrepreneur should represent,” says Connie Garzon, site manager, Volusia County Business Incubator. “What was certainly a year filled with obstacles did not stop Reamonn from pushing his company forward. In fact, he truly excelled.”
Sensatek Propulsion Technology develops and manufactures wireless, high-temperature, gas turbine sensors to measure heat transfer data for customers in several industries, such as energy, aviation, and aerospace.
Over the past 12 months, the company:
- Expanded from four employees to 11 employees with an average salary of $105,000.
- Hired its first Chief Technology Officer, Joshua McConkey. He was recruited out of Siemens Energy gas turbine hot gas path instrumentation group.
- Landed an Air Force Contract to deliver two on-blade systems for $550,000 which was featured in Forbes.
- Received $1,000,000 in additional awards from the federal SBIR program to continue research and development for passive radio frequency technology in other applications.
- Conducted two pilot demonstrations on very large gas turbine engines connected to the grid with very large utility customers for a Fortune 100 leading engine manufacturer.
“When we started this journey in 2015, we knew there was an opportunity to really push new technologies to provide better alerts for turbines,” Soto says. “This past year certainly showed the possibilities for the future of our company.
“I’m honored to be recognized in this manner, but every entrepreneur understands it was a team effort to get to this point and will be a team effort to move us to the next level too,” he added.
The award was given as part of the Volusia County Business Incubator’s 10-year anniversary celebration on Monday, July 26.
Also recognized were Cinda Bennett, president, Odor Control Products and Equipment, who was named Graduate of the Year and Lou Paris, founder, Morethanadormat and, director, Entrepreneurship Program, Stetson University, who was named Ambassador of the Year.
Over the past 10 years, the incubator and its clients have:
- Created nearly 1,000 full-time, high-wage jobs.
- Assisted more than 100 companies during their early stage of growth.
- Provided more than 8,000 hours of coaching for locally owned businesses.
- Held more than 1,500 training sessions.
- Provided a return on investment of $8.35 for every $1 of public investment.
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For more information, contact Connie Garzon associate director and site manager, at 386-872-3100 or Connie.garzon@ucf.edu or Alan Byrd, Alan Byrd & Associates, at 407-415-8470 or Alan@ByrdConnections.com
About Sensatek Propulsion Technology, Inc.: Sensatek Propulsion Technology, Inc. is a Venture Capital backed Delaware C-Corporation headquartered in Daytona Beach, Florida. Founded in 2015, Sensatek develops and manufactures passive RF sensors for combustion temperatures and blade tip measurements of gas turbine engines for clients in a variety of industries including energy, aviation, and aerospace. The company is funded by the National Science Foundation and its on-blade sensors are currently being demonstrated by leading OEMs. To learn more about Sensatek’s revolutionary technology, visit www.sensatek.com
About the UCF Business Incubation Program: The University of Central Florida Business Incubation Program is a community resource that provides early-stage companies with the tools, training and infrastructure to become financially stable, high growth/impact enterprises. Since 1999, this award-winning program has provided vital business development resources resulting in over 300 local startup companies reaching their potential faster and graduating into the community where they continue to grow and positively impact the local economy.
With seven facilities throughout the region, the UCF Business Incubation Program is an economic development partnership between the University of Central Florida, the Corridor, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia Counties, and the cities of Kissimmee, Orlando and Winter Springs. For the 2017/2018 fiscal years, the activities of these participating firms have helped to sustain more than 6,725 local jobs and have had a cumulative impact of over $725 million on regional GDP and over $1.3 billion on regional sales. During the same period, the program has returned more than $12.00 in state and local taxes for every $1.00 invested in the program. In addition, for every $1.00 of public investment the firms also produced $118 of additional regional GDP and $226 of regional sales. For more information, visit www.incubator.ucf.edu.
