BIDDEFORD — Every year, the Smaller Business Association of New England award showcases the most innovative companies in New England and for 2017, the winning company hails from Biddeford.

Fiber Materials Inc., a Biddeford company that develops and manufactures high temperature materials and composites, has been awarded the 2017 Smaller Business Association of New England Innovation Award. A total of 194 projects and services from New England companies were reviewed for consideration for the award by the SBANE awards committee.

FMI joins a prestigious list of former winners of the innovation award including notable companies such as Staples, Ben & Jerry’s, Brooks Automation, Genzyme, Imagitas!, Hubspot and iRobot.

“Winning the prestigious SBANE Innovation Award showcases FMI’s commitment as a leader in composite and material solutions which push the boundaries of design,” said Dan Godbout, WW sles and marketing director at FMI. “Our PMC material is a revolutionary solution for high performance products which require a high strength to weight ratio. This 3D polymer matrix composite shows promise with applications such as prosthetics, high-performance race vehicles and aerospace.”

A material solutions company that offers a range of capabilities to support the most challenging applications from concept to production, FMI is a recognized leader in the manufacture of high-temperature composite materials.

It produces components and products that serve a range of applications from industrial insulation and friction hardware, and from thermal protection systems to rocket motors and nose tips. FMI materials can be found inside industrial furnaces, at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., and on the surface of Mars aboard NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover. 

The company was recognized for the innovation award for developing PMC, a lightweight, high-strength fiber-reinforced composite capable of withstanding a wide range of challenging thermal and environmental conditions. 

PMC uses a proprietary 3D weaving technique that improves material performance with uncrimped fibers and placed fiber reinforcements in three or more directions, allowing fiber volumes to be varied for specific applications. FMI’s PMC material can be used in high-performance applications in the automotive, spacecraft, marine, and medical device industries.

“For 32 years, SBANE has done a remarkable job of identifying winners whose technology, services and ideas represent how truly innovative the New England ecosystem is. This year has been no exception,” said SBANE’s New England Innovation Awards Committee Chairman, Todd Faber, President of The Faber Group.

He said that each and every one of the SBANE winners are leaders in their field, driving forward innovation helping to make New England companies far superior to any other region in the country, let alone the world.

“As the SBANE Circle of Excellence welcomes the class of 2017, I can honestly say it is one of our best yet,” Faber said.”

The Smaller Business Association of New England, Inc. was founded in 1938 and is a private not-for-profit association of more than 600 member companies located throughout the six-state region of New England.

SBANE was established to provide a legislative voice for small business at the state and federal levels and to make practical information available to help business owners grow their companies. The organization offers diverse, educational programs each year and its membership is characterized by a high degree of participation, reflected in a large and dynamic committee structure, addressing a range of topics from international trade to human resources.

— Executive Editor Ed Pierce can be reached at 282-1535 ext. 326 or by email at editor@journaltribune.com

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