COLUMBIA, SC - SCRA, a global leader in applied research and commercialization services, and SC BIO will merge.

With this agreement, SC BIO will now operate under the Advanced Technology Institute, an SCRA affiliate. The current SC BIO facility in Greenwood, SC, will retain its operation locally as a strategic center for biotechnology, research and development.

"This merger is a logical next step that creates substantial value for customers and clients of both ATI and SC BIO," said Rick Self, ATI President.

SC BIO works with research centers such as the Greenwood Genetic Center, the South Carolina research universities: Clemson University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the University of South Carolina; Savannah River National Laboratory, and NOAA/Hollings Marine Complex to commercialize promising technologies and support new company formations.

SC BIO performs technology reviews, market evaluations and additional support activities for early-stage companies which bring biotechnology into South Carolina's economy.

Ambrose Schwallie, the current SC BIO CEO, will serve as an ATI Vice President and a member of ATI's senior management team. As an experienced executive, he has served as President and CEO of Westinghouse Savannah River Company, President of the Government Business Unit and President of the Defense Business Unit at Washington Group International, and most recently, CEO of Distributed Energy Systems Corporation. His career has been focused on working with clean fossil, nuclear and alternative fuels, as well as bioremediation and environmental science technologies.

"Combining the strengths of these two groups enables an integrated approach to further development of life sciences commercialization in South Carolina," said Schwallie.

"SCRA believes that the pairing of SC BIO's resources in biotechnology with ATI's deep expertise in its core markets will accelerate bio-oriented, knowledge-based economic development outcomes to South Carolina companies," said Bill Mahoney, SCRA CEO.