ETSU’s Depelteau looks to help foreign clean tech come to U.S.

ETSU entrance on State of Franklin Road, Johnson City

East Tennessee State University’s Dr. Audrey Depelteau is spending this week at the 2024 SelectUSA Investment Summit in National Harbor, Maryland.

This is the premier event in the United States dedicated to promoting foreign direct investment. Over 5,000 people from more than 80 countries attend this annual event hosted by the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Participants attend to gain insight into the latest policy and investment trends, make connections and initiate meaningful business relationships.

Depelteau, director of the ETSU Innovation Lab, is serving as a judge in a CleanTech Pitching Session, in which innovative technology startups from the clean technology sector looking to the U.S. market for growth and expansion pitch their products and services.

This invitation makes Depelteau the first judge from the state of Tennessee to serve at the SelectUSA Investment Summit, which is now in its 10th year and continues through Thursday, June 26. In addition to judging, she has an ETSU table in the exhibit hall and is working with the ETSU Research Corporation and the university’s International Enrollment and Services staff to recruit more international companies and students to ETSU.

Last year, Depelteau was the first Tennessean invited to speak at the summit.

Working in partnership with the ETSU Research Corporation, the Innovation Lab is a high-tech business incubator that helps aspiring entrepreneurs develop technologies from concept to commercialization. The Innovation Lab has been a certified International Soft Landings Designation since 2015.

Depelteau and her team focus on producing solutions to global problems, serving as a nexus between entrepreneurs, educational institutions, economic development councils and the international business community.

East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.