Dow Chemical $20,000 Sustainability Award to be Granted at the 2008 Rice Business Plan Competition

HOUSTON– March 11, 2008 -- The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) will award $20,000 to the Rice Business Plan Competition (RBPC) team whose business plan best supports one or more of Dow’s 2015 Sustainability Goals. This is the second year that Dow has teamed with the Rice Alliance for Technology & Entrepreneurship, the host of the competition along with the Jones Graduate School of Management, Rice University to grant the “Dow Sustainability Award” at the Competition.  

“The Dow Sustainability Award encourages the identification and development of breakthrough technologies, in tandem with viable business models,” says Christopher M. Jones, Ph.D, Dow Venture Capital. “Partnerships with Universities like Rice are critical to Dow’s long-term business strategy and the demands of sustainability. Dow knows it is imperative to identify solutions to the greatest challenges facing our global community and to create businesses around those solutions to ensure they are sustainable.”

The six 2008 sustainability flight competitors are:

• Kennesaw State University, Georgia for HydroCoal Technologies (cleaner, more efficient coal)
• University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, for Everlighting Innovation (LED Lighting)
• University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, for Throne Recycling Technologies (tire recycling)
• BITS Pilani, India, for VIDYUT SHAKTI (jatropha powered electricity)
• HarvardUniversity for Enexra (more efficient solar power)
  
• University of Virginia for HuskPower Systems (rice husk powered electricity)

Brad Burke, managing director, Rice Alliance said, “The Dow Sustainability Award further demonstrates the worldwide leadership role that Dow is providing in seeking technology breakthroughs to improve the quality of life for those who face daily the challenges to satisfy basic human needs: water, housing, food, health,and energy.  Dow’s support for this prize builds on the rich legacy of Dow leadership in solving some of the world’s most pressing problems.”

Dow’s 2015 Sustainability Goals have abroad external focus that includes strengthening relationships with communities they operate in,continuing to improve product stewardship and innovation, and reducing the company’s globalfootprint.
 
The winner of the Dow Sustainability Award will also qualify to compete for the overall Grand Prize at the 2008 Rice Business Plan Competition.  The Grand Prize winner will receive up to $325,000 in cash and prizes. The 2007 winner of the Dow Sustainability Award was Babson College for Feed Resource Recovery, www.feedresource.com, which utilizes innovative technology to produce electricity on-site from waste materials.
 
The 2008 Rice Business Plan Competition will take place April 3-5.  The competition has grown to become the largest and richest intercollegiate MBA/graduate-level business plan competition in the world, with more prize money, more teams competing, and more judges than any other competition.  In 2008,more than $600,000 in total cash and prizes will be announced at the Awards Banquet on Saturday night, April 5, at the Intercontinental Hotel, Houston, TX.  
 
The competition will welcome 36 of the world’s top MBA/graduate schools to compete at Rice University in Houston, Texas, in front of a judging panel of over 160 venture capitalists,investors, and business executives.  The competition will conclude with an Awards Banquet that over 500 business leaders and executives will attend.

About the Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship
The Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship (Rice Alliance) is Rice University's flagship initiative devoted to the support of technology entrepreneurship.  The Rice Alliance is a collaboration among the Brown School of Engineering, the Jones Graduate School of Management, and the Wiess School of Natural Science.
 
Since its inception in late-1999, the Rice Alliance has assisted in the launch over 210 new technology companies, which have raised more than $350 million in early stage funding. The mission of the Rice Alliance is to support the creation of technology-based companies and the commercialization of new technologies.  The Rice Alliance provides entrepreneurs with a collaborative network and forum for support, education, and exchange of ideas.  It offers entrepreneurs access to the human and financial capital needed for success. For more information visit www.alliance.rice.edu.

About The Dow Chemical Company
With annual sales of $54 billion and 46,000employees worldwide, Dow is a diversified chemical company that combines the power of scienceand technology with the "Human Element” to constantly improve what is essential to humanprogress. The Company delivers a broad range of products and services to customers in around 160countries, connecting chemistry and innovation with the principles of sustainability to helpprovide everything from fresh water, food and pharmaceuticals to paints, packaging and personalcare products. References to “Dow” or the “Company” mean The Dow Chemical Company and itsconsolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Dow can befound at www.dow.com.