Looking for more than just free muffins and coffee, close to 50 attendees went to the Innovative Technologies Complex on Tuesday to hear expert advice about consulting, manufacturing, marketing and funding information available to budding startups in central New York.
The event, entitled “Southern Tier Solutions Forum,” featured 17 booths from a variety of companies. Attendees were able to network with business representatives and learn how their company could help out.
Organizations tabling included Cornell Center for Materials Research (CCMR), FuzeHub, Integrated Electronics Engineering Center (IEEC), Small Scale Systems Integration & Packaging Center (S3IP), NYS Trade Adjustment Assistance Center (NYSTAAC), START-UP NY and the Fleishman Center.
Katelynn Hrywnak, project staff assistant for S3IP and event organizer, said she hoped students would be able to network and forge partnerships with the businesses at the event.
“The goal of the event is to network, collaborate [and] just kind of get to know how each booth here can be helping one another,” Hrywnak said. “I hope they can see what’s available in our community as well as the surrounding areas.”
Ercin Yildirim, a senior majoring in computer science, is developing software to create a smart bracelet business. He is currently working with the founder of IP Technology Farm to develop the product and came to the event to get feedback. He said the representatives advised him on how to use smart energy for his prototype.
“They are really helpful, and I think it’s a really good way to get your idea out there and get some feedback,” Yildirim said.
The companies present ranged in the services they provided, from tech support to learning how to navigate the grant-writing and funding processes. NYSTAAC, represented at the event by outreach specialist Teresa Stockton, is a federally funded program that works with companies hindered by foreign trade to increase sales and profits.
“We’re a hidden gem right now, and I don’t want to be a hidden gem,” Stockton said. “I want to be a shiny jewel to let people know that this tool is available because I really don’t feel it’s being utilized enough.”
IEEC and parent company S3IP have several initiatives, some that use the University’s resources, to help businesses create jobs and revenue. Their smart energy initiative creates new power products like batteries and hybrids, and representative Ron Kuracina stressed the importance of working with students to reach success.
“The University is a seed,” Kuracina said. “It is the key here, the center. It’s literally the reason that the rest of us exist.”
Hao Zhang, a third-year Ph.D. candidate studying electrical engineering, said the event helped him learn about top-notch industries, which will help him in the process of finding an internship.
“I just stay in the lab every day and am not very informed on the industrial side, so I can talk to the small company representatives and learn a lot,” Zhang said.
Emma Baudendistel, the administrative assistant for BU’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Partnerships and the representative for START-UP NY, said events like these help connect businesses with what they need.
“We really just connect them with who they need to be connected with to make their business strive,” Baudendistel said. “The campus has so many services that all these businesses could use, but they don’t really know about them, so that’s our job, to get the word out.”