By GREGORY ZELLER //
A reborn regional commercialization collaboration has received a $1.25 million boost from New York State.
Accelerate Long Island is one of five Innovation Hot Spots recognized this week by Empire State Development, Albany’s main economic engine, through ESD’s Regional Economic Development Council initiative and the agency’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR).
Each Innovation Hot Spot – one apiece in the Long Island, New York City, Mohawk Valley, Mid-Hudson and Capital regions – will receive $250,000 per year for five years to help them connect with entrepreneurs and promote product or service commercialization.
Three Certified Business Incubators – Hudson River Housing (Mid-Hudson Region), the Olean Business Development Corp. (Western Region) and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Business Incubation Program (Capital Region) – will earn $125,000 per year for five years.
Hope Knight: Daunting tasks.
The eight award-winners are among 10 Innovation Hot Spots and 20 Certified Business Incubators recognized by NYSTAR, which awards funding to the 30 designees on a competitive basis. Competitive application packages are reviewed by regional council and ESD representatives, with funding awards earmarked for annual operating costs and to help the entities create new commercialization programming.
“Nothing is more daunting than taking an idea and turning it into a business,” noted Empire State Development President and CEO Hope Knight. “These designations, and the funding that follows, demonstrate our continued commitment to supporting budding companies with the support they need to be successful in New York State.”
The total $1.25 million in funding will be a huge help to Accelerate Long Island, which has returned to its vocational roots after transforming into more of a business-funding vehicle.
The unique collaboration of Hofstra University, Stony Brook University, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Northwell Health always had a funding component – and was pretty good at it, ultimately dispersing more than $3 million in government and private funding and generating $70 million-plus in follow-on government and private investments
But Accelerate was primarily intended to promote commercialization collaborations between the partner institutions – basically, to speed up the creation and launch of new businesses built around Long Island’s cutting-edge scientific research – and that mission has come front and center again.
Stacey Sikes: Adding on.
There’s more to creating a business than startup capital, according to Accelerate Long Island Board of Directors Chairwoman Stacey Sikes, who framed NYSTAR’s Innovation Hot Spot designation and funding as big wins for Accelerate’s current and future programming.
“Accelerate Long Island was created to support our region’s startups,” Sikes told Innovate Long Island. “This new award … will enable the organization to continue to help entrepreneurs grow their companies on Long Island, partnering with business incubators at Stony Brook University, Hofstra University, Broad Hollow Bioscience Park and New York Institute of Technology.”
Sikes – a former Hofstra executive dean whoascended to the board chair earlier this year, and also serves as vice president of government affairs and communications at the Long Island Association – was mum about specific uses for the $250,000 in annual funding.
But it will definitely be a big help to the regional business accelerator’s once-and-future mission to “capitalize on Long Island’s world-class research and academic assets, commercialize technologies and [create] a place where startups will expand and prosper,” she noted.
“Over the past 12 years, the Accelerate Long Island Board (of Directors) has been committed to supporting our innovation economy,” Sikes added. “The $1.25 million grant … will allow us to build upon those efforts so we can continue to foster a vibrant startup community.”
