Hofstra University National Center for Suburban Studies

Entrepreneurs March 19, 2020

All things being unequal, Hofstra’s Challenge lives on

By GREGORY ZELLER // Health equity – a concept freshly redefined by our times – takes center stage in this year’s Healthcare Entrepreneurship Community Challenge. Hofstra University’s long-running entrepreneurship competition is offering $50,000-plus in cash and business-resource prizes to early-stage enterprises addressing socialized healthcare problems in underserved Long Island, New York City and Hudson Valley communities. This year’s “challenge topic” is “advancing health equity,” focused on innovative products and services that “improve the total health…

Voices November 8, 2019

When workforce development met entrepreneurism

By ROSALIE DRAGO // This has certainly been a busy year for workforce development – especially if you know what workforce development truly is. In 2019, in this space, we’ve discussed key tools for robust and impactful workforce development, including equitable and inclusive growth strategies; leveraging relationships between economic developers, employers and high-school educators; and evaluating the work-first and college-first paths. But we haven’t focused specifically on one of the most critical components of workforce…

Economic Development September 10, 2019

The ‘underserved’ aim high, via Ascend Long Island

By GREGORY ZELLER // The rubber meets the roads Thursday at Hofstra University, when the innovative Ascend Long Island program holds its first-ever “procurement conference.” Combining small Nassau County businesses and buyers from bigger regional corporations and government agencies, the conference is built to bolster Ascend Long Island’s primary mission: to provide essential business resources, primarily capital, to early stage enterprises in underserved Nassau communities. Specifically, what Hofstra calls “The Corridor:” the villages of Hempstead…

Awards and Events June 25, 2019

Social justice shines in annual ERASE Racism awards

By GREGORY ZELLER // A civic-minded entrepreneur, a leading Long Island educator and a longtime champion of social-equality causes have been honored by the region’s most progressive civil rights group. Syosset-based ERASE Racism, which formed in 2001 to lead public-policy advocacy and regional initiatives promoting social justice, has saluted its 2019 award-winners, each responsible for promoting equity in education, housing and other critical social arenas. Jericho-based low-income housing developer Georgica Green Ventures earned the ERASE…