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“At its heart is its entrepreneurial spirit designed to cultivate support and grow the high technology companies of the future, while helping to shape the advancements of tomorrow. It’s the embodiment of the best the Southern Tier has to offer and will serve as a catalyst to spur more.” – U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer
The Koffman Southern Tier Incubator opened last week. This new $19 million, 35,000 square foot facility includes offices, high-tech labs, co-working space and more – all with the intent to encourage collaboration and provide support for entrepreneurs.
“It’s essential to help startups be successful in the Southern Tier,” said Dan Mori, Director of Business Incubation at Binghamton University.
The state-of-the-art laboratories and facilities at the Southern Tier Incubator will provide inventors with the opportunity to further their R&D through testing, evaluating and prototyping in connection with research and educational programming at Binghamton University and SUNY Broome. Residents also have access to resources including workshops, mentorship, tech transfer assistance and business services to help grow their companies and create jobs for the region.
“At its heart is its entrepreneurial spirit designed to cultivate support and grow the high technology companies of the future, while helping to shape the advancements of tomorrow. It’s the embodiment of the best the Southern Tier has to offer and will serve as a catalyst to spur more.” – U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer
Located at 120 Hawley Street in Binghamton, several local businesses, government agencies, academic institutions and philanthropists came together to build what Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger describes as “a place to gather” and “for companies to graduate from.”
“We have an incubator program that is designed to take no more than two years to help companies create a solid business model, strengthen organizational structure, create efficient operations, produce effective customer relations, and ultimately graduate out into the Southern Tier with a sustainable and successful growing company,” added Mori. “We also have an Accelerator Program that compacts the incubator program into six months, and is designed to take pre-revenue companies through this process and onto generating revenue.”
The incubator is also included in Binghamton University’s START-UP NY tax-free program, giving qualified tenants up to 10 years of tax relief. In addition, the incubator participates in the Southern Tier Hotspot tax-free initiative.
Current tenants include Key Branding Labs and SouthSixty Productions, with several more to come. “We currently have 17 companies engaged (or committed to be engaged) with the Southern Tier Incubator in various capacities.
How can the community help?
Dan says the community is welcome to provide services and support to the startups through volunteering, mentoring and providing founders with industry connections.
“Really, just supporting this initiative as a Startup Community where entrepreneurs are encouraged to come, grow and stay.”
Contact Dan -> dmori@binghamton.edu
Want to take a tour?
The Southern Tier Incubator has several Open Houses planned. Check out the Drive Binghamton Event Calendar for dates.