Dr. Hikoko Sato, a technology-transfer specialist representing a consortium of 10 universities and two technology-licensing centers in Japan, has begun a four-month training residency at our supporting member the SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator, in the City of Dunkirk. For the official university news release, click the first link.

Dr. Sato's residency is funded by the participating Japanese institutions and the national Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry (METI). One of her goals is to bring back to Japan a better understanding of the role of university-affiliated incubators within the SUNY system for intellectual-property management and technology licensing.

While she is in residence, Dr. Sato will also examine ways to connect university faculty and incubator tenants to opportunities for collaboration and cross-licensing with members of her consortium.

Our supporting member SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator held a grand opening ceremony for its new 21,000 square-foot, two-story facility on Central Avenue in Dunkirk. (Fact sheet including major funding sources here, and photo gallery here.) The happy event was covered by the Dunkirk Observer, the Buffalo News, and Buffalo Business First. Congratulations to all! 

fixBuffalo Blog, a blog focusing on the ups and downs of community renewal in Buffalo, especially in the hard-hit neighborhoods of the East Side, has a Flickr photostream following the progress of construction at the UB/Kaleida Health Clinical and Translational Research Center being built at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus east of Main Street.

The thumbnail is of the construction sign in September. Click it to see a full-sized photo showing how UB's Downtown Biomedical Incubator is featured as an integral component of the UB/Kaleida Global Vascular Institute project. Photo courtesy of David Torke, fixBuffalo Blog. The photostream gets updated from time to time.

Robert H. Fritzinger, a serial telecommunications entrepreneur and lifelong resident of Western New York, has been named the new director of our supporting member SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator.

He takes over the reins in time to preside over the Dec. 21st grand opening of the Fredonia incubator's new 21,000 square-foot, two-story facility on Central Avenue in the City of Dunkirk.

Bob will be moving his latest venture, Zenhire, from the Technology Incubator at UB into the Fredonia Incubator as one of the early tenants, among a planned total of 30.

For the official university release, click here. For additional coverage in Buffalo Business First, here. Congratulations, Bob! 

New SUNY chancellor Nancy Zimpher highlighted the role of our supporting member the SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator in serving as an economic engine for the City of Dunkirk, during her first visit to the Fredonia campus. The incubator is currently under construction and due to open in the fall. See the preceding link for coverage in the Dunkirk Observer. 

Here is a recap of the four clean/renewable-energy incubators created as a result of contracts issued earlier in the year by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). We are very proud that all four of these NYSERDA-sponsored clean-energy incubators are affiliated with business incubators that were already members of our association. Here is a table showing which programs have been announced, and providing links to press releases, fact sheets, and other materials as they become available.

And don't forget that NYSERDA's own Saratoga Technology + Energy Park® is itself a supporting member of our association. Here's a new video describing NYSERDA's "knowledge community" at STEP®.

Ground has been broken at the Buffalo Niagara Medical campus for new, 10-story, $291 million research and clinical building that will include a new downtown biomedical incubator to be operated by SUNY's University at Buffalo.

The new Global Vascular Institute building is shared by Kaleida Health, the nonprofit operator of Buffalo General Hospital and other healthcare facilities, and UB's new Clinical and Translational Research Center. Among the five floors to be occupied by UB will be 40,000 square feet dedicated to a new biomedical incubator.

UB's Office of Science, Technology and Economic Outreach (STOR), which operates the long-standing Technology Incubator at the university's campus in suburban Amherst, is a founding supporting member of our association.

For the UB press release including a video see the first link above. Additional coverage has appeared in The Buffalo News.

A new regional "seed fund" that will make convertible-note investments of up to $30,000 in early-stage technology companies will be hosted by our supporting member the SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator, according to a press release (pdf version attached to this item) issued by the County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency, which provided the startup grant for the fund.

The Chautauqua Seed Fund is a collaboration of Chautauqua County Executive Gregory J. Edwards, the Chautauqua Region Industrial Development Corporation, the Fredonia incubator, and the City of Dunkirk. The fund will be based at the incubator, which is situated in the City of Dunkirk, and the incubator will provide assistance to businesses completing applications to the fund.

UPDATE: Coverage in the Dunkirk Observer.