The Chronicle of Higher Education, the widely read national trade journal that covers academia, highlighted the 160 Varick Street incubator operated by our supporting member NYU-Poly in a lengthy feature (subscription only but short teaser available here). The article describes the role of the incubation program in helping Prof. Richard Gross launch a company to make biodegradable plastics and other products, based on discoveries made at his NYU-Poly laboratory.

All the partners in the 160 Varick Street incubator operated by our supporting member NYU-Poly incubator program celebrated the one-year anniversary of the space, and the imminent graduation of five startups incubated over the past year.

For coverage of the event and the graduations, please see the online Wall Street Journal and Crain's New York Business. For background on the arrangement among NYU-Poly, the City of New York, and building owner Trinity Real Estate, please see the news release issued jointly by the New York City Economic Development Corporation and NYU-Poly. A short video is embedded after the break.

The five tenants set to graduate, according to Crain's, are:

• Ecological
• Pixable
• iTB Holdings
• CB Insights
• The Hotlist

The 160 Varick St. incubator operated by our supporting member NYU-Poly was the focus of a recent Investors Business Daily story on college incubation. The article highlights several high-profile Varick Street tenant-clients and is available on the investors.com website.

The business-incubation programs at the Polytechnic Institute of NYU (NYU-Poly) and SUNY Downstate Medical Center, both supporting members of our association, collaborated on hosting the 2010 annual members' meeting of our association. Several presentations and announcements are attached.

Building on a NYSERDA business-development program review we produced at NYU-Poly the previous day (those presentations will be posted in a few more days), our annual meeting was dedicated in part to exploring the question of how better to connect startup and early-stage companies statewide to the uniquely powerful financial and business resources of New York City.

A discussion panel of distinguished guests (see photo gallery) included:

• Kathryn Wylde, president and CEO of the Partnership for New York City;
• Steve Cohen, NYS deputy commissioner of economic development for economic empowerment and small business at Empire State Development;
• Brian McMahon, executive director of the New York State Economic Development Council; and
• Richard Honen, co-chair of the Capital and Innovation Group at Phillips Lytle LLP and managing director of the firm's Albany office.

More detail and presentations after the break. Read more

Our association's newest member is The Stern Incubator, housed at the Berkley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at NYU's Leonard N. Stern School of Business. The Stern Incubator serves as a catalyst for new ventures founded by students at Stern's undergraduate or MBA programs, or by recent MBA alumni.

Incubating companies receive mentoring and advisory services, access to professional-development seminars and networking events, technical assistance and business support, and on-site access to office equipment, conference rooms and other facilities. The Stern Incubator is closely coordinated with other activities of the Berkley Center such as Stern's Annual Business Plan Competition. We warmly welcome The Stern Incubator to membership!

WNYW Fox 5 New York recently provided an excellent summary of our member Sunshine Suites, which operates two facilities in Manhattan, one on Desbrosses Street in Tribeca and on Lafayette Street near NYU's Washington Square campus. You can find the video archived on the myfoxny.com website, or embedded after the break. This is an excellent explanation of how a for-profit company can operate an office-suites program that "graduates" entrepreneurs into the broader real-estate market and general economy. Read more

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and other local dignitaries have announced initial development of the first 56,000 square feet of what will eventually be 486,000 square feet of commercial bioscience space at the City-owned Brooklyn Army Terminal in the Sunset Park neighborhood, overlooking Upper New York Bay. For the full City news release and video of remarks by the mayor and others, click the first link or at the NYCEDC website here. Architectural renderings are here. Wall Street Journal coverage here.

Called BioBAT, the development is conceived partly as "graduation space" for the Advanced Biotechnology Incubator of our supporting member SUNY Downstate. BioBAT is being developed by a nonprofit corporation whose board includes representatives of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and the SUNY Research Foundation among others.