Cornell University

The Southern Tier Innovation Hot Spot (STIHS), which is a collaboration among Binghamton University, Cornell University, Corning Inc., and the Ceramics Corridor Innovation Center, will develop of a Hardware Entrepreneurship Ecosystem (HEE) in the Southern Tier region of New York State.  The HEE leverages the investment of New York State, Cornell University, Binghamton University, and Corning, Inc. in the STIHS and the Small Business Administration’s investment in the pilot Southern Tier Hardware Accelerator program at Rev: Ithaca Startup Works to enable a product entrepreneurship ecosystem in central upstate New York.

The STIHS will encourage job creation and economic diversification by helping people start and grow companies in the Southern Tier region, which has unparalleled innovation assets.  The Southern Tier is comprised of eight counties of southern upstate New York, including Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins counties.  Adding to existing and longstanding regional assets, the Hot Spot was announced in 2014 as one of 50 winners of the Small Business Administration’s Accelerator Fund program, which saw over 800 applicants.  This program provides $50,000 in funding for a pilot Hardware Accelerator program at Rev in 2015.  These innovation assets represent the foundation of a vibrant hardware entrepreneurial ecosystem, leading to significantly higher levels of commercialization and technology transfer activity.  This will, in turn, contribute greatly to increased startup company creation, increases in the tax base, and increases in employment throughout the region.

The HEE will combine the region’s strengths in engineering, materials science, and manufacturing with cutting-edge business incubation, acceleration and entrepreneurship theory and practice to accelerate the development of product-oriented startups and grow the region’s economy and employment.  This proposed project will help re-establish the identity of the Southern Tier as a great place to start and grow a product manufacturing company.