Catalysts for Intellectual Capital 2020

This year’s Pro-Seminar students were invited to visit Susan Jablon Mosaics in Vestal, NY on Friday, April 1st. Students were asked to respond to 3 questions after experiencing a tour of the facility and the unique story of the business. Below are some student reactions to the experience:

The key is to keep moving on to keep ahead of the crowd. -Rafi Pryntz-Nadworny

For Susan, she faced a great deal of roadblocks but wasn’t afraid to work against them.
-Elena Cox

This will help me greatly in the future because it reassures me that I don’t have to fit a specific pre-determined mold to be successful. -Leah Ferentinos

Based on her dedication and perseverance it seems like it would be nearly impossible for someone to succeed unless they truly had a passion for what they do.-Ross Youmans

I had never before realized the scalability of local artistic enterprise…Second, entrepreneurship takes a passion and an unrelenting will. -Greg Schunk

You can tell that she loves what she does, and her education and work experience have guided her to the point of success where she is at today. -Kaille Karst

Her success demonstrates that liberal arts students are as likely to become entrepreneurs as business students. -Dani Gargia

It is clear that Friday’s session was a time of inspiration and learning for the class. In the weeks to come the class will be planning its final presentation and culmination of this year’s research. Be sure to stay tuned for the next post!

On Friday March 11th the class took a trip to Ithaca, NY to observe the practices by Alternatives Federal Credit Union and its impact on the local community in its role in fostering revitalization and development through business. The following post is a blog response from Pro-seminar student Katty Polyak:

Friday the class experienced a non-traditional approach to “banking”. It is really a cutting edge new way to do transactions, neglecting the concept of maximizing profit, and relying more on community development.

I learned that Credit Unions have checking and saving accounts just like banks. Prior to this trip, I didn’t really know what Credit Unions had to offer and was just generally unfamiliar with them. Of course, I was surprised to hear that Alternatives also tried to help the community by providing loans and funding to small busineses. I am still somewhat unsure on whether a credit union like Alternatives would be a better option for an individual bank account, though I would definitely say it offers advantages to business owners.

Business Cents is a program for people thinking about starting a new business. They go through all aspects of the business plan including financing and feasibility. I think this is similar to the Entrepreneurship program offered for small businesses at Broome County Community College. I really liked the Individual Development Accounts (IDAs). They are set up to match savings for consumers with goals like buying a home, owning a business, or higher education. Thus far, I am not aware of a program like this in Binghamton. Perhaps one of the credit unions would be willing to start such a program, though it may not fit their mission statement. A grant of some sort would probably be necessary to set up such a program independent of the credit unions.

In regards to putting a student incubator on campus, I learned more about the financing side of small businesses. It would be great to have financing options incorporated into the student incubator. I think in order to do this we would need to contact the credit unions in the area to learn what programs they could offer to student entrepreneurs.

Friday, March 4th was an afternoon full of inspiration and mentorship, as this years pro-seminar students met with local entrepreneurs, city officials, and community partners to discuss entrepreneurship. The day offered an opportunity for students to ask questions of the panelists as well as learn about the resources that are available, such as programs and various initiatives, to support entrepreneurial endeavors in the Greater Binghamton Area. For another look at the session, you can view a YNN news story that aired on Friday evening.

A special thank you to our guests that participated in Economic Roundtable on Entrepreneurship at City Hall:

Bill Ritter, SCORE
Doug Boyce, Small Business Development Center
Janet Hertzog, Entrepreneurship Assistance Program
Kathryn Fletcher, BiziLife Ventures
Kim DeLisa, Orion Beauty & Balance
Merry Harris & Omar Sanders, Binghamton Local Development Corporation
Natalia Williams, Integrated Office Services
Scott Hancock, Binghamton University Office of Technology Transfer

This year’s CIC2020 ProSeminar class would like to extend their gratitude for a wonderful tour of the downtown area presented by Doug Camin and Joel Boyd. We can not thank you enough for your time and being involved with this year’s project!

Insider’s perspective from student, Chris Paquette:

On Friday, February 18th, I took part in an exceptional tour of the downtown Binghamton area. The tour included stops to areas such as the local business incubator, Jungle Science (a local Art gallery), the outside of the government buildings on Hawley Street, and a local recording studio called On Point Productions. T

he tour supplemented our classes’ overall theme of integrating the on-going efforts of the local community with the energy of the Binghamton University student body to create and spur the development of businesses and “creative capital”. The field trip introduced our class to a variety of community members who have had success in business. This, in turn, has nurtured a sense of value and resources that the area can offer to a newly formed start-up. By introducing us to the men and women who have had success, we can advocate and spread the word about the area to the those students who may be interested in starting up their own business venture.

Friday started off on an exciting note with a class picture taken by Binghamton University’s photographer Jonathan Cohen in the Events Center. Our cohort of Binghamton students, CIC Alumni & friends, took part in a full day of inspiration and knowledge at Syracuse University. Students and community members came together to tour the Falcone Center of Entrepreneurship within the Whitman School of Management, Couri Hatchery, and South Side Innovation Center; all best practices encouraging student enterprise.

This year’s pro-seminar class met students with current businesses, as well as the faculty and staff of the various Entrepreneurship programs at S.U. Presentations were given by Professors of Entrepreneurship, Alex McKelvie and Johan Wiklund, as well as Mike Haynie from the Entrepreneurship Boot camp for Veterans. The group also met with Executive Director of the Falcone Center of Entrepreneurship, Tom Kruczek and Program Manager Mirza Tihic to discuss the Falcone Center’s initiatives, including the Panasci Business Plan Competition and D’Aniello Internship Program.

After lunch, the group saw the South Side Innovation Center which housed the incubator and Community Test Kitchen. Both programs were unique in what they offered and their impact has been immense in the community. They are prime examples in encouraging entrepreneurship and providing programs that support the difficult process of transferring knowledge from an idea to a concrete business. The goal of the trip was to try to better understand the programs and how to bring similar ones to the Binghamton.