Catalysts for Intellectual Capital 2020

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.

On February 4th, this year’s class participated in a session that included CIC2020 alumni and community partners to set the stage for this year’s project. The agenda can be found here on pressconnects.com. CIC2020 Alumni and founder Jason Kaye, MBA student Craig Broccoli, and senior Mollie Shapiro were present to introduce the students to CIC’s history and previous work. Our other community professionals that joined us included Jason Gdovin with Diamond Visionics, Matt Wallen with Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, & Emma Jacobs from WSKG

During the session,  groups comprised of students and community partners responded to questions that included, “Why did you come to Binghamton and what attracted you to the campus?”Many responded with the high quality of education, beautiful campus, affordability, and balances as factors in their decisions. Students were also asked to consider: “How to encourage enterprise in Binghamton as undergrads, graduates, and on? How can we encourage students to become entrepreneurs?”

Videos of the presentations are viewable to the public on our CIC2020 YouTube Channel. Pictures can be seen below. Take a look!

On Wednesday, February 2nd, the Pro-seminar explored Livability Principles. We connected livability with sustainability, learned about the impact of student housing & mixed-use development, and about student housing in downtown Binghamton.

Our guest speakers included:
Merry Harris, Director of the Binghamton Economic Development Office (BEDO) and Executive Director of the Binghamton Local Development Corporation (BLDC)
Omar Sanders, Economic Development Specialist for BEDO and the Financial Analyst for the BLDC
Dave Currie, Executive Director of Binghamton Regional Sustainability Coalition and member of Livable Communities Alliance
Jake McNally, CIC2020 student who interned for the City of Binghamton last fall

We discussed what makes a community livable. Is it harmony, cleanliness, assets, the job market, culture, greenery, transportation, safety, or affordable housing? All attribute to the ‘quality of life’, which is a direction of the sustainability movement. Discussion focused on the Well-being/Happiness movement: Livability, Smart Growth, & Sustainability; mixed-use opportunities downtown get people on the streets; and how the “visitor impact” on downtown can be measured.

On January 28th, students had the opportunity to learn about fellow 2011 Pro-Seminar students to promote team building, collaboration, and communication. This year’s class is shown participating in a human knot competition. The class was split into two teams, in which quick response and team collaboration were a must!

Following the leadership session, the class attended a “Meet and Greet” at 20 Hawley Street, site to the new luxury student housing. CIC2020 has been a strong advocate for student housing in downtown Binghamton.

In the past year, the group has developed a relationship with the Weissman Real Estate Inc., owners of both 20 Hawley St. and the Binghamton Riverwalk and Conference Center. The Weissman family has a visionary economic development plan for the region.

The session was an introduction to next class, which focuses on Livability Principles and continues the conversation on economic development.