Update on the BNMC Inc.

For nearly 20 years, the BNMC Inc. has been an organization built around the concept that bringing diverse groups of people together drives innovation and builds community. Throughout that time, “together” has meant in person. Moving to a remote workplace may have challenged our work, but it definitely hasn’t stopped our dedication to leveraging opportunities to solve problems, strengthen partnerships, and continuously learn from each other.

 

How are we doing this? We’ve shifted all of our work councils to virtual meetings, ensuring that our partners are still able to “see” each other and benefit from longstanding relationships. We continue to manage and monitor the parking and transportation system across the Campus, and continue to keep the grounds clean and safe for the essential staff, patients, and visitors that are on the Medical Campus each day. Our team is also still advancing planning efforts around infrastructure, healthy food access, building operations and management, and community-building on and around the Campus.

 

We will never get used to seeing the Innovation Center empty, our usually bustling building stilled as our friends and colleagues adhere to social distancing and working from home, but we continue to engage with our tenants and partners. We have moved some of our programming and social gatherings online, and our next series of IC Success begins virtually tomorrow.  We are also offering a small business seminar for our Neighborhood Explorer business this week in partnership with Lumsden & McCormick.

 

We continue to join our peer districts around the globe through the Global Institute for Innovation Districts for regular video calls to stay in touch. It is sobering to hear from our European colleagues, especially those in Switzerland, just 10 minutes from the Italian border, but encouraging to see the research and discovery around COVID-19 also coming from these districts. We discuss how this pandemic makes all of our focus on innovating and strengthening transportation and energy systems, building healthy communities, integrating technology, and encouraging creativity even more necessary, and wonder what it will look like moving forward. Some of the work being done in Buffalo to fight COVID-19 was featured in GIID’s recent blog.

 

We’ve also recently partnered with Mission:Ignite and Say Yes Buffalo to provide home computers for students in the Buffalo Public School district, creating a connection that helps increase access to technology and education for students who did not otherwise have that opportunity. We are looking for individuals and companies to support this effort to ensure even more kids have access to computers at home – for $150 Mission:Ignite can refurbish and certify a computer.

 

We are proud to have helped launch a telemedicine platform for sleep apnea with partner and longtime Innovation Center tenant Dr. Dan Rifkin. We have been working on this together since last year in partnership with Topcoder, UB School of Business MIS students, and Buffalo State’s International Center for Studies in Creativity, but the timeliness and importance given today’s landscape of effective telemedicine makes last week’s launch especially gratifying.

 

We share all of this to say that, like most of you, we continue to do what we can to grow and improve our little corner of the world, while taking care of ourselves, our families, and our community.

 

We will get through this in the same way we have all worked to rebuild Buffalo – together.

 

Stay healthy and safe.

 

Matt and the BNMC Team