Healthy Victory: Highlighting our Collaborative Partnership with the Foundry, GroundWork Market Garden, African Heritage Food Co-Op, and YouthBuild of the Service Collaborative of WNY

July 31, 2018 by BNMCin BNMC Team, Collaboration, Community, Healthy Communities, Neighbors, Wellness, Youth And Education

Healthy Victory: Highlighting our Collaborative Partnership with the Foundry, GroundWork Market Garden, African Heritage Food Co-Op, and YouthBuild of the Service Collaborative of WNY

As year three of BNMC’s Creating Healthy Schools and Communities (CHSC) grant from New York State Department of Health comes to a close this September, the Healthy Communities team celebrates this past year’s successes.

Over the past year, our group has collectively worked on a project that not only increases access to healthy affordable foods for residents in East Buffalo, but does so through a community-driven wp-contentroach that builds neighborhood capacity and social capital.

Identifying the Problem

In BNMC’s work as part of the CHSC grant to increase healthy food access in communities throughout the city of Buffalo, it was wp-contentarent both food consumers and producers in East Buffalo face significant challenges. Residents experience a complex environment of societal, social, and health disparities that are especially amplified among people of color, all while residing in neighborhoods largely void of easily accessible grocery stores with affordable fresh foods. These conditions existed in the context of a food environment where some urban farmers struggled to connect with nearby neighbors, establish a farm stand, and find efficient models for transporting their harvests, on top of all the other challenges farmers already face.

Developing a Solution

BNMC identified a collaborative opportunity to merge both consumer and producer needs: The Farm Stand Project. The Farm Stand Project brings together GroundWork Market Garden, African Heritage Food Co-Op, The Foundry, YouthBuild, and BNMC to build mobile farm stands that bring locally grown fresh foods to residents who need it most.

By partnering with The Foundry and YouthBuild, the farm stands for GroundWork Market Garden and African Heritage Food Co-op were designed and built by community members who come from the neighborhoods the stands will serve. Every Friday morning from 9am-12pm from January 2018 through July 2018, the youth met at The Foundry and worked with professional carpenters and welders to build the farm stands. While the stands are currently undergoing finishing touches, the team aims to start using them as soon as possible for the current 2018 growing season.

The BNMC Healthy Communities Team has two more years (until September 2020) to continue its CHSC work supporting healthier communities throughout the city of Buffalo.

About The Foundry

The Foundry is a nonprofit small business incubator in East Buffalo that includes a makerspace, woodshop, metal shop, tech lab, textile lab, and also offers classes to the public. In addition to their daily operation, they also partner with the Service Collaborative of WNY’s YouthBuild program, which provides at-risk or low-income youth the opportunity to complete their education, earn their GED, and learn in-demand job skills while taking part in community revitalization projects.

BNMC Partners on Cleantech Incubator

June 11, 2018 by BNMCin BNMC Team, Collaboration, Energy, Innovation, Sustainability

BNMC Partners on Cleantech Incubator

The BNMC has partnered with LaunchNY on a new Emerging Cleantech Opportunity (ECO) incubator. Paul Tyno, who serves as BNMC’s strategic advisor for Energy Initiatives, has been named by Launch NY as Program Director for the incubator.

Working with Marnie LaVigne, Ph.D., Executive Director for ECO, and President and Chief Executive Officer of Launch NY, Mr. Tyno will bring his background in clean energy industry and demonstration projects to bear in ECO’s support for new cleantech companies as part of growing the region’s overall cleantech cluster. ECO was announced on May 30th as the sixth and latest clean energy incubator to receive a four-year award from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).

The ECO incubator will provide individual mentoring, commercialization resources, technical assistance, business development support, and funding for seed and early stage clean energy companies who contribute to the goals of New York State’s Reforming the Energy Vision (REV), a strategy to build a clean, resilient, and more affordable energy system, while actively spurring energy innovation, bringing new investments into the State, and improving consumer choice. REV includes a mandate for 50 percent of the state’s power to come from renewable sources by 2030, in addition to having a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from 1990 levels.

Read more.

Work Hard, Play Hard: The 5 Best Things About Working on the BNMC

June 7, 2018 by BNMCin Campus-wide, Collaboration, Community, Employees

Work Hard, Play Hard

The 5 Best Things About Working on the BNMC

Places To Eat: There are more locations to grab a delicious bite on Campus than ever before! With options ranging from the Homegrown Kitchen to Joe’s Deli to Twisted Pickle, you’ll never have to worry about packing a lunch again. Unless you want to brown bag it, that’s totally cool. Discover food on the BNMC.
Tons of Events & Activities: The BNMC offers a robust lineup of free activities all year round to stay healthy, active, and involved in the community! We hold monthly, weekly, and special signature events around Campus for both employees and neighbors. From music to fitness to food – there’s something for everyone to enjoy here.
Transportation Perks: The BNMC rewards employees for being environmentally conscious! No matter how you commute, the BNMC offers options to make your ride into work easier. There are 29 EV charging stations on Campus with the ability to charge 40 vehicles, 233 bike parking spaces, a free REDDY Bikeshare membership for employees, and several employers now offer subsidized transit passes – just to name a few transportation amenities! Visit GOBNMC.org to learn more about commuter incentives, including two free parking passes per month and a Guaranteed Ride Home via Lyft.
Neighborhood Explorer Discount Program: 85+ businesses in the Allentown, Downtown, and Fruit Belt neighborhoods offer discounts to the 16,000+ employees and students on the Medical Campus. Discounts are redeemed with the BNMC Neighborhood Explorer Sticker, which employees can adhere to the back of their employer ID badge. For the full list of businesses and/or to sign-up for your sticker, click here.
Beautiful Public Art: New buildings, enthusiastic staff, and exciting innovation are not the only things making the BNMC a beautiful place. Around Campus are vibrant murals, extraordinary sculptures, and brilliant installations that make it even more dynamic! Check out the public art on Campus.

BNMC Research Discovery Day Encourages Collaboration

May 16, 2018 by BNMCin BNMC Team, Buffalo, Campus-wide, Collaboration, Community, Employees, Event, Innovation, Member Institution(s), Researchers, Scientists, Students, Technology

BNMC Research Discovery Day Encourages Collaboration

BNMC Partners recently hosted the first Annual BNMC Research Discovery Day. More than 250 researchers, scientists, students, and leaders attended this collaborative event designed to promote the services and shared resources of the biomedical companies and institutions on the Medical Campus.

Dr. Johnson Lau, CEO and Board Chairman of Athenex was the luncheon keynote speaker, inspiring local researchers to dream big and take their idea or company global. More than 50 researchers, postdocs, PIs, technicians, companies, and vendors presented posters in an afternoon session designed to raise awareness of the services available right here in Buffalo.

The morning session focused on the power of collaboration and creative brainstorming, led by international creativity expert Dr. Roger Firestein. Partners from Hauptman-Woodward Institute, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, AMRI, Zeptometrix, and the University at Buffalo spoke about their research offerings and attendees were able to identify high-level collaboration opportunities.

This event would not have been possible without the generous support from KeyBank, and the dynamic planning committee led by leaders from Hauptman-Woodward Institute, AMRI, Zeptometrix, and Roswell Park. Many thanks to everyone who participated in this event – we hope to see even more next year!

BNMC Research Discovery Day

April 24, 2018 by BNMCin Buffalo, Campus-wide, Collaboration, Employees, Entrepreneurs, Event, Innovation, Networking, Researchers, Scientists

Category: Collaboration