Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus to Host Internship Fair for Undergraduate and Graduate Students

March 1, 2017 by BNMCin Campus-wide, Career Opportunities, Community, Innovation Center, Member Institution(s), Networking, News, Students, Youth And Education

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus to Host Internship Fair for Undergraduate and Graduate Students

WHAT: The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) will host an Internship Fair to connect companies on the Medical Campus with undergraduate and graduate students for spring and summer internships.

WHEN: Thursday, March 2, 2017 from 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM EST

WHERE: dig at the Innovation Center, 640 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, NY 14203

WHO: Nearly 30 companies in a variety of fields will be on hand to meet with local students for potential internship positions in areas including: technology, laboratory, engineering, business development, marketing, and much more.

JMS Technical Solutions is sponsoring the Internship Fair.
The event is free and open to all current undergraduate and graduate level students. To register, go to https://bnmc-old.local/events/bnmc-internship-fair/

ABOUT: The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC Inc.) is a self-sustaining social enterprise successfully combining innovation, job creation, and urban revitalization. It serves as the umbrella organization of the anchor institutions that make up the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus located within the 120-acre campus bordering Allentown, the Fruit Belt and Downtown. The BNMC Inc. fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods, and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community. www.bnmc-old.local.

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For more information, contact: Susan Kirkpatrick

716-866-8002/skirkpatrick@bnmc-old.local

Buffalo Building a Biomedical Powerhouse

March 1, 2017 by BNMCin Business Development, Campus-wide, Development, Homepage, Innovation, Life Sciences Companies, Member Institution(s), News, Research

Buffalo Building a Biomedical Powerhouse

Buffalo Business First

Observers say there are several reasons why a cluster of ambitious biomedical companies emerged on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

It partly has to do with investments in local facilities such as the University at Buffalo’s Center for Computational Research, the local center for big data projects.

It also is owed to general technological advances, allowing researchers to turn their science into more specific medical testing and more effective cures.

And it has to do with an evolving economy of entrepreneurship in Buffalo, which is finally turning research hotbeds such as UB, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute into engines of economic growth.

“It’s the computing power along with the science and the confluence of all those facilities that are allowing this to occur,” said Kim Grant, a UB business development executive who works with emerging companies.

Those who are paying attention, such as Grant, recognize an obvious trend in biomedical entrepreneurship in Buffalo. There are more companies being founded, gaining funding and building out real businesses rather than just research projects.

One of the breakouts is Athenex, which was established out of UB in 2002 but more recently raised more than $200 million and is leveraging significant government subsidies to build factories in China and Western New York. Company officials are aggressively pursuing an international strategy to design and manufacture cancer therapies.

But it’s not just about one company. Buffalo now hosts dozens of high-tech companies attacking many sides of the medical industry. Companies that are pursuing cancer therapies which direct chemicals directly to tumors won both the UB Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition (POP Biotechnologies) and the 43North competition (Oncolinx).

They join the list of growing personalized cancer companies that includes Roswell spin-offs OmniSeq, Photolitec and MimiVax; and For-Robin, out of UB.

Meanwhile, a Buffalo Billion program directed multimillion-dollar grants to two companies in 2016, Garwood Medical Devices and Circuit Clinical. Both are located downtown.

Garwood raised $3.6 million in venture capital in 2016 while Circuit Clinical raised more than $1 million.

Then there are the companies tackling medical testing, such as Empire Genomics, AccuTheranostics and Disease Diagnostic Group.

And that’s just an unscientific sampling of the young companies sprinkled throughout facilities on the medical campus or based near UB’s Amherst footprint, some of which were founded here and others that were recruited.

So when Grant goes to trade shows in Boston or New York City, she doesn’t hear snow jokes anymore, she gets genuine interest.

Local experts are starting to make bold comparisons about historical precedents for the Buffalo medical ecosystem. Dr. Steven Schwaitzberg, an entrepreneur who was a professor at Harvard University before he was recruited to become surgery chair at UB’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, recently said Buffalo looks like Boston in the late 1980s just before it became an international biomedical powerhouse.

And Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute CEO Edward Snell said Buffalo is starting to resemble the Stanford area in California, where a long history of top-notch research blossomed dramatically into a worldwide medical and tech hotbed.

“You’re seeing the same thing in Buffalo, a mixture of industry, academia and clinical experts all in the same area,” Snell said. “We’re seeing incremental growth but we’re nowhere near saturation point yet.”

He said the final key is pulling in more private investment. There are a handful of investment groups that actively consider seed funding for medical companies in Buffalo. But these types of companies often require major capital infusions to catalyze their growth.

Snell said he’s optimistic.

“I see a steady increase in venture capital and federal research funding,” he said. “And I think you’re going to see quite a few stories about that in the not-too-distant future.”

Official Launch and Celebration of Buffalo’s First “Idea Lab” to be Held Tuesday, February 28

February 28, 2017 by BNMCin Entrepreneurship, i4 Studio, Innovation, Innovation Center, Networking, News

* MEDIA ADVISORY *

Official Launch and Celebration of Buffalo’s First “Idea Lab” to be Held Tuesday, February 28

i4 Studio is a Collaboration between BNMC’s Innovation Center and The International Center for Studies in Creativity

What: A celebration of the official launch of i4 Studio, the first Idea Lab located in Western New York. i4 Studio will offer programs for businesses and individuals to wp-contently creative thinking tools and processes to generate breakthroughs in idea generation, creative problem solving, strategic planning and business modeling.

The concept was created through collaboration between the Innovation Center, powered by the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, and the International Center for Studies in Creativity (ICSC) located at SUNY Buffalo State. ICSC is the first program to offer the science of creativity at the graduate level and is globally recognized for its programs that teach skills in creative thinking, innovative leadership practices and problem solving skills. For more details go to www.i4studiobuffalo.com.

When: Tuesday, February 28 from 5pm – 7 pm

Where: At i4 Studio is on the third floor of the BNMC’s Innovation Center, located at 640 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Why: The launch event is a chance for interested individuals to visit the i4 Studio and check out its inspiring environment that includes flexible work and meeting space, creative materials, musical instruments, toys and other tools designed to get creative juices flowing!

Attendees can also meet co-directors Vic Nole, Director of Business Development for the BNMC, and Roger Firestien, senior faculty member of the International Center for Studies in Creativity to learn more about offerings at i4 Studio.

Who: The event is free and open to the public. More than 200 individuals are expected to attend including entrepreneurs, students, business owners and individuals.

Learn more: The Innovation Center, powered by the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc., is the largest business incubator in Buffalo. It is home to dig, 43North, Z80 Labs, and some of the fastest growing, most successful companies and start-ups in the region. Through its Innovation Center, the BNMC provides workspace, education, business services, and networking opportunities to entrepreneurs and young companies in all industry sectors.

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For more information, contact: Susan Kirkpatrick

716-866-8002/skirkpatrick@bnmc-old.local

A medical campus leader

February 17, 2017 by BNMCin BNMC Team, Business Development, Entrepreneurship, Homepage, Innovation, Innovation Center, Life Sciences Companies, News

A medical campus leader

Dan Miner
Reporter
Buffalo Business First

Vic Nole had spent the past decade trying to help medical companies commercialize products and technologies when, in 2014, he was hired to do a similar job on behalf of an entire region.

Nole is director of business development for Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Inc., a process that involves getting personally involved with companies on the medical campus and building broader strategies to support their growth.

BNMC Inc. owns several facilities that house high-tech companies and also exists to serve other major commercialization actors on the campus, including the University at Buffalo, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute.

Nole holds an important job on the campus, where the combined public and private investment of the last 10 years has been more than $1 billion, partly to improve health care in Buffalo but also to help generate a new economy.

How would you describe your job? Part of it is working with small teams to help them build business models to commercialize a product or technology. BNMC Inc. doesn’t have a huge staff or depth of knowledge in that area, so we rely on our network to facilitate introductions and access to resources. Another area is working with our member institutions on the medical campus, helping them map out assets and open doors so we can market a broader capability outside of Buffalo in the hopes of attracting new companies.

What kind of environment are you trying to build for startups? We’re trying to provide workspace, education, access to business resources and then networking opportunities, and to put in place infrastructure and amenities in those four areas. Then any company that is part of the campus community can plug into any of those things. They can come to me and say, “Hey, do you know an expert in regulatory affairs?” Or “Can you help me sell my product in China?” There is still a lot of work to do. Lab facilities are quickly filling up across campus. Our mentor network still needs to grow. We recently launched our i4 Studio (in collaboration with SUNY Buffalo State’s International Center for Studies in Creativity), a creativity lab that’s part of our evolving education program.

The campus is a widely used symbol of Buffalo’s economic resurgence. Is there real momentum here? The reason the campus has been so successful is that everyone is working together. Three years ago, we had 35 to 40 companies on the campus; now there are more than 120, and nearly 50 of them are in life sciences. Ten years ago, most intellectual property generated at the University at Buffalo or Roswell Park Cancer Institute got licensed and went outside of Buffalo. We’re finally at a point where we have enough infrastructure, processes and systems in place, and enough collaboration between our members, that we can design and launch our own life sciences companies. The growth is good but we still need critical mass. When I am out in Boston talking to investors, you need a certain amount of companies to get them on a plane. If you tell them you have 200 companies, it’s going to catch their attention.

What do you think the future of the campus holds? I’m bullish. Some of these companies are going to start to emerge and catch the attention of people outside the area. The image of the campus has grown, which is helping us attract more talent and more money. And as you start to bring in more assets, it just accelerates your programs. So I would think that if we’re sitting here today at 120 companies, we could double that in five years.

Dan Miner covers startups, education, manufacturing and public companies.

BNMC Sees Explosive Growth

February 14, 2017 by BNMCin Business Development, Campus-wide, Development, Employees, Entrepreneurship, Homepage, Innovation, Innovation Center, News

In recent years – the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus has become “the place to be” for entrepreneurs and new companies.

Listen here

WBFO’s Chris Caya reports on the many new businesses that have set up shop on the BNMC.

In just three years, the number of businesses on the Medical Campus increased 300%.

“Going in to 2013 we had about 40 companies that were located here in the Innovation Center. And at the close of 2016 we’re supporting a little over 120 companies across the Medical Campus,” said Vic Nole, the BNMC’s Director of Business Development.

Nole says, they’re not all involved in healthcare or life sciences either. There’s a diverse mix of companies.

“We’ve got quite a bit of technology, we’ve got a little bit of manufacturing. We have some social impact entrepreneurs,” Nole said.

There’s even some retail and a few artists. Nole says the strategy is to have an open door and bring in anyone who has an interest in starting or growing a business. The state recently designated the BNMC’s Innovation Center as a certified business incubator.

“So in the Innovation Center we’ve really been successful in creating a self-contained little ecosystem. And then our intent is to get them scaling to a point where we can transplant them in to the community and they can continue to grow and create new jobs for Buffalo,” Nole said.

The state recently awarded the BNMC $625,000 to expand its business development program.

City Shapers: Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus

February 13, 2017 by BNMCin Campus-wide, Development, Homepage, News

By Kelly Dudzik, WGRZ
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Each Monday, we are highlighting someone who is helping to build Buffalo and Western New York in our City Shapers segment.

This week, we are profiling Matt Enstice. Enstice leads a group that is leading Buffalo’s growth and innovation: The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

“You always know you can come back home to Buffalo. You know, that’s what my wife and I saw, and I think that’s what I see with most of the youth that’s out there. They know that they can come back here. What we’re trying to do is to create more of a special place for them to continuously come back to because at Buffalo’s roots, it has all the great pieces in place,” says Enstice.

Enstice is one of the people making sure all of those pieces work together to generate smart growth and innovative ideas as the President and CEO of the non-profit Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. Enstice grew up here, and a career in the entertainment industry took him across the country before he moved back.

“In Los Angeles, I was an intern at Broadway Pictures. And in New York, I worked for Saturday Night Live, and it was really on the production side, so a lot of the production was about, you know, bringing people together and moving a live show forward with a team of people, and that’s what this is here at the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus,” says Enstice.

Since 2002, Enstice and his team have led the effort to redevelop the Medical Campus.

“So there are a lot of moving parts,” said 2 On Your Side’s Kelly Dudzik.

“Lots of moving parts here, and that’s a really good thing. Over the years, for a while we weren’t moving, and now what you see here is you look out the windows and look around this campus, there’s a lot of things in motion,” says Enstice.

Part of his mission is to grow the Medical Campus and build on the success that’s already there.

“How does it make you feel to be a part of all of this and to be one of the driving forces with your team to make this hwp-contenten for Buffalo?” asked Dudzik.

“The real exciting thing to myself and to our team is that every day we come to work and we’re trying to figure out by what we’re doing, how is this going to take Buffalo to the next level?”

The Medical Campus is much more than the health care industry. When we visited, the DIG workspace was hosting a Wine Down Wednesday networking event. The Kevin Guest House extension, which will be connected by a walkway to Allen Street, is being transformed into this year’s Decorators’ Show House.

By the end of this year, around 17,000 employees or students will be working on the Medical Campus.

“Is it more competitive now? Do you have more people contacting you saying hey, I want to be a part of this? How has that changed?” asked Dudzik.

“Yeah, I what you’ve seen with our institutions and the various companies that have moved down here have created a buzz. And so you’re seeing a lot of different companies, whether it’s a local company or a company from out of town that wants to be down on this campus,” says Enstice.

Over the next decade, Enstice says more companies will put down roots here and he predicts more academic involvement from local colleges and universities.

“I think the beauty of it is that, together with the community, we’re imagining what could this still really become,” he says.

Enstice also does a weekly podcast called “Talking Cities” where he and his guests talk about creating innovative growth in cities around the world.

If you know someone who is doing something great for Buffalo and Western New York, send Kelly Dudzik email and they might be our next City Shaper.

Campus workforce to hit 15,000 as hospital, med school move

January 27, 2017 by BNMCin Campus-wide, Children's Hospital, Construction, Homepage, Infrastructure, Member Institution(s), News

Campus workforce to hit 15,000 as hospital, med school move

By Stephen T. Watson
The Buffalo News
Published Friday, Jan. 27, 2017

The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is a focal point for development in Buffalo.

Over the past 12 years, the University at Buffalo, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Kaleida Health and Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute all have finished construction on major research or clinical centers on the campus. In the new buildings, doctors treat patients, scientists seek cures for deadly diseases and entrepreneurs build companies.

When the organization that oversees campus operations formed in 2001, 7,000 people worked at its existing institutions. Once the John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital and UB’s Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences complete their moves to the campus this fall, 15,000 people are expected to work there.

Work is taking place across the campus, but two projects are at the center of attention.

Workers broke ground on the $270 million John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital in fall 2014, and construction was 80 percent complete as of December.

[See the rest of Prospectus 2017: Unveiling the New Buffalo]

The 12-story, 410,000-square-foot facility has 185 beds. It is smaller than the existing Children’s Hospital on Bryant Street but is designed to give patients, their families and staff a better experience.

In November, the Children’s Hospital inpatient and emergency departments will make the highly choreographed shift to 818 Ellicott St.

[Gallery: The John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital]

The University at Buffalo this fall is expected to complete its Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, a $375 million undertaking that began in October 2013. The eight-story, 628,000-square-foot building is the largest construction project in UB’s 170-year history.

The new school will bring 2,000 students, faculty and staff to the Medical Campus from their current home on UB’s South Campus once it is finished. The building is 75 percent complete now.

[Gallery: UB Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences]

Many other projects will take shape on the Medical Campus in 2017. Notable projects include:

• Construction should begin in March on the $90 million Campus Square project, a redevelopment of the 12-acre Pilgrim Village affordable housing complex into a community with apartments, commercial space and parking.

• The Medical Campus should begin renovations to 980 Ellicott St. this spring and complete them by the end of the year. The complex has a mix of office and laboratory space.
The organization acquired the facility because it is running out of room in its Thomas R. Beecher Jr. Innovation Center, an incubator for startups. The campus spent $3.75 million to buy the buildings at Ellicott and Best streets from Osmose Holdings.

• Ciminelli Real Estate Corp. has selected a design for an 11-story medical and research building to cost up to $140 million. The architectural firm Perkins + Will is designing the new clinical, research and office building at 33 High St., the site of the old Langston Hughes Institute building, which will be torn down. The project is across the street from Ciminelli’s successful Conventus medical research and office building, at Main and High streets, and the new building would be similar in size and scope. The developer said it hopes to begin construction on the project in 2017.

Innovation Center on Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus named certified incubator

January 24, 2017 by BNMCin Awards, Business Development, Entrepreneurship, Homepage, Innovation Center, News

Innovation Center on Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus named certified incubator

By Stephen T. Watson
The Buffalo News
Published Wed, Dec 21, 2016

Empire State Development has named the Thomas R. Beecher Jr. Innovation Center on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus a state certified incubator, a designation that includes funding of up to $625,000 over five years to support local entrepreneurs.

The Innovation Center at 640 Ellicott St. now joins the state’s network of regional hotspots and certified business incubators. The designation and funding, $125,000 per year over five years, are part of the governor’s Regional Economic Development Councils.

The Innovation Center opened in 2010 and is one of three locations, and additional properties, where the Medical Campus organization serves more than 120 companies and startups.

The Medical Campus will use the Empire State Development funding to expand its business development programming at the Innovation Center, starting with the launch of the i4 Studio, an idea lab that teaches how to wp-contently creative thinking in the entrepreneurial process. Additional money will support the development of product prototypes and helping company founders connect with investors.

Welcome New Children’s Hospital Employees!

January 24, 2017 by BNMCin Children's Hospital, Development, Employees, Homepage, Kaleida, Member Institution(s), News

Earlier this month, the first round of employees from Children’s Hospital Outpatient Center settled in their new offices on the third floor of the Conventus building at 1001 Main St. located on the northern end of Campus. We’re thrilled to share that both patients and staff had “a remarkable response to the new space and facility,” commenting on how inviting, safe and accessible it is.
The move will occur in several stages throughout 2017, with more clinics moving in April and then a final round of employees coming over in October. The opening of Children’s Hospital and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences will lead to nearly 15,000 people working and learning on the Medical Campus within the next year.

BNMC’s Innovation Center and the International Center for Studies in Creativity Launch Buffalo’s First Idea Lab

January 24, 2017 by BNMCin Entrepreneurs, Entrepreneurship, Homepage, Innovation Center, News

BNMC’s Innovation Center and the International Center for Studies in Creativity Launch Buffalo’s First Idea Lab

New i4 Studio on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus to teach the wp-contentlication of creativity to the business planning process

Buffalo, N.Y., January 23, 2017 – The Innovation Center, powered by the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. has announced the launch of i4 Studio, the first Idea Lab located in Western New York, in collaboration with the International Center for Studies in Creativity located at SUNY Buffalo State.

Located at the Innovation Center, i4 Studio will wp-contently creative thinking tools and processes to generate breakthroughs in idea generation, creative problem solving, strategic planning, and business modeling. The methodologies employed are designed to significantly improve personal and professional performance, and will be particularly focused on assisting entrepreneurs and start-up companies in the wp-contentlication of creativity to the business planning process.

Intended as a hub for creative thinking, i4 Studio was created to stimulate imagination, inspiration, ideation and innovation. The studio will offer workshops and programming designed to spur creative thinking and problem solving that can be employed to address business challenges or to develop new concepts and ideas.

Official launch of i4Studio is scheduled for February 28 with a launch party to be held in the new studio space on the second floor of the Innovation Center at 640 Ellicott Street from 5 pm – 7 pm. Registration for the free event can be found at the events page at www.i4studiobuffalo.com.

Offerings will include private consultation to define and address challenges, comprehensive programs to learn the creative problem solving process for improving personal or professional performance, intensive workshops employing “trained brains” – industry experts and those trained in the creative problem solving process to help facilitate the creative problem solving process, as well as programs designed for entire teams focused on strategic planning and team building.

The concept for i4 Studios was a result of collaboration between Vic Nole, Director of Business Development for the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. and Roger Firestien, a senior faculty member of the International Center for Studies in Creativity (ICSC). Part of SUNY Buffalo State and the first program to offer the science of creativity at the graduate level, ICSC is globally recognized for its programs that cultivate skills in creative thinking, innovative leadership practices and problem solving skills.

According to Nole, “As any entrepreneur can attest, the need for creative idea generation and problem solving can be critical to getting a start-up off the ground. Understanding that many of the principles of creative thinking can be taught, it seemed like a natural fit to work with ICSC and to bring more creative resources to the heart of Buffalo’s entrepreneurial community at the Innovation Center. We are thrilled to be able to add another critical tool to our tool kit that can help young companies work through their business challenges and potentially find new and better ways to model their businesses.”

In addition to housing i4 Studio, the BNMC team will provide administrative oversight and business development resources. Both Nole and Firestien will serve as co-directors of i4 Studio.

The Innovation Center, powered by the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc., is the largest business incubator in Buffalo. It is home to dig, 43North, Z80 Labs, and some of the fastest growing, most successful companies and start-ups in the region. Through its Innovation Center, the BNMC provides workspace, education, business services, and networking opportunities to entrepreneurs and young companies in all industry sectors.

Contact: Susan Kirkpatrick
skirkpatrick@bnmc-old.local
716-866-8002

Picture Yourself on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Powered by AT&T

April 25, 2016 by BNMCin Campus-wide, Community, Homepage, Member Institution(s), News4 Comments

“Picture Yourself on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Powered by AT&T” Expected to Attract Hundreds of Middle and High School Students
Day Includes Exploration of STEM Careers, Internships, and Volunteer Opportunities

What: “Picture Yourself on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is a half day event to introduce future careers, internships and volunteer opportunities to area students in grades seven through twelve and their parents. Student will have an opportunity to tour the campus, participate in hands on activities and hear from experts at University at Buffalo, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Kaleida Health, Hauptman-Woodward Institute, the Jacobs Institute, Unyts, Buffalo Manufacturing Works, and the Thomas R. Beecher, Jr. Innovation Center.

When: Saturday, April 23, 2016, 9 AM – Noon

Where: Start your tour of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus in dig at the Innovation Center at 640 Ellicott Street, Buffalo and then tour facilities on your own at your own pace. Representatives from participating organizations will direct attendees and share information about each stop on the tour.

Activities:

Test drive the Robotic Surgery Simulator (RoSS®) that’s used to train surgeons
Use a microscope to view cancer cells
Hold a human brain
View a catheterization lab
Watch a pre-recorded surgery
See robotic demonstrations and 3D printers in action
Take a turn as a virtual welder
Buy lunch from Lloyds Taco Truck (located on Campus throughout the event)
And much more!

Who: Sponsored by AT&T, the event is hosted by the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, iSciWNY, and its partner institutions.

Media is encouraged to attend, excellent photo and broadcast opportunities (See attached program)

Why: “Picture Yourself On the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus” is designed to expose area students and their parents to the many and varied career options offered here and to provide “hands-on” opportunities to imagine working on the Medical Campus or in similar settings.

About: The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC Inc.) is a self-sustaining social enterprise successfully combining innovation, job creation, and urban revitalization. It serves as the umbrella organization of the anchor institutions that make up the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus located within the 120-acre campus bordering Allentown, the Fruit Belt and Downtown. The BNMC Inc. fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods, and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community. bnmc-old.local.

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. Launches “Try Transit” Program to Promote Bus and Rail Service to Employees

March 28, 2016 by BNMCin GO BNMC, Homepage, News, Outreach, Transportation4 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kari Bonaro
202-904-7034/ kbonaro@bnmc-old.local

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. Launches “Try Transit” Program to Promote Bus and Rail Service to Employees

Free NFTA-Metro Passes for April for Employees New to Transit

Buffalo, N.Y., March 28, 2016 – In an effort to promote alternative transportation options on its expanding campus and to familiarize employees with the benefits of transit, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) is launching a month-long “Try Transit” campaign aimed at employees through its GO BNMC program. The centerpiece of “Try Transit” is a free NFTA-Metro pass for Medical Campus employees who are new to transit that can be used for unlimited bus and rail trips throughout April.

The aim of “Try Transit” is to introduce bus and rail service to employees who may not be familiar with the service and to provide an opportunity for trial to determine if it can work for them. The program will be launched at a “Try Transit” information session on March 30th at noon in Learn at the Innovation Center at 640 Ellicott Street. Interested employees who are new to transit can request a pass by emailing gobnmc-old.local or by calling 716-218-7162. Supplies are limited and will be available on a first-come basis.

According to William Smith, Director of Access and Safety for the BNMC, “Rail or bus service may be a great option for many people working on the Medical Campus, so we are making it easy for employees to give it a try with the free pass. We hope employees recognize the many benefits of transit including a lower environmental impact, the ability to let someone else drive, and in avoiding the challenges of parking. As the Medical Campus continues to grow, we know that reducing the number of single driver cars is critical, so we hope that this program will introduce a new option for employees.”

Through its GO BNMC program, the BNMC has been an active advocate for alternative transportation options including transit, carpooling, biking and walking. The non-profit has also worked to ensure that infrastructure on the Campus and within the surrounding neighborhoods supports and promotes alternative transportation options.

About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC)

The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) is a self-sustaining social enterprise successfully combining innovation, job creation, and urban revitalization. It serves as the umbrella organization of the anchor institutions that make up the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus located within the 120-acre campus bordering Allentown, the Fruit Belt and Downtown. The BNMC fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods, and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community. bnmc-old.local.

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) named a Gold Level Bicycle Friendly Business by the League of American Bicyclists

February 19, 2016 by BNMCin Biking, Community, Environment, Healthy Communities, Homepage, News, Transportation4 Comments

GO BNMC Program has championed biking and other alternative transportation options for over a decade

Buffalo, N.Y., February 18, 2016 – The League of American Bicyclists has recognized the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) with a Gold Bicycle Friendly Business (BFB^SM) award, joining more than 1,100 visionary businesses from across the country. The City of Buffalo is recognized as one of only three bicycle-friendly communities in New York State by the League of American Bicyclists and the BNMC is the only organization to be honored with a Gold designation in Western New York.

With the announcement of 73 new and renewing BFBs today, the BNMC joins a cutting-edge group of 1,132 local businesses, government agencies and Fortune 500 companies in 49 states and Washington, D.C. that are transforming the American workplace.

“The business community’s investment in bicycling is playing a central role in making the country a safer, hwp-contentier, and more sustainable place to live and work,” said Amelia Neptune, League Bicycle Friendly Business Program Manager. “We wp-contentlaud this new round of businesses, including the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, for leading the charge in creating a bicycle-friendly America for everyone.”

The BNMC has been an active advocate for alternative transportation options including biking through its GO BNMC program. The non-profit organization, in partnership with GObike Buffalo, has worked for over a decade on increasing active living opportunities throughout the City of Buffalo, promoting biking to work, and ensuring infrastructure on the Campus and within the surrounding neighborhoods supports and promotes alternative transportation options. In addition to carpooling, transit and walking, the BNMC encourages bicycling as an easy option for transportation to and from the dense urban campus to promote active living, ease parking congestion and improve the environment by lessening pollution from motor vehicles.

The BNMC provides amenities such as ten dry, secure bike storage options throughout the Medical Campus, and incentives such as the Secure Bike Parking Bundle that includes access to a dedicated Bike Storage facility, the Guaranteed Ride Home program, and a GObike membership. Buffalo BikeShare is also available on the Medical Campus as an amenity for employees and visitors who may want access to a bike for short-term use. Moving forward, the BNMC will have access to a variety of tools and technical assistance from the League to become even more bicycle-friendly.

William Smith, Director of Access and Planning for the BNMC commented, “We are thrilled to join our partner, GObike Buffalo as a Bicycle Friendly Business in Buffalo. Over the past decade, our efforts to promote biking and build necessary infrastructure on Campus has resulted in a strong biking culture among employees. When our employees and visitors bike, great things hwp-contenten including a decreased carbon footprint, reduced health care costs, and an active and healthy work culture. We are proud to set an example for our community on the benefits of biking, alternative transportation, and the benefits of active, healthy living.“

To wp-contently or learn more about the BFB program, visit the League online at www.bikeleague.org/business. To learn more about GO BNMC, visit www.gobnmc-old.local.

About the Bicycle Friendly America^SM Program

The Bicycle Friendly Community^SM, Bicycle Friendly State^SM, Bicycle Friendly Business and Bicycle Friendly University^SM programs are generously supported by program partner Trek Bicycle Corp and Silver-level BFA Sponsor Planet Bike. To learn more about building a Bicycle Friendly America, visit www.bikeleague.org/BFA.

The League of American Bicyclists is leading the movement to create a Bicycle Friendly America for everyone. As leaders, our commitment is to listen and learn, define standards and share best practices to engage diverse communities and build a powerful, unified voice for change.

About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC)

Buffalo Student Sandbox Opens to Applicants

January 28, 2016 by BNMCin Campus-wide, Entrepreneurs, Homepage, News2 Comments

Innovative summer program to “hire” student entrepreneurs to pursue ventures full-time
BUFFALO, NY – WNY Incubator Network (WIN), a consortium of the region’s business incubators, today announced the 2016 iteration of Buffalo Student Sandbox, a summer accelerator for scalable, disruptive ventures led by college and graduate students. The nine week accelerator, running from May 30 – July 29, 2016, will select promising teams of student entrepreneurs and provide them with stipends and mentors as they compete for cash prizes at the end of the program. The wp-contentlication is online at www.wnyincubators.com/Sandbox, with the initial deadline on March 1.

Entering into its second year, Buffalo Student Sandbox is modeled after a similar program in Syracuse. Eight teams were selected from a pool of more than 40 wp-contentlicants in 2015 and have raised capital and launched products since completing the program. Two graduates advanced to the semifinals of 43North, while five were selected to pitch at Bright Buffalo Niagara. Three graduates were selected in as finalists for the Buffalo leg of Steve Case’s Rise of the Rest tour, with one earning a $100,000 investment through that program.

Ventures looking to participate in the program must be led by a current undergrad, graduate student, or recent graduate, and will be evaluated based on their wp-contentlication, interviews, quality of the team, and overall commercial potential of their venture. For 2016, a special focus will be on recruiting teams that have formed and committed to working on a venture over individuals working on their own. Participants are required to treat Student Sandbox as their primary commitment during the program.

The program will be administered by WIN and the UB Office of Economic Development, hosted in the dig cowork and event space at the Thomas R. Beecher Jr. Innovation Center, and include participation in the UB Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Startup CEL course. Student Founders will spend their days working independently on their ventures, but will also benefit from the structure of the Startup CEL course, receive help from mentors, and participate in weekly board meetings with experienced entrepreneurs. At several milestones throughout the program, teams will compete for additional resources to be used for the development of their businesses.

Organizers will seek teams from the region’s colleges and universities, as well as programs including Startup Weekend and Student 2 Biz, a business plan competition facilitated by the WNY College Connection and sponsored by WIN.

“This is not an academic exercise, but rather an opportunity for students to experience the entrepreneurial process in real time,” said Tom Ulbrich, executive director of UB’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. “There are no tests, grades or homework for these founders, but we will expect great things from them.”

For Vic Nole, director of business development for Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc., which operates the Innovation Center and dig, Buffalo Student Sandbox represents an opportunity for Western New York’s entrepreneurial ecosystem to shine. “Selected teams will complete an intense summer program focused on product development and input from potential customers,” he said. “Our program focuses on building market-driven companies that will thrive in the real world.”

Tom Murdock is UB’s incubator network manager and sees the program as a chance for students to take major steps forward. “Last year, with no track record, we received more than 40 wp-contentlications to take part in this program, and this year, we plan to select only the most cohesive and promising companies,” he said. “We’re looking for teams who have already demonstrated some progress and are determined to succeed.”

Susan Kirkpatrick

skirkpatrick@bnmc-old.local

Mobile: 716-866-8002

BNMC Partners with GoBike to Promote Alternative Transportation Options to Campus Employees

January 25, 2016 by BNMCin Homepage, News, Sustainability, Transportation, Wellness3 Comments

Buffalo, N.Y., January 22, 2016 – The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) announced today that it will partner with GObike Buffalo to assist with managing and promoting alternative transportation options for employees and visitors to the growing Medical Campus.
The two not-for-profit organizations have worked together for more than a decade on increasing active living opportunities throughout the City of Buffalo, promoting biking to work, and ensuring infrastructure on the Campus and within the surrounding neighborhoods that support and promote alternative transportation options. The formal partnership marks a more structured arrangement in that GObike will provide specific services and staffing for BNMC that will supplement the significant transportation and planning work currently undertaken by BNMC and its partners. Under the agreement, GObike will conduct in-depth assessments of current commuting choices for participating Medical Campus employers, help implement various strategies and infrastructure improvements to promote alternative transportation modes, and provide educational resources for people working on the Medical Campus who are interested in smarter commuting options.. In addition, GObike will assist in marketing and outreach as well as day-to-day management of the current GO BNMC program, which works to provide employees with better access to healthier, greener and affordable transportation options.

According to William Smith, Director of Access and Planning for BNMC, “As the Medical Campus continues to grow, it is critical to educate our community on alternatives modes of transportation that are more cost effective, better for our environment and that address parking challenges in a dense, urban environment. GObike has a proven track record of supporting alternative modes of transportation including transit, carpooling and walking, as well as biking. We believe that this unique partnership can be a model for other companies seeking to promote alternative modes of commuting, as well as those interested in the overall health and wellbeing of their employees.”

Justin Booth, Executive Director of GObike Buffalo added, “We know that employers can play a significant role in encouraging their employees to consider leaving the one-person, one car model of commuting behind. We are delighted to work more closely with the BNMC to help educate and motivate Medical Campus employees to consider alternative means to get to work that will benefit their health, the environment and to help to ease transportation and parking congestion on campus.”

About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC)

About GOBike Buffalo

Through advocacy efforts, infrastructure improvements, and community programs, GObike Buffalo works to create healthy, environmentally sustainable, community friendly options in the greater Buffalo region.

Learn at the Innovation Center Opens at the Thomas R. Beecher Jr. Innovation Center on the Medical Campus

December 9, 2015 by BNMCin News4 Comments

For Immediate Release
Contact: Susan Kirkpatrick, skirkpatrick@bnmc-old.local 716-866-8002

Learn at the Innovation Center Opens at the Thomas R. Beecher Jr. Innovation Center on the Medical Campus

First Niagara support adds another tool for start-up businesses

Buffalo, N.Y., December 9, 2015 – The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) has recently opened Learn at the Thomas R. Beecher Jr. Innovation Center on the Medical Campus, designed to provide education and training to entrepreneurs and their growing companies. Learn at the Innovation Center was made possible through a $50,000 two-year grant from First Niagara Bank.

The new classroom-type setting is outfitted with the latest in technology and is designed to create a dynamic learning environment. Located on the first floor of the Innovation Center at 640 Ellicott Street, the 1,500 square foot suite includes a main classroom for up to 30 people and private conference spaces. Learn will be used by the BNMC business development team for its programs and will also be available to other partners that are dedicated to supporting the region’s growing entrepreneurial community. Capstream Technologies provided the audio-visual and digital technology and Mid-City Office Furniture provided the furniture for the new space.

Learn complements the array of amenities currently offered by the BNMC at the Innovation Center that are focused on supporting small and mid-size companies seeking office, wet lab, or research space and support on a month-to-month basis or via longer-term leases. The facility is designed as a “plug and play” set-up whereby tenants enjoy a fully operational menu of office services without having to worry about facilities maintenance issues. Service providers are co-located in the building to provide legal, financial, marketing, and IT support. Tenants also have access to collaborative space, conference rooms, kitchen facilities and a fitness center. Additional workspace also includes dig, a cowork and event space. As the region’s largest local business incubator, the Innovation Center also offers networking events, workshops, educational forums, as well as mentoring and start-up assistance for young companies.

Vic Nole, Director of Business Development for the BNMC commented, “Learn at the Innovation Center now gives us a dedicated place to hold more targeted learning and problem solving forums for companies and individuals that need access to specific business networks and expertise. We are delighted that First Niagara has recognized the value in supporting the creation of this space in a way that will really benefit the start-up community. The Center will be a tremendous complement to the already rich portfolio on the Medical Campus.”

The Innovation Center is the centerpiece of the BNMC’s Business Development office that actively identifies and evaluates new business opportunities, educates and provides mentorship to entrepreneurs, and creates, incubates, and grows new companies in Buffalo.

“First Niagara is very proud to launch Learn at the Innovation Center as a central resource on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus to spur entrepreneurship, business development and job growth. The Center will facilitate the collaboration and resource sharing necessary for companies to take root and grow in our city,” said Buford Sears, Regional President, Western New York. “First Niagara’s team of experts will help staff the space to provide financial workshops, cultivate relationships and provide business services needed to develop new companies. We are looking forward to the opportunities Learn will present to increase economic development in Buffalo and build a thriving community.”

Learn will be used primarily for programs offered by the BNMC and its partners including Start Up CEL and Student Sandbox. The facility will also be offered to outside organizations dedicated to the entrepreneurial community. For more information about programs offered though Learn at the Innovation Center, contact Vic Nole at vnole@bnmc-old.local.

About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC)

Angelo Fatta Named Chair of Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Board of Directors

December 3, 2015 by BNMCin Homepage, News2 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Susan Kirkpatrick, skirkpatrick@bnmc-old.local, 716-866-8002

Angelo Fatta To Become Chair of

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Board of Directors

Buffalo, N.Y., December 3, 2015 – The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC) today announced the wp-contentointment of Angelo Fatta, Ph.D., to serve as Chair of the Board of Directors for the not-for-profit organization. Fatta’s term began after a vote by the Board of Directors at its quarterly meeting today. The BNMC is the umbrella organization formed in 2002 to facilitate collaboration among member institutions that form the Medical Campus and the surrounding neighborhoods.

Fatta succeeds William L. Joyce, who has served as Chairman since 2008 and has been a board member since the organization’s inception. He has served as Treasurer (2002-2005) and as Vice Chairman (2005-2007) and prior to that was the representative from Kaleida Health while serving as Chairman of Kaleida’s Board of Directors. Joyce will remain on the BNMC board as Chair Emeritus.

Fatta brings a strong entrepreneurial and life science background to the position. He is the founder of ANESCO group, a consumer products testing laboratory with locations in Buffalo and Hong Kong that was sold in 2015. He was also co-founder and CEO of Buffalo-based ACTS Testing Labs, a global consumer products quality assurance company that was acquired in 1998. Fatta co-founded and served as volunteer president of BuffLink, Inc., a not-for-profit, private sector initiative that promoted the creation of a regional life sciences economy for Western New York. He has served as a pro-bono entrepreneurial coach to several start-up companies and was part of the original BNMC team when the not-for-profit organization was formed.

According to Joyce, who oversaw the search process for his successor, “We are confident that Ange is the right person to continue to lead the Medical Campus as it continues its growth and its significant impact on our local economy. With the increase in entrepreneurial activity on the Medical Campus, and in the BNMC’s Innovation Center in particular, we are delighted that he will be guiding the organization. We are looking forward to being able to tap into his knowledge and experience as an entrepreneur and as someone with extensive leadership experience in guiding not-for-profits dedicated to revitalizing our community.”

Matt Enstice, President and CEO of the BNMC added, “We anticipate a seamless transition as Ange continues the course set by outgoing Chairman Bill Joyce over the last eight years. We are grateful for the skillful leadership that Bill has provided throughout his tenure. Under his leadership, the Medical Campus has grown tremendously and Bill has been the guiding force behind the growth and impact that this organization has had in helping to make positive change in our community over the last eight years.”

Long time BNMC volunteer Tony Martino continues in his role as Vice-Chair of the BNMC Board, serving along with James Biltekoff, David Zebro and incoming Vice-Chair Ted Walsh. Thomas R. Beecher, Jr. remains as Founding Chair Emeritus. The BNMC Board is made up of representatives of the member institutions and the surrounding neighborhoods of Allentown, Downtown and the Fruit Belt.

Fatta holds a BS in Chemistry from Canisius College and a Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from Wayne State University. He has held numerous volunteer leadership positions in the community including current terms as a Trustee of the State University of New York (SUNY) and Vice Chair of the Board of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. He also serves as an officer of the Fatta Foundation, a charitable family foundation supporting the welfare and development of children in Western New York.

About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC)

The Thomas R. Beecher Jr. Innovation Center Welcomes Six New Tenants

May 20, 2015 by BNMCin Innovation Center, News5 Comments

For more information, contact:
Contact: Susan Kirkpatrick

skirkpatrick@bnmc-old.local, 716.866.8002

The Thomas R. Beecher Jr. Innovation Center Welcomes Six New Tenants

BUFFALO, N.Y., May 20, 2015 – Six companies have become the newest tenants at the Thomas R. Beecher, Jr. Innovation Center on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, bringing the total number of start-up and growing companies, as well as the businesses that provide services to them, to nearly 100. The new tenants include Buffalo Rising, Inc, Campagnolo Bonk PLLC, Pitch + Pivot LLC, theBREWROOM, The Synergy Group and Triple Track HR Partners.

Located at 640 Ellicott Street, the Innovation Center welcomed its new tenants on May 1^st. They represent a variety of businesses, and include theBREWROOM, a digital/internet marketing services company that “graduated” to the Innovation Center Suites after being a member of dig, the BNMC Inc.’s coworking space. Also joining the Innovation Center are Buffalo Rising, Inc., a website covering Buffalo’s positive and interesting news, with over 3 million annual visitors; Pitch + Pivot, a sales and marketing consulting firm; and The Synergy Group, a consulting firm specializing in work/life strategy development. New tenants also include Campagnolo Bonk PLLC, providing a comprehensive array of health care consulting, audit, operational and management services to health care providers; and Triple Track HR Partners, providing human resource consulting for businesses throughout Western New York.

According to Vic Nole, Director of Business Development for the BNMC Inc., “The Innovation Center continues to draw new tenants as small, start-up businesses and the companies that provide services to them realize the unique opportunities here for networking and collaboration. We are delighted to provide an entrepreneurial culture that can help young companies get off the ground and to encourage connections among our tenants that can help them gain insight, share experiences and, we hope, take advantage of each other’s product and service offerings. We find our tenants love the flexible workspace that the Innovation Center offers as their companies grow and their needs change.”

All of the companies will be located on the fourth floor in the Innovation Center Suites, and will have privileges to use dig, located on the first floor. Pitch+Pivot also added two additional dig memberships for their staff in addition to workspace at the Suites.

The LEED-certified Innovation Center opened in 2010 with two tenants and is designed to accommodate small and mid-size companies seeking office, wet lab and/or research space, on a month-to-month basis or via longer-term leases. Owned and operated by BNMC Inc., the facility is designed as a “plug ‘n play” set-up whereby tenants enjoy a fully operational office setting without having to handle office and facilities issues such as phone, Internet and other services. Tenants also have access to collaborative space, conference rooms, kitchen facilities and other amenities. The Innovation Center also serves as the physical location for Ignite, BNMC Inc.’s business development program, that actively identifies and evaluates new business opportunities, educates and provides mentorship to entrepreneurs, and creates, incubates, and grows new companies in Buffalo.

Workspace also available through BNMC Inc. includes dig coworking space, available to those who do not need full office amenities, and traditional leased office space at the Innovation Center and at 73 High Street on the Medical Campus.

About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.

The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC Inc.) is a self-sustaining social enterprise successfully combining innovation, job creation, and urban revitalization. It serves as the umbrella organization of the anchor institutions that make up the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus located within the 120-acre campus bordering Allentown, the Fruit Belt and Downtown. The BNMC Inc. fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods, and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community. bnmc-old.local.

Event to Showcase Resources for Entrepreneurs

February 19, 2015 by BNMCin Campus-wide, Community, Employees, Entrepreneurs, Homepage, News1 Comment

For Immediate ReleaseContact:
Susan Kirkpatrick
Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
skirkpatrick@bnmc-old.local/716-866-8002

Event to Showcase Resources for Entrepreneurs

Free public event includes 20 organizations that assist those starting businesses in WNY

Buffalo, N.Y., February 19, 2015 – Ignite, the business development office of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC Inc.) will host an event for the community on March 21 to showcase the many and varied resources available to those interested in, or already involved in starting a new business in Western New York. The event will include 20 organizations dedicating to supporting start-ups.

The first-of-its-kind event will be held in dig, the BNMC’s co-working and event space on the Medical Campus at 640 Ellicott Street. It will be held from noon until 5 pm and will include opportunities for entrepreneurs to learn more about organizations that can assist in developing business ideas, creating business plans and models, securing funding and tax incentives, building networks and providing additional services relevant to new businesses.

According to Vic Nole, director of Business Development at BNMC, Inc., “There has never been a better time to start a business in this community given the creation and emergence of so many organizations dedicated to helping start ups. It is important to show those with an idea or a start-up business how to access the resources that they need most effectively. This event will bring together the leaders of Western New York’s emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem and provide an opportunity for the public to get to know what they have to offer.”

Participating organizations include Algonquin Studios- VCamp, Buffalo Angels, Buffalo State College Small Business Development Center, Buffalo Urban League, dig, FIKA, 43North, Innovation Hotspot, Jacobs Institute, Launch NY, StartUp Grind Buffalo, StartUp NY, The Foundry, UB Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership, UB Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, UB Center for Excellence in Materials Informatics, Westminster Economic Development Initiative, Western New York Venture Association and Z80 Labs.

The event is free and open to the public, however registration is required. To reserve a spot, go to digbuffalo.org/ignitestatups.

About Ignite

Ignite is an initiative of the BNMC Inc. and includes a full complement of resources designed to identify, evaluate, and support new business opportunities for the purpose of creating and incubating all types of new companies and jobs in the Buffalo region. It includes workspace, business services, mentoring, access to capital, programming, networking opportunities and collaboration to help entrepreneurs and innovators move ideas into businesses that can create jobs.

About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.

Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership launches new program to assist young startups

December 12, 2014 by BNMCin Entrepreneurs, Homepage, News3 Comments

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Early-stage entrepreneurs can learn how to transform their ideas into a successful business, thanks to a new program in the University at Buffalo School of Management’s Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership (CEL).

The Startup CEL program will provide specialized support and guidance to young, innovation-driven companies as they navigate the complex pathway to commercializing their product, service or technology.

Startup CEL will launch this February in partnership with Ignite, the business development program of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC) Inc., and UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences (CBLS).

“At the CEL, we proudly support entrepreneurs as they launch, grow and sustain successful businesses that create jobs and invigorate our regional economy,” says Thomas Ulbrich, assistant dean and executive director of the CEL. “For individuals who are just beginning to take their ideas to market, the Startup CEL program will provide crucial knowledge and strategic insights, as well as a valuable support network of entrepreneurs, to increase their probability for success.”

Using the Disciplined Entrepreneurship framework, the Startup CEL program will offer a comprehensive, integrated and proven step-by-step wp-contentroach to creating innovative, highly successful products. Participants will learn to understand their customer, focus on key market opportunities, overcome obstacles, scale a business and understand and communicate with potential investors.

The BNMC and Ignite will provide workspace at both the Thomas R. Beecher Jr. Innovation Center and at dig, a co-working space designed to help entrepreneurs form, refine and launch their business ideas. In addition, Ignite will provide mentoring, networking and collaboration opportunities, and help identify potential class participants through its relationship with entrepreneurs working at the Innovation Center, dig and other facilities on the medical campus and in the community.

“Startup CEL is a perfect fit with Ignite and is one more step in the BNMC’s goal of cultivating an entrepreneurial ecosystem and a culture of innovation and collaboration in our region, while providing the tools young companies need to develop their ideas into sustainable businesses,” says Vic Nole, director of new business development at BNMC Inc.

“The CBLS is excited to continue our successful collaboration with the CEL through the Startup CEL program, which will enhance our region by preparing innovative entrepreneurs for both the technical and business aspects of launching their companies,” says Amy Schmit, director of management and strategic implementation at CBLS.

Classes will begin on Feb. 11 and run every other week through May. To learn more, contact the CEL at 716-885-5715 or mgt-cel@buffalo.edu.

Established in 1987, the CEL provides participants with individualized and interactive education in entrepreneurship. More than 1,200 CEL alumni employ more than 22,000 Western New Yorkers, and their businesses are worth more than $2 billion to the local economy. For more information, visit mgt.buffalo.edu/cel.

Ignite is the business development program of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Inc. and is a self-sustaining social enterprise successfully combining innovation, job creation and urban revitalization. It serves as the umbrella organization of the anchor institutions that make up the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus located within the 120-acre campus bordering Allentown, the Fruit Belt and downtown. The BNMC Inc. fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods, and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community. Learn more at bnmc-old.local.

The mission of UB’s New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences is to foster economic development by connecting university resources with life sciences and high-tech industry through funding, research and development support, programming and education, with the goal of helping companies find business solutions, accelerate new ideas and grow. This technology-based economic development mission is complemented by the center’s efforts to support the advancement of new discoveries in science that seek better ways of preventing and managing disease and improving lives. Learn more at bioinformatics.buffalo.edu.

The UB School of Management is recognized for its emphasis on real-world learning, community and economic impact, and the global perspective of its faculty, students and alumni. The school also has been ranked by Bloomberg Businessweek, the Financial Times, Forbes and U.S. News & World Report for the quality of its programs and the return on investment it provides its graduates. For more information about the UB School of Management, visit mgt.buffalo.edu.

Media Contact Information

Matthew Biddle
Assistant Director of Communications
School of Management
Tel: 716-645-5455
mrbiddle@buffalo.edu

– See more at: http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2014/12/025.html#sthash.HFGWQ1ZJ.dpuf

STATEMENT ON RECEIPT OF FUNDING FOR CONNECTOR BRIDGES ON THE BNMC THROUGH REGIONAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL AWARD

December 12, 2014 by BNMCin Member Institution(s), News3 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 12, 2014

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Kari Bonaro, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.

kbonaro@bnmc-old.local , tel: (716)218-7157 or (202)904-7034

Ellen Goldbaum, University at Buffalo

goldbaum@buffalo.edu, tel: (716)645-4605

The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. received $650,000 to construct above-ground pedestrian bridges connecting new infrastructure on the BNMC. These bridges are a reflection of the collaborative efforts among the BNMC institutions and partners, including the University at Buffalo, Kaleida Health, and Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

“This funding ensures wp-contentropriate access from the NFTA station and the University at Buffalo’s new School of Medicine and Biomedical to the rest of the Medical Campus. The bridges will also encourage critical connections and collaboration among the partners on and around the Medical Campus,” said Matthew K. Enstice, President & CEO, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. “Thank you to Governor Cuomo and the entire REDC for supporting this important effort for our community.”

“The pedestrian bridge funded by this grant is essential to our plans for a new medical school in downtown Buffalo because it will provide the university with a direct link to our partners on and adjacent to the BNMC,” said Michael Cain, M.D., Vice President for Health Sciences at UB and Dean of the medical school. “Strengthening these partnerships is of the utmost importance to Buffalo’s academic health center and is one of the reasons UB chose to move its medical school downtown.”

About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC Inc.) Launches “Ignite” to Support Entrepreneurship and Create New Local Businesses

November 20, 2014 by BNMCin Entrepreneurs, Homepage, Innovation Center, News2 Comments

For more information:Kari Bonaro, kbonaro@bnmc-old.local
716-218-7157, 202-904-7034 (mobile)

Susan Kirkpatrick skirkpatrick@bnmc-old.local
716-866-8002 (mobile)

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC Inc.) Launches “Ignite” to Support Entrepreneurship and Create New Local Businesses

BUFFALO, N.Y. November 24, 2014 — The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC Inc.) announced today that it has formally launched Ignite, a full complement of resources designed to identify, evaluate, and support new business opportunities for the purpose of creating and incubating all types of new companies and jobs in the Buffalo region.

Ignite is a program for new business development that actively facilitates collaboration among researchers, inventors, industry leaders, investors, students, and services providers. It includes workspace, business services, mentoring, access to capital, programming, networking opportunities and collaboration to help entrepreneurs and innovators move ideas into businesses that can create jobs.

Ignite offers a continuum of resources to entrepreneurs at every stage of business development, including those who just have an idea for a business to those who are much farther along in the development and commercialization of a product, technology platform, or service. Ignite includes existing resources offered through BNMC Inc, including dig, a co-working space designed for those in the early stage of developing a business or idea, as well as office and laboratory space, mentoring and networking for emerging companies currently offered at BNMC properties including the Thomas R. Beecher, Jr. Innovation Center at 640 Ellicott Street, BNMC’s life sciences incubator at 73 High Street, and the Innovation Center Annex at 847 Main Street.

Services offered through Ignite include initial evaluation of business ideas, guidance on developing a business plan, education and mentoring on a variety of business design and launch strategies, connections to experts who can help move ideas to the next stage, and a full complement of networking events.

According to Vic Nole, BNMC Inc. Director of New Business Development, Ignite unites BNMC’s business development services under one unified identity and is one more step in fostering entrepreneurship, creativity and collaboration with the overall goal of creating more jobs in the region. “In addition to providing workspace, business services, and networking opportunities, we will be pro-active is identifying, evaluating, incubating and helping to grow start-up companies. We believe that cultivating this entrepreneurial eco-system will provide a culture of innovation and collaboration while providing the tools necessary to further develop ideas into viable businesses,” said Nole.

BNMC Inc. operates the Innovation Center, a LEED-certified research and development space housing early stage companies, as well as companies offering support services like access to capital, intellectual property attorneys, talent acquisition, accounting, sales, and marketing. The space is designed to accommodate small to medium companies seeking office space, wet lab and/or research space. The Suites at the Innovation Center is an incubator that offers physical and virtual office space on a month-to-month basis and includes telephone and Internet access. The Innovation Center also houses dig, a collaborative co-work space created to help people turn their idea into a business.

Ignite will work together with other partners and local incubators to ensure that young companies are connected to the right resources and networking opportunities to support their business growth. Companies from all industry segments, including non-profit organizations are welcome to take advantage of Ignite resources.

BNMC Inc. also encourages larger established companies to get involved with Ignite through sponsorships or other partnerships that can provide opportunities for new companies in Buffalo’s emerging start-up community to connect to established industry sectors.

Individuals or companies interested in Ignite can contact Vic Nole at (716) 310-5288 or vnole@bnmc-old.local, or can stop by dig at 640 Ellicott Street on the Medical Campus to learn more.

About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.

# # #

The Buffalo News: National foundations investing in Buffalo

August 26, 2014 by BNMCin Allentown, Campus-wide, Community, Fundraiser, Homepage, Innovation Center, Investment Opportunities, News3 Comments

The cooperation and recent track record of Buffalo’s economic development efforts has caught the eye of an unlikely source of investment capital: national charitable foundations.

Lured to the city by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, executives from several deep-pocketed nonprofits want to put their vast dollars to work in one of the nation’s most downtrodden cities as it undergoes what many see as a revival.

They say they are intrigued by the new sense of public and private-sector teamwork in the region, and are considering targeted investments in key projects to improve the economy and quality of life. The goal is to create conditions that encourage the growth of small businesses and jobs, so individuals and families can earn more money and accumulate wealth.

The foundations are eying the components of the regional economic development plan – such as technology manufacturing and medical research – as the mechanism to do it.

“We are very impressed with the cooperation and the intergovernmental and public-private partnerships that have already been developed in Buffalo and the surrounding area,” said Frank Altman, founder, president and CEO of the Community Reinvestment Fund (CRF), one of the national groups. “We just think there is a real opportunity to get behind that.”

The foundations want to invest from their core holdings in projects, businesses and initiatives, hoping to make a greater impact on the community. Projects may include building new and improved housing, fostering the creation of new jobs, training workers, supporting new businesses, and encouraging environmental and social initiatives.

Representatives of eight national foundations and three national investment firms gathered in Buffalo for a daylong summit in June with 50 attendees in all, and officials hope to build on that in the fall.

Specific opportunities that the Community Foundation is pitching include:

• Training programs for jobs that pay “family-sustaining” wages

• Investing in businesses in “economically distressed communities”

• Buying government bonds

• Investing in companies with “strong environmental records”

• Offering credit to a local land trust to buy land for preservation

• Buying and developing commercial or mixed-use properties in specific areas

Investors were particularly interested in the new Advanced Manufacturing Institute and companies participating in the 43North business plan competition, according to Community Foundation.

The foundations expect to earn enough on their investments to sustain their holdings.

“We’re a community that’s really on the move in terms of economic development, and these investors are coming to town to meet with local economic development leaders to begin the conversation of opportunities where they can put capital to work in the local community,” said Clotilde Perez-Bode Dedecker, president and CEO of the Community Foundation, which is spearheading the effort and coordinating the partners along with the F.B. Heron Foundation.

“It’s clearly about economic development, but it’s not about grants,” she said. “These foundations are coming in to look for opportunities in which they can invest their actual endowment.”

That would bring significantly more outside dollars into the community to leverage local money. And it could add to the national attention that Buffalo is gaining from the state’s Buffalo Billion economic development initiative, the growth of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and the University at Buffalo, and the surge in development.

“The word is getting out about Buffalo as an up-and-coming city and this is validation of that,” said Dottie Gallagher-Cohen, CEO of the Buffalo Niagara Partnership. “What I see with this is tremendous horsepower in capital.”

Broader focus

“Mission-related” or “impact” investing is a change for philanthropic organizations long focused on social, environmental and economic change through grants and donations. Philanthropic leaders have concluded that the challenges facing many communities and families are so serious they have to shift gears to make more of an impact.

“Poverty is not marginal anymore. It’s not if we help someone get access to a loan, they can buy a house. If they don’t have a job, having access to a loan is not good, and owning a house is not always good, either,” said Clara Miller, president of the $300 million F.B. Heron Foundation in New York, which seeks to address poverty and related issues through socially responsible investments.

“So we said maybe we should go farther down the food chain and say how can we intervene to make sure people have jobs,” she said.

Nonprofit charitable foundations are required by the Internal Revenue Service to spend at least 5 percent of their total return each year. Heron, for example, has provided a $1.5 million grant to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

“BNMC offers one of the most tangible and inclusive expressions of successful economic development and job creation in an ex-industrialized American city,” Heron says on its website. “Anchor institutions, the historically low income surrounding neighborhoods, and community groups are all at the table.”

The newer concept calls for charitable organizations to invest their core endowment directly in communities, seeking investments that will generate social or environmental benefits, and still provide market-rate or near-market-rate returns. That could include support for job-training or job-creation initiatives, funding a “green” economy, small business financing or loan guarantees, private-equity stakes in companies, or investments in stock, bonds or even commercial and residential real estate development.

“This is very new to our community, this whole concept,” Dedecker said. “It’s a powerful opportunity for our community at this time.”

Besides Community Foundation, Heron of New York City and Minneapolis-based CRF, participants include Florida-based Community Capital Management, New York-based National Development Council, EKO, Hitachi Foundation of Washington, D.C., the Kresge Foundation of Detroit and George Soros’ Open Society Foundation of New York. Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation and New Island Capital have also been contacted.

The organizations have engaged in similar work in cities across the country, including Chicago, Boston and Cleveland, and their focus ranges from jobs and business development to the environment and housing.

For example, besides grants, Heron also has issued loans, bought debt or made private-equity investments in businesses and communities through funds in California, the San Francisco Bay Area, northwest Louisiana, Boston, New Hampshire and the Appalachian region. Another nonprofit that is not involved here, the Minneapolis Foundation, provided a $1 million working capital loan fund through another nonprofit to enable minority- and women-owned businesses to participate in the construction of a new football stadium for the Vikings.

“The for-profit sector looks for places that are already on the way up and make a lot of money from doing that. The philanthropic sector has a different model,” said Mark Popovich, vice president of programs at Hitachi Foundation, which focuses on quality job creation and career advancement, particularly in health care and advanced manufacturing, and on entrepreneurship. “We’re looking at places that aren’t the most vibrant economic communities, because that’s where the opportunities exist to invest with local investors to support change.”

Source:
Epstein, Jonathan D. . (2014 August 24). National foundations investing in Buffalo. The Buffalo News. Retrieved from http://www.buffalonews.com/city-region/national-foundations-investing-in-buffalo-20140824

BNMC, Inc. Now Accepting Applications for Seed Capital Accelerator Program, Sponsored by First Niagara Bank Program Designed to Support New and Growing Start-ups on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus

July 22, 2014 by BNMCin Campus-wide, Community, News5 Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASETuesday, July 22, 2014

Contact:
Kari Root Bonaro, BNMC, Inc.
716.218.7157, kbonaro@bnmc-old.local

**BNMC, Inc. Now Accepting Applications for Seed Capital Accelerator Program, Sponsored by First Niagara Bank*Program Designed to Support New and Growing Start-ups on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus***

(Buffalo, NY – July 22, 2014) The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC, Inc.) is now accepting wp-contentlications for its Seed Capital Accelerator Program, sponsored by First Niagara Bank. First Niagara has provided funding to support new and existing start-ups that are affiliated with the BNMC’s Thomas R. Beecher, Jr. Innovation Center or entrepreneurship programs.

The new fund will provide up to $10,000 in seed funding to enable start-ups to overcome short term business obstacles, and to reach project milestones that are designed to get products and services to market quicker – thus yielding measurable longer term returns on investment. Grants and loans will be awarded to businesses that have sustainable growth potential, a legitimate funding need, and are making a contribution to the social and business communities on and around the Medical Campus.

“This generous funding from First Niagara will allow us to further support the entrepreneurial ecosystem on the Medical Campus,” said Vic Nole, director of new business development for the BNMC, Inc. “We look forward to helping even more start-ups move from ideation to incubation, creating jobs and re-building our community.”

Program Description

BNMC, Inc. will make available grants or loans to eligible business owners under the program for the following purposes:

To purchase equipment or other capital goods.
For operating expenses that are directly related to a specific revenue generating project.
To acquire inventory required to satisfy a signed purchase order.
To pay up to 50% of a new hire’s salary for up to 90 days.
To pay for education, mentoring, or training for entrepreneurs and business owners that is directly related to the creation of a new business or the growth of an existing business within the Community.

The program will be directed to companies that are located on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, or to companies (or entrepreneurs) that are being assisted with their formation and growth plans by the business development office at the BNMC, Inc. Specifically, grants will be provided to either:

Revenue generating companies that sell goods and services,
Community building companies that provide goods or services to persons on or near the Medical Campus, or
Companies that need capital to deliver on projects for BNMC member institutions.

For program wp-contentlications please contact:

Vic Nole, Director of New Business Development, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.

vnole@bnmc-old.local.

Learn more at bnmc-old.local/seedcapital

About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.

The Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc. (BNMC, Inc.) is a self-sustaining social enterprise successfully combining innovation, job creation, and urban revitalization. The BNMC, Inc. serves as the umbrella organization of the anchor institutions that make up the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus located within the 120-acre campus bordering Allentown, the Fruit Belt and Downtown. The BNMC, Inc. fosters conversation and collaboration among its member institutions, its partners and the community to address critical issues impacting them, including entrepreneurship, energy, access and transportation, workforce and procurement, neighborhoods, and healthy communities, with the goal of increasing economic development and building a strong community.

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A medical campus leader

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Learn at the Innovation Center Opens at the Thomas R. Beecher Jr. Innovation Center on the Medical Campus

First Niagara support adds another tool for start-up businesses

Angelo Fatta To Become Chair of

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus Board of Directors

Event to Showcase Resources for Entrepreneurs

Free public event includes 20 organizations that assist those starting businesses in WNY

Media Contact Information

BNMC, Inc. Now Accepting Applications for Seed Capital Accelerator Program, Sponsored by First Niagara BankProgram Designed to Support New and Growing Start-ups on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus

About the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, Inc.

**BNMC, Inc. Now Accepting Applications for Seed Capital Accelerator Program, Sponsored by First Niagara Bank*Program Designed to Support New and Growing Start-ups on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus***