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Semifinalists make pitch for prize funding in 76West clean-energy competition
Event was held virtually BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The 19 semifinalists in the 76West clean-energy competition have made their pitches and are hoping to secure funding when the winners are announced in the fall. The companies presented their cases for winning during a virtual event held Aug. 18 and 19 on the competition’s website, the New […]
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Event was held virtually
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — The 19 semifinalists in the 76West clean-energy competition have made their pitches and are hoping to secure funding when the winners are announced in the fall.
The companies presented their cases for winning during a virtual event held Aug. 18 and 19 on the competition’s website, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) announced.
Semifinalists are competing for $2.5 million in prize money including one grand prize of $1 million, and three $500,000 awards. The winners will either move to the Southern Tier or establish a direct connection with the Southern Tier, such as a supply-chain relationship or other strategic relationships with Southern Tier entities that create jobs.
The 76West competition seeks to boost clean-tech economic development and expand “innovative” entrepreneurship in the Southern Tier.
The program and resulting technology support Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s climate and clean-energy agenda as outlined in the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act that has set New York on a “path to a carbon-neutral economy,” NYSERDA said.
The competition also complements “Southern Tier Soaring,” the region’s “comprehensive strategy to boost economic growth and community development in the Southern Tier region.
Administered by NYSERDA, the 76West competition was launched in 2016 as a $20 million, four-year initiative to grow the clean-energy ecosystem in the Southern Tier with funds from the regional greenhouse-gas initiative and the clean-energy fund.
Previous competition winners and semifinalists have raised $29 million in private capital and created multimillion-dollar investments in property and equipment. They have invested more than $2 million in key suppliers. Past winners include Micatu, Optimus Technologies; Skyven Technologies; EkoStinger; Switched Source; Hub Controls; C4V; Suntegra; ProsumerGrid; SolarKal; Global Thermostat; and Southern Tier Technologies.
Semifinalists
NYSERDA listed the following 76West semifinalists who were scheduled to pitch their ideas and their technology focus.
New York State
Finger Lakes
• Paradigm of New York, Rochester — transportation
New York City
• COI Energy Services, New York City — renewable energy
• ThermoAI, New York City — greenhouse-gas mitigation
Mid-Hudson
• Solar-Tectic, Croton — chemicals and advanced materials
• Teratonix, Scarsdale — building and industrial energy efficiency
Southern Tier
• Combplex, Ithaca — agriculture
• Ecolectro, Ithaca — chemicals and advanced materials
• Heat Inverse, Ithaca — transportation
Long Island
• Urban Freight Corporation, Carle Place — transportation
Out-of-state
• AGreatE, Carlsbad, California — energy storage and batteries
• Aeroshield Materials, Cambridge, Massachusetts — building and industrial energy efficiency;
• Littoral Power Systems, New Bedford, Massachusetts — renewable energy
• Medley Thermal, Somerville, Massachusetts — building and industrial energy efficiency
• NexxGen Power Authority, Babcock Ranch, Florida — waste recycling or water efficiency
• Saratoga Energy Corporation, Richmond, California — chemicals and advanced materials.
International
• Alp Technologies, London, United Kingdom — energy storage and batteries
• Clir Renewables, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada — energy transmission and distribution
• gridX GmbH, Munich, Germany — energy transmission and distribution
• OXTO Energy, Guildford, Surrey, United Kingdom — energy storage and batteries
Ithaca College cancels bringing most students to campus for fall semester
ITHACA, N.Y. — Ithaca College had shifted to remote learning in March at the start of the pandemic shutdown, and the school will continue that instruction format for most students through the fall semester. “This means that we will not be welcoming all students back to campus this fall as we had hoped,” Ithaca College
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ITHACA, N.Y. — Ithaca College had shifted to remote learning in March at the start of the pandemic shutdown, and the school will continue that instruction format for most students through the fall semester.
“This means that we will not be welcoming all students back to campus this fall as we had hoped,” Ithaca College President Shirley Collado said in an Aug. 18 statement posted on the school’s website.
Ithaca had announced in May its intention to have students return for on-campus instruction on Oct. 5, but officials have now scrapped that plan.
Under the newly revised plan, classes at Ithaca College will begin Sept. 8 and conclude Dec. 14. In between, Thanksgiving break is scheduled Nov. 25 through Nov. 27, per a schedule posted at the school’s website.
Students whose programs require hands-on experience for licensure or accreditation (such as those in certain health professions) will be permitted to attend some instruction on campus, per Collado’s message.
Collado called the move to continue remote learning this fall an “agonizing” decision made in consultation with the members of Ithaca’s senior leadership team, “informed by the best thinking of so many members of our college community and data around the evolution of this pandemic.”
She went on to say that the reality of COVID-19 is “deeply concerning,” noting 5.4 million infections in the U.S. and more than 170,000 deaths. Even though the Ithaca area has a “low prevalence of infections,” the school has learned from watching other communities “how delicate this equilibrium is, and how quickly it can be disrupted,” Collado wrote.
She also noted the “on-campus experience” this fall would be “very different” from what Ithaca would want students to have, citing the “absolutely necessary modifications around things like facilities preparedness and population density.”
“But I sincerely believe this is the correct and responsible choice for Ithaca College to help protect the health and safety of our students, their families, our faculty and staff, and our Ithaca–area communities,” said Collado.
Ithaca College officials “fully intend” to bring all students back to campus for the spring semester, “as long as circumstances around COVID shift to enable us to do so in a reasonably safe manner,” Collado wrote.
Watertown construction firm shows the value of federal contracts for small business
The success of Mary Warren, a professional engineer and president of the Black Horse Construction Group in Watertown, illustrates the “value” of a federal contract, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Black Horse Construction Group — a woman- and veteran-owned small business that is a certified 8(a) firm — has achieved steady growth
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The success of Mary Warren, a professional engineer and president of the Black Horse Construction Group in Watertown, illustrates the “value” of a federal contract, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).
Black Horse Construction Group — a woman- and veteran-owned small business that is a certified 8(a) firm — has achieved steady growth as a participant in the SBA program after being founded in 2006.
The SBA’s 8(a) business-development program seeks to help small, “disadvantaged” businesses compete in the marketplace, per an SBA document about the program.
Some of Black Horse Construction’s past clients include the U.S. General Services Administration, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Naval Facilities Engineering Command North Atlantic Division, Fort Drum Public Works, and the U.S. Air Force Reserve.
Black Horse Construction has built projects ranging from $100,000 to $25 million in a variety of industries in which it operates, such as commercial and industrial buildings, heavy highway construction, and poured concrete foundations and structures.
“The last year was a perfect example of how federal government contracting has an undeniable positive impact on our economy. Throughout upstate New York, small businesses keep workers employed and are major employers. Especially in rural counties and underserved communities, SBA’s HUBZone and 8(a) Business Development programs can offer the access to government contracts, invaluable support and revenue enhancement as firms look to expand and grow,” Bernard J. Paprocki, director of the SBA Syracuse district, said in a statement.
Warren, a military veteran, is also a past Onondaga Small Business Development Center/Orange Community College Start Up & Grow series speaker. She has shared her story and discussed strategies for veterans and members of the military looking to start and expand their ventures.
Procurement scorecard
The SBA cited Warren’s efforts as it released details on the number of contracts the federal government awarded small businesses during fiscal year (FY) 2019, including more than $3 billion for those operating in New York.
That’s according to the SBA’s Small Business Federal Procurement Scorecard for FY 2019. An SBA spokesman cited USAspending.gov as indicating Black Horse secured more than $7 million in “obligated FY19 funding” through federal contracts.”
The New York contracts are part of a “record-breaking” $132.9 billion in prime federal contracts — representing 26.5 percent of the federal contracting dollars — that were awarded to small businesses, the document shows. The federal government-wide prime contracting goal is to award at least 23 percent of all prime federal-contracting dollars to small businesses, the SBA said.
The agency also noted that the federal government also exceeded the goal for women-owned small businesses for the second time in the history of the scorecard-measurement program, having reached the five-percent goal for the first time in FY 2015.
The women-owned small businesses level for FY 19 was 5.19 percent, “setting a new record.”
The U.S. government also exceeded the goal for service-disabled, veteran-owned small businesses for the 7th consecutive year, reaching the three percent goal for the first time in FY 12. That was in addition to surpassing another goal of contracts going to small disadvantaged businesses, where the agency continued the trend of year-over-year “record achievement” that “well exceeds” the five percent goal.
The FY 19 numbers are an increase of $12.1 billion over the previous fiscal year and marks the seventh consecutive year the federal government exceeded its small-business contracting goal, the SBA said.
Targeted sub-goals are also established for women-owned small businesses (5 percent), small disadvantaged businesses (5 percent), firms located in HUBZones (3 percent), and service-disabled veteran-owned small businesses (3 percent), as well which are meant to be subsets of the overall small-business goal of 23 percent.
“Over a quarter of federal contracting dollars awarded in the Empire State went directly to small businesses. These record-breaking national numbers are a boon to our small business community. The federal government is the largest purchaser of goods and services in the world; small businesses supply the U.S. government with the goods and services needed to operate,” Steve Bulger, regional administrator for the SBA Atlantic & Mid-Atlantic area, said.
USDA awards funding for projects at Cornell, NY Ag Experiment Station
ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell University and the New York Agricultural Experiment Station (NYSAES) in Geneva will use more than $1.37 million in in federal funding for food and agriculture research. Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences operates the NYSAES, also known as Cornell AgriTech. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and
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ITHACA, N.Y. — Cornell University and the New York Agricultural Experiment Station (NYSAES) in Geneva will use more than $1.37 million in in federal funding for food and agriculture research.
Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences operates the NYSAES, also known as Cornell AgriTech.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) awarded the funding, U.S. Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D–N.Y.) and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D–N.Y.) said in a news release.
Specifically, this funding was awarded through NIFA’s agriculture and food-research initiative — education and workforce development program.
This program provides funding to support postgraduate research and training for the next generation of food and agricultural scientists. The funding is divided among nine separate grants.
“This federal funding is a wise investment in two great agricultural research institutions, Cornell University and the New York Agricultural Experiment Station, that will help our farmers and agricultural community develop cutting-edge agricultural technology and keep us at the forefront of agricultural development,” Schumer said.
Gillibrand said the funding will help “support the work of up-and-coming scientists and researchers who will contribute to developments from our academic institutions, private industry, and government entities.”
The projects and grant amounts are listed in the accompanying chart.
Binghamton University, Hartwick College announce plans for fall semester
Binghamton’s classes begin Aug. 26, but the semester started when about 6,800 students began moving onto campus over a seven-day period, beginning Aug. 19, rather than over two days as in past years. The school believes the longer move-in period will “keep density down each day” and allow the campus to test students for COVID-19
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Binghamton’s classes begin Aug. 26, but the semester started when about 6,800 students began moving onto campus over a seven-day period, beginning Aug. 19, rather than over two days as in past years.
The school believes the longer move-in period will “keep density down each day” and allow the campus to test students for COVID-19 before they enter the residence halls.
“We’ve done our best to prepare for everything that needs to be addressed to keep our students and all members of our campus and community safe from the virus,” Binghamton University President Harvey Stenger said in a statement. “The best way for the semester to be successful is for the entire campus and community to pull together.”
Stenger on Aug. 12 was joined by local elected officials, along with various campus and community representatives, to announce plans for restarting the school.
Students will be tested using a nasal swab rapid test, with results in about 30 minutes, Binghamton said. Those who test positive will be expected to return home until they are medically cleared. If that is not possible, they will be isolated in a dedicated residence hall on campus.
“Even New York City and Long Island, where most of our students come from, are experiencing [test positive] rates of around 1 percent,” said Stenger. “And an analysis by the public health department of Upstate Medical University of the risk presented by students returning to SUNY campuses shows that Binghamton University presents a risk level of ‘very low to low’ which isn’t zero, but is the lowest rating achievable in their analysis.”
Other ways the campus has adapted in preparation for the fall semester include:
Requiring all people on campus to wear face masks at all times in buildings and shared spaces (including classrooms), except when alone in a private room, private office, private vehicle, or cubicle space when appropriate social distancing can be maintained or more isolated areas when social distancing can be maintained.
In addition, Binghamton is offering classes in a number of in-person, online, and hybrid formats and “reducing density” in all classrooms to maintain social distancing.
The school is also posting face mask, social distancing, one-way entry/exit reminders, and other signage throughout campus.
Binghamton is also modifying ventilation systems to run air systems for longer durations, increasing outdoor-air ventilation, and upgrading filtration to, typically, MERV 14 and MERV 13 (minimum efficiency reporting value), which are commonly used in hospital inpatient and general-surgery applications.
Hartwick College
Hartwick College says its students will return to campus between Aug. 22 and Aug. 30 with classes beginning Aug. 31.
The college says it has specific protocols that all students and employees are required to follow pertaining to their return to the campus in Oneonta.
All Hartwick students are required to provide evidence that they have tested negative for COVID-19 “within a maximum of 14 days prior to arrival.”
In addition, students arriving from a “hot spot” state, as determined by New York State, will be required to quarantine for 14 days, per current guidelines — even if the student has tested negative for COVID-19.
Between Aug. 22 and Aug. 31, all students (both residents and commuters) and all employees will undergo COVID-19 testing upon their initial arrival on campus. After Aug. 31, all students and employees will be tested every other week until the end of in-person classes on Nov. 20.
Coursework will be delivered both in-person and virtually for students in the fall semester. Changes to the academic calendar for the fall semester eliminated breaks until in-person instruction ends on Nov. 20. All students will leave campus by Nov. 21 and then complete the semester’s instruction and exams remotely. Final exams conclude on Dec. 10.
Hartwick is also instituting safety and cleaning measures throughout the campus. These include increased sanitizing of academic and administrative buildings and residence halls; additional hand-sanitizer dispensers at building entrances, dining and café locations, fitness entrances, and event spaces; and markings and signage in campus buildings to indicate six-foot distancing.
Before classes begin Aug. 31, every member of the Hartwick community “must commit” to a social compact including measures such as wearing a facemask in all public spaces on campus, maintaining six-foot physical distancing at all times, employing frequent handwashing, and participating in daily screenings including temperature checks.
Bonacio Construction begins work on new office building at Griffiss Business and Technology Park
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Ithaca College cancels return of students to campus for fall semester
ITHACA, N.Y. — Ithaca College on Tuesday told its students that it will be scrapping its plan to have students return to campus this fall
Oswego Health to use Exelon-donated iPads for virtual meetings with Medicaid patients
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