SYRACUSE — Tech Garden tenant Density Inc. is the first firm to use the facility’s new hardware center, which can accommodate light assembly activity. 

The firm builds an anonymous workplace-analytics product to count foot traffic in and out of businesses, CenterState CEO said in a news release. The firm was founded in Syracuse in 2014 and also has offices in San Francisco and New York City.

Each of Density’s units has 800 subcomponents in it, Density founder and CEO Andrew Farah said in speaking with reporters at the hardware center’s formal opening June 4. By managing its supply chain “in house,” the company can manage volume, price, and supplying vendors and have all material shipped to Syracuse where the subcomponents are assembled and the units tested and packaged before the company ships the unit to the customer.

“Pretty much the final stage of all building of our product and shipment happens here in this facility,” said Farah.

Density is built to count the number of visiting customers, measure the length of their visit, and provide customers with data about foot traffic to and from their business, as described on the Tech Garden website.

“And then we turn that data into how buildings get used for large corporate customers so they can understand how this building is underperforming, [and] this building is overperforming,” said Farah.

Density has been Tech Garden client for eight years and is ready to expand.

As a result of the new hardware center and “growing demand from customers,” the company relocated its manufacturing operations from a third party in Dallas, Texas to the Tech Garden, where it will conduct final assembly, calibration, and testing. Its products are then shipped to companies “all over the world.”

In the coming year, Density plans to nearly double its Syracuse workforce as it expects to create as many as 15 jobs, including factory positions and supporting roles. That growth makes Density the Tech Garden’s largest tenant. It currently has 45 employees companywide.

About the hardware center

Density has one full production line that’s operational in the new 2,200-square-foot hardware center.

When fully utilized, the hardware center can support two lines capable of producing 30,000 units annually. The development of the hardware center will support companies in the expansion phase of their life cycle, offering small companies a significant opportunity to conduct product assembly “in a convenient and cost-effective location,” CenterState CEO said.

Farah joined CenterState CEO, Syracuse Mayor Ben Walsh, and Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon at the formal-opening event on June 4. 

“We now have a road map at the Tech Garden. We can bring entrepreneurs in here all the way from the ideation stage. We bring through a stage called acceleration. We bring though a stage called incubation. The last stage on the road map is expansion, and that’s what we’re going to talk about today,” Rick Clonan, VP of innovation and entrepreneurship at CenterState CEO, said in his remarks at the event.

The hardware center is for Tech Garden clients that are in the expansion stage, he added. 

“[It] turns out that building it in Syracuse is cost-neutral with China. We decided that it would make zero sense to send our [intellectual property] overseas and instead keep it here in the U.S.,” Farah said at the event. “I’m very proud that our company was founded here and I’m very proud to say that our product is physically manufactured here.”

CICERO — Exporting is a big part of business for a Cicero firm and the federal government is taking notice.

Air Innovations is among the 48 companies that U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross recognized with a 2019 Presidential Award for Export Achievement, also known as the President’s “E” Award for Exports.

Ross honored the firms during a May 23 ceremony in Washington, D.C.

The President’s “E” Award was created in 1961 by an executive order and is the “highest recognition a U.S. entity can receive for making a significant contribution to the expansion of U.S. exports,” the U.S. Commercial Service, which is part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, said in a news release.

“Air Innovations has demonstrated a sustained commitment to export expansion. The ‘E’ Awards committee was very impressed with Air Innovations’ measurable year-over-year growth in exports. The company’s sales into 48 countries were also particularly notable. Air Innovations’ achievements have undoubtedly contributed to national export expansion efforts that support the U.S. economy and create American jobs,” Ross said in his congratulatory letter to the company announcing its selection as an award recipient.

Air Innovations is a manufacturer of specialty HVAC units for use in a variety of commercial applications in industries from aerospace and semiconductors to pharmaceuticals, hospitals, and wine cellars. These units are designed to meet a variety of specifications that typical commercial HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) units cannot maintain.

“Export products are an essential part of our growth as a company,” Mike Wetzel, president and CEO of Air Innovations, said in a company release. “Our long-term strategy is dependent on consistent expansion of our export market. We are grateful to receive this recognition of our commitment to export products made in the United States.”

This year’s award recipients are based in 25 states. Of the 48 honorees, 41 are small and medium-sized businesses, while 26 firms are manufacturers, per the Commerce Department.

It’s not the first time the federal government has honored Air Innovations for its exporting activity. 

The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) on May 1, 2018 honored the company as the New York winner of 2018 Small Business Exporter of the Year Award. 

The SBA held the presentation at Air Innovations, which operates in a facility at 7000 Performance Drive, off East Taft Road in the town of Cicero. It has 59 employees.

Air Innovations had also been selected as the SBA’s region II 2018 Small Business Exporter of the Year. The SBA’s region II includes New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

American companies are nominated for “E” Awards through the U.S. and Foreign Commercial Service office network, located within the U.S. Department of Commerce’s International Trade Administration. 

“Record years” of successive export growth and an applicant’s “demonstration of an innovative international marketing plan that led to the increase in exports is a significant factor” in selecting the overall winners, per the Air Innovations release.  

SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly), which has campuses in the Albany and Utica areas, recently announced that Shadi Shahedipour-Sandvik, interim VP of research advancement and graduate studies, has been selected to receive $360,000 in federal funding from the U.S. Army Research Office — U.S. Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen Proving Ground.

The grant will fund work to develop more advanced batteries with greater energy storage capabilities compared to conventional batteries, according to a SUNY Poly news release. In partnership with a team of collaborators at the Army Research Laboratory, Shahedipour-Sandvik’s team will explore the potential of “betavoltaic” (BV) and “beta photovoltaic” (BPV) devices, which use beta particles, or electrons, that are produced by a radioactive source to generate electricity that can be especially useful for applications in environments where a long battery life is required. That includes remote sensing and space applications.