[On. Jan. 30] nearly 100 CenterState CEO members braved the cold to meet the five new teams participating in round three of our successful GENIUS NY program during a special welcome event held at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. Teams were able to interact with members who could serve as clients, resources, or mentors as they grow their businesses here in Central New York.

The teams begin the year-long program with newly renovated offices in the GENIUS Center at The Tech Garden, which offers opportunities to collaborate with each other and other Tech Garden members. Over the next few months, the teams will refine their pitch as they prepare to compete for $3 million in investments during Finals Night on April 9. One team will be awarded a grand prize of $1 million, while the four remaining teams will each receive a $500,000 investment. Over the next year, all teams will access a variety of targeted resources to advance their technologies and contribute to the unmanned-aircraft systems ecosystem in Central New York and the Mohawk Valley. 

Round three companies will also explore synergies with teams from the competition’s first two rounds. All six GENIUS NY round two companies have committed to staying in Syracuse. Teams from the program’s first two rounds continue to hit growth milestones; have raised more through outside investments than what was invested in the program; are making connections and establishing partnerships with local businesses; and have hired or currently have openings. 

To learn more about how you can connect with these teams contact Jon Parry, director of GENIUS NY, at jparry@thetechgarden.com         

Robert M. (Rob) Simpson is president and CEO of CenterState CEO, the primary economic-development organization for Central New York. This viewpoint is drawn and edited from the “CEO Focus” email newsletter that the organization sent to members on Jan. 31. 

One of the latest squabbles big media promoted is that our president disagrees with our national intelligence chiefs. The line is simple: Trump is a dummkopf in this. The brilliant intel guys know so much more than he does. Impeach him for his ignorance.

Do I think Trump knows more than the intel guys? No idea. Above my pay grade.

He may be totally whacky when he calls them naïve about Iran. I don’t know. 

Our intel guys have a bad record, though. Pearl Harbor? They missed it. Or bungled the info they had.

Bay of Pigs? They miscalculated big time. Egypt and Syria’s surprise attack on Israel? Surprised them. They said, “Nah. It’s not in the cards.” Our intel people said this on the very day of the attack.

Sputnik? They had no idea the Soviets would beat us into space.

Iranian Revolution? Our intel guys said Iran was not in a revolutionary situation. Or even in a pre-revolutionary situation. That was mid-1978. In 1979, came the revolution. Thanks guys, for the heads-up. The small problem was where your heads were up.

“Soviets Invade Afghanistan!” Our intel guys read about it in the newspapers. The joke in Washington was that our intel analysts got it right. It was the Soviets who got it wrong.

India’s multiple nuclear tests? This was a big deal. Our intel guys missed it. The chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee called it a “colossal failure of our nation’s intelligence gathering.”

Our intel people did not uncover the first plot to bring down the World Trade Center towers. They were blind to the Blind Sheik who organized the basement bombing. Now you would think that this failure would have made them more suspicious of future attacks. “Gollee, they tried to bring down the Trade Towers. Do you suppose …? Nah.” And so, they bungled any info they had on the 9/11 attack that came a few years later.

They failed to foresee or prevent bombings of our embassies in Africa.

But, but, but … our intelligence experts did see what was going on in Iraq. Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, they assured world leaders. Iraqis were plunging ahead on WMD programs. Nuclear weapons would arrive within 1 to 12 months. Right. Maybe they used one of those whacky calendars from the times of Nostradamus. You know, the ones that say we are in the year 122.

The Russians tampered with our 2016 election. This was a deep, deep stealth operation. They used a top-secret operation called Facebook — and other social media — for six months. Pretty amateurish. Our intel pros don’t notice amateur behavior. They totally missed it.

The CIA director during that period was John Brennan. Yes, the guy who loves to berate and belittle President Trump on TV. The guy who likes to lie to Congress. John said it wasn’t the CIA’s fault that we missed the Ruskies tampering. “There was no playbook for this.” 

Duh, John. You were supposed to write the playbook. That was your job. It’s not as if you had no time. The Russians cyber-tampered with Ukrainian elections two years earlier. They sort of wrote half the book for you, John. A State Department official called this “a failure of imagination. Everyone was guilty of the same sin.” You might remember that, John, when you feel the urge to fling stones again.

Thus far, it looks as if the intel community completely screwed up in their Trump-collusion-with-Russia plot. (Brennan was at the center of this.) Even though there is barely any serious investigating of the intel guys over this, enough have retired or been fired to fill a large interrogation room.

The spooks work hard to cover their backsides. They point fingers at everyone else. This is human nature. Also, let us admit their work is extremely difficult. Maybe some of their mistakes were simply unavoidable.

Let us also admit their record is dismal. 

The U.S. intel community scorned President Reagan. They reckoned he was a know-nothing when it came to understanding the USSR. They said he was an amiable dunce. Just a former entertainer. Gorbachev would eat him alive. They leaked garbage to big media, who roasted that amiable dunce.

Maybe President Trump is an un-amiable dunce when it comes to our intelligence guys. Maybe. It is also highly possible our intel chiefs are back to their old habit of grazing in left field. Out where the pot grows. Well, that’s where it is, according to our intel guys. They always know these things, dude.

From Tom…as in Morgan.        

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial, and other subjects from his home in upstate New York. He has a new novel out, called “The Last Columnist,” which is available on Amazon. Contact Tom at tomasinmorgan@yahoo.com, read more of his writing at tomasinmorgan.com, or find him on Facebook.