Snow Dragon to develop and market finger-vein security at Tech Garden II

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SYRACUSE — The U.S. operations of a Chinese company is beginning work in the Syracuse Technology Garden II in AXA Tower II in downtown Syracuse. SUNY Oswego is sponsoring Snow Dragon as part of its tax-free, START-UP NY space in the Tech Garden II. The START-UP NY program provides new and expanding businesses the opportunity […]

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SYRACUSE — The U.S. operations of a Chinese company is beginning work in the Syracuse Technology Garden II in AXA Tower II in downtown Syracuse.

SUNY Oswego is sponsoring Snow Dragon as part of its tax-free, START-UP NY space in the Tech Garden II.

The START-UP NY program provides new and expanding businesses the opportunity to operate tax-free for 10 years on or near an approved university campus.

Snow Dragon is a firm that’s working to develop and market applications for finger-vein security authentication. It wants to develop products that serve the security needs of institutions and businesses in the U.S. and, “eventually, the rest of North America,” SUNY Oswego said in a news release issued May 2.

The company, owned by Beijing entrepreneur Jie Cai (pronounced Tsigh), has pledged to employ seven people at its Syracuse headquarters within the next five years.

“What this technology does is it scans the vein structure in your finger,” says Todd Sullivan, president and co-founder of Syracuse–based Tech Bridge International.

The veins in the human finger are “unique,” says Sullivan.

“This is a pretty sure way, a much higher probability of success of knowing that the person … is who they say they are,” says Sullivan.

He also noted that most authentication is currently done through fingerprints, but fingerprints with oil, dirt, or water can produce “erroneous” readings.

Once the system scans a human finger, the software behind the system requires the individual to provide personal information for future recognition purposes, says Sullivan. He spoke with CNYBJ on May 10.

Based at the Syracuse Technology Garden, Tech Bridge describes itself as an “international business development” firm. It worked with SUNY Oswego in developing the relationship with Snow Dragon.

When asked about the name, Sullivan says Cai refers to Syracuse as “Snow City,” much like local citizens refer to it as the “Salt City.” Plus he also likes snow, according to Sutton.

Dragon is a “powerful” mythical figure in the Chinese culture, he adds.

Trip to China
The collaboration with Snow Dragon grew from a visit that Deborah Stanley, SUNY Oswego’s president, and Pamela Caraccioli, the university’s deputy to the president for external partnerships and economic development, made to China in December 2014, according to the release.

Stanley was visiting China and South Korea “to recruit students,” says Caraccioli. She spoke with CNYBJ on May 6.

With the assistance of Tech Bridge International and CenterState CEO, they also met with representatives of several businesses, including Cai, in Zhongguancun in the Haidian District of Beijing.

Zhongguancun is referred to as China’s “Silicon Valley,” according to SUNY Oswego.

During the trip, Caraccioli delivered a Power Point presentation on START-UP NY, which had been translated into Chinese.

“I had two Chinese companies contact me, one of which was [Cai’s] Cein Biotechnology,” says Caraccioli.

Cai is majority owner of Beijing’s Cein Biotechnology Ltd., a biometrics company developing customized uses for patented, finger-vein scanning hardware and software to serve the security needs of clients that need “living, no-card identity verification.”

Cein officials have visited both Oswego and Syracuse about a “half dozen times” since then and made the decision to pursue operations in Central New York, says Caraccioli.

Cai agreed to form a new, separate company called Snow Dragon to explore potential markets for the technology in North America.

Support, investors
The venture also seeks to leverage SUNY Oswego’s “strength” in wireless research and technology, the school said. Its Advanced Wireless Systems Research Center focuses on research in wireless science and technologies, including wireless sensors and devices.

That facility started operations in the fall of 2015, according to Caraccioli. The research center was under construction when officials from Cein Biotechnology first saw it, she adds.

The university is working “closely” with Snow Dragon to develop a “collaborative” program in finger-vein imaging, Patanjali Parimi, the center’s director, said in the SUNY Oswego release.

One of the company’s goals is to attract U.S. investors, much as Cein has attracted two rounds of angel investment in China, Sullivan said.

To get there, the new company needs to spend several months in research, development, technology demonstrations, and in sales and marketing, he added.

The technology can apply to several types of transactions that require authentication, including a bank transaction, a purchase at a point-of-sale terminal, or logging into an educational course.

“It’s pretty broad,” Sullivan says.

SUNY Oswego Metro Center in Syracuse, the college’s branch campus, is also exploring “synergies” with Snow Dragon, the school said.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com

What Happened to SEO, and Why Does it Matter to the CEO?

Business Mentors, Small Business, Subscriber Only, Technology

In 1994, a man named Brian Pinkerton developed the first capable web crawler. His amazing software tool could generate the top 25 web-page results, which was quite an achievement at the time. In the late 1990s, early search-engine players like Excite, Lycos, Yahoo, and AltaVista used custom web crawlers like Pinkerton’s to succeed in the

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In 1994, a man named Brian Pinkerton developed the first capable web crawler. His amazing software tool could generate the top 25 web-page results, which was quite an achievement at the time.

In the late 1990s, early search-engine players like Excite, Lycos, Yahoo, and AltaVista used custom web crawlers like Pinkerton’s to succeed in the content-driven search-engine business. Consequently, the late 90s were full of competition and exciting search-engine optimization (SEO) breakthroughs, especially following Google’s release of a new page rank tool called Link Juice. (The following year, it rolled out a new model for paid links, a financial sensation that became widely known as AdWords.)

By 2003, Google had to crack down on “Google bombers,” who were gaming the SEO system. In response to these “Google bombers,” the company released another new product called AdSense. And with a number of companies gaming SEO with spam in 2004, Google released the “nofollow” tag, which was soon adopted by its competitors as well. It didn’t take long before “nofollow” — along with Link Juice — became the de-facto tool for ranking pages. In 2005, Google released Google Analytics, and later that year, when SEO gamers started abusing “nofollow” to increase their page ranking, Google cracked down by limiting the scope of Link Juice within the “nofollow” tool. Google completed this successful trifecta by releasing a new “sandboxing” tool, which marked the beginning of the end for all other major search engines, and the rise in power of Google SEO rankings.

From 1995 to 2005, what was at first a thriving SEO marketplace with multiple competitors shrank down to a mere few, and the rest is history. In less than two decades, Google has become the 800-pound gorilla in the SEO market, with the bulk of the global market share. The company’s rapid rise to stardom is nothing short of phenomenal, especially since there are now only two types of SEO marketing companies: those that abide by Google’s guidelines, and those that attempt to game the algorithm. Google, of course, responds to the market by changing its algorithms, rewarding companies that develop brands, and put their customers first. But more importantly, Google rewards the companies that use its tools. It rewards businesses that create valuable content and punishes companies that strive to rise to the top through clever tricks and schemes.

We’ve seen this tech disruption trend before — consider Betamax versus VHS, or Blackberry versus iPhone. So, what phenomenon distinguishes the winners from the losers in the tech industry? As was the case with Betamax versus VHS, there was more to it than the fact that the latter was a superior product. With the iPhone, for example, Apple confirmed its status as a closed technology garden. But if it’s not technical superiority or open technology, then how do these tech companies become major players? What turns the market against these outliers so quickly? In some cases, it takes less than a decade to do so.

Although it isn’t entirely obvious, the fulcrum that generates a certain level of success in the technology industry is the balance between two sets of common factors. Consider public consumers as the two-headed mythical Roman god Janus Bifrons. Janus presided over war and peace, over the beginning and end of conflict. He is usually depicted as having two distinct faces, one representing the future and the other the past. Well, the habits of modern consumers are a balance between the future, which I define here as choice and freedom, and the past, which I define as convenience and reliability. As consumers, human beings are generally willing to give up enormous freedoms — of both choice and privacy — to gain convenience and reliability. Think about it. We all voluntarily carry GPS tracking devices with us, and these devices not only monitor our locations, but they track pretty much everything we do online. Something definitely rings true in the popular colloquial expression that “Google knows more about me than my spouse.”

So, to borrow a Malcolm Gladwell expression, what causes that “tipping point” when freedom and choice override convenience and reliability (or vice versa) while consumers are in the process of adopting a new technology?

Some of my contemporaries would argue that through regulation, the government plays a significant role in picking industry winners and losers. It’s tough to argue with them on that point, but I think it’s much subtler, but arguably quite obvious, than that.

Information-technology communication companies tend to disrupt about every 30 years: the telegraph in 1840, the telephone in 1870, the radio in 1900, the TV in 1930, cable TV in 1960, and the Internet in 1990. This means that the next major leap is scheduled to occur in 2020, which is something for which we should obviously be prepared. Many major players are already laying the foundation for this next generation, and that’s quite literally it. You see, the next generation, a new group of younger souls riled by their loss of privacy and lack of choice will spontaneously move to a freer, more diverse platform. And over time, this platform will morph into the familiar and reliable Janus tradeoff in which freedom and choice give way to convenience and reliability — often as the result of government intervention.

So, what is a CEO to do if you find yourself in one of these “loser” industries? The answer wasn’t obvious to Yahoo for a long while.

Certainty has become the key driver of corporate success. The question is, “Will you see the competition coming?” Companies need a predictive disruptive-technology analysis tool to provide a strategic roadmap that will keep them ahead of the pack. Unlike any other product, this roadmap offers the knowledge on how to specifically protect and leverage information to one’s advantage; it is a means of expanding and simultaneously future-proofing your organization. C-level suites and executive boards need a clear vision and an actionable plan to reduce risk, increase revenue, and ensure corporate success.

Bill Abrams is a business consultant that specializes in IT security, social media, and data science. Contact him at babrams@nsaco.com

Questions to Ask Yourself When Starting a Business

Business Mentors, Small Business, Subscriber Only

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When entrepreneurs ask me for help in starting a business, I immediately think of three questions I need to ask them back. I do that for two reasons. First, there is such a wide range of business types, startup forms, levels of experience, and personal situations, that more details are needed to move beyond the general advice of best practices that benefit any business. Second, one has to start somewhere with the decision tree that will naturally begin to branch and unfold once some baseline information is clarified. Here are the three key questions to ask yourself when starting a business:

1) What are your specific goals and objectives?

The main reason for articulating specific goals and objectives is to determine what actionable steps should be taken next. For example, if entrepreneurs are looking to sell artisan crafted goods — are they doing so as a secondary income for which they would be satisfied with a long-term strategy of selling at seasonal markets? Or are they looking to gain experience, market share, and working capital toward opening a brick-and-mortar location?

Actionable marketing steps for the example of selling at seasonal markets might go no further than social media and a single free webpage online, a business card, and a flyer for marketing. Whereas for the latter example of a brick-and-mortar location, you may want to develop a more complex website showcasing a full line of inventory, a full media marketing plan with associated costs, and a multi-year cash-flow budget that will demonstrate the necessary metrics needed to be reached along a timeline for development.

A smart tool for articulating goals and objectives is the S.M.A.R.T. methodology. Using S.M.A.R.T., an entrepreneur creates goals and objectives that are quantifiable as Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timed.

2) How will you pay for your startup?

An idea is only that until it’s implemented. And implementation always involves investment, even if it is only a small amount, such as when you’re turning a hobby into a full-time business and you already own the equipment and tools. A simple and effective first step to understanding your startup financial needs is a short form known as sources and uses. In this simple way, one can list the general categories of cost estimates known as the uses of funds, even if they are not yet fully fleshed out and detailed, along with proposed sources of those funds being paid out.

This simple cash-in and cash-out accounting for a startup can help a new entrepreneur understand if starting a business out-of-pocket is realistic, or if other sources of financing will be needed. If additional financing is required, the next steps of looking at metrics such as cash available, credit, collateral, and a full-blown pro-forma cash-flow statement will need to be determined. This is also an opportunity to discuss when appropriate, alternative strategies such as crowdfunding.

3) How will the form of your business look in terms of ownership and entity?

This is often the best time to ask if the entrepreneur has spoken with a lawyer or accountant regarding the implications of ownership and taxation, which can be a deciding factor in final entity form. However, before that conversation, it often behooves the strategic discussion to talk about other non-tax-related factors and lesser-understood business forms with which the entrepreneur might not be wholly familiar.

For instance, the “nonprofits and grants” talk is a commonplace occurrence among beginning entrepreneurs with little to no experience. Giving up ownership of an organization to a controlling board of directors is often not what the entrepreneur had in mind as a trade-off in favor of being able to receive grants and tax-deductible donations, as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, but it is often a consideration that was not understood or considered prior.

Whatever the answers to these three initial questions, the branches of the tree unfold, the actionable tasks leaf out, and the potential for bloom or bust becomes more apparent. These answers form the foundation of any business-planning process. And not to insinuate that they won’t change, but they will form the launching point necessary for the technical planning work for the startup’s implementation.

Frank Cetera is a NYS SBDC-certified business advisor at the Small Business Development Center at Onondaga Community College.

An Open Letter to Gov. Cuomo

Opinion, Subscriber Only

Dear Governor Cuomo: As you know, we seem to have a little corruption among the politicians of our wonderful state. In the interests of New York, may I humbly offer a few suggestions? They are on the same theme of making lemonade out of lemons. Or cat food from stinking fish. Or soil enrichment out

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Dear Governor Cuomo:

As you know, we seem to have a little corruption among the politicians of our wonderful state. In the interests of New York, may I humbly offer a few suggestions? They are on the same theme of making lemonade out of lemons. Or cat food from stinking fish. Or soil enrichment out of manure from Albany. You get the idea.

We have corruption in Albany. You know that. Even the janitors are on the take. The State Assembly has its own wing at Rikers Island.

You are a practical guy. How about we come up with ways to use our corruption to promote the state. I’m serious.

What do states promote? Their assets. The things they do well and have a lot of. Their resources.

Well, what do we do really well and have lots of? Duh. Hint: It’s not manufacturing. Not any more — thanks to our high taxes and crazy regulations.

What we do well is corruption, governor. So let’s be proud of this. Let’s use corruption to promote this state. Let us turn turnips into bubbly.

How about a Corruption Hall of Fame, for starters. We could televise the inductions every year — just like pro sports. What Cooperstown does with pinstripes, we can do with prison stripes. What the NFL does with the draft, we could do with indictments. “And here to accept this great honor, on weekend leave from federal penitentiary … put your hands and handcuffs together for Shelly Silver!”

We could have big conferences at the Hall of Fame. Invite politicians from all over the country. Feature headliners, like whichever comptroller is out of prison. We could stage workshops on influence peddling. We could have the Boss Tweed Wing. The Dean Skelos Room — with real bars on the window.

We could sell books on how to fiddle with pension systems.

We could market money-laundering ideas — as endorsed by various of our politicians.

Slush funds. We could hold an entire annual convention on the latest advances in slush-fund thinking and strategy.

And charities. We could tap into the wisdom of our political leaders in and out of the clink. They could endorse pre-packaged fake charities that we could sell to aspiring crooks across the fruited plain.

“Running for office? You need a New York charitable foundation where your supporters can deposit bribes. Our fake charity packages are designed and endorsed by luminaries like the Big Apple’s Mayor de Blasio.”

Governor Cuomo, this is a golden opportunity. Just think, soon we might be able to boast that one of our graduates became president. Hillary Clinton is the queen of corruption. She created the biggest influence-peddling slush fund in the country. And gosh, she used to be our very own senator. Is this a great state or what?

Our state universities could offer degree programs in corruption: how to practice it, how to detect it, and how to ignore it. You could create courses in that subject, Governor Cuomo.

I can see new state advertising messages: “New York Is On Sale.” “We Milk More Than Cows Here.” “Much More Than Street Crime.” “Brooklyn’s Bridge Ain’t Fer Sale — But Its Politicians Come Cheap.”

I can see our new motto on the state flag, in Latin: Redere Ludere! (Pay to Play).

I can see golden arches constructed over the steps of the state capitol. For Sale! (And We Don’t Mean the Building.)

From Tom…as in Morgan.

Tom Morgan writes about political, financial and other subjects from his home near Oneonta. Several upstate radio stations carry his daily commentary, Tom Morgan’s Money Talk. Contact him at tomasinmorgan.com

Cut Corruption Off at its Roots

Opinion, Subscriber Only

Scandal after scandal, Albany has been unwilling and unable to police itself on matters of public corruption. It is so bad that shocking headlines involving corrupt public officials have now become commonplace. Those in power are so accustomed to wallowing in the muck and mire of political corruption that it’s as if they prefer it

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It’s not hard for any reasonable person to see what the problem is: unchecked power and access to money have been corrupting forces in New York’s capitol. For too long these political commodities have been in the hands of nefarious people and it has wreaked havoc on New York’s government.

At the root of this problem is the concentration of power in a handful of leaders — the Assembly speaker, Senate majority leader, and the governor. Former Speaker Sheldon Silver was just sentenced to 12 years in prison and nearly $7 million in fines and payback for his crimes. Former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos was set to be sentenced on May 12. Former Sen. John Sampson, who served as majority leader during the brief stint of Democrat control, will be sentenced at the end of May. And now, a complex web of bid-rigging, all tied to the governor’s aides and political allies, is being investigated by federal prosecutors and the state attorney general.

Access to public dollars and campaign contributions also plays a significant role in recent cases. Nepotism, the use of private-sector firms and nonprofits to funnel money to elected officials, pay-to-play, bid rigging, and even ill-gotten financial gains have plagued Albany.

If this isn’t a big wakeup call for the Assembly Democrats, I don’t know what will be. Maybe they will be persuaded by the public, because the public has had enough.

Nearly every New Yorker thinks corruption is a serious problem. A recent Siena Poll confirms this, indicating that 97 percent of New Yorkers are demanding ethics reforms.

Assembly Democrats have failed over and over again to pass any meaningful ethics reforms. When Speaker Carl Heastie took his position after Silver’s arrest, he promised reforms, but more than a year later, he and his colleagues have failed to deliver. In fact, they have actively blocked ethics legislation that my Republican colleagues and I sponsor.

The Assembly Republican Conference’s Public Officers Accountability Act, which was blocked by Democrats, would have set term limits for legislative leaders and committee chairs and increased punishments for corruption crimes and violations of campaign-finance laws. Also blocked was public-pension forfeiture legislation, which would strip corrupt public officials of their publically funded pensions. No felon should be able to collect even one dime from his victims — the taxpayers.

My colleagues and I continue to discuss and develop ethics reforms, including lowering the maximum campaign contribution allowed from state, county, or local political committees; stopping bid rigging in state contracting by prohibiting awardees from making political contributions for one year; and ending special interest Super PAC spending, which holds excessive sway in the political process.

The New York Assembly must make ethics reforms its main priority for the remainder of session. It would be foolhardy to continue to put off these much-needed changes. The public is demanding action, and it is our job to respond and protect their interests.

Marc W. Butler (R,C,I–Newport) is a New York State Assemblyman for the 118th District, which encompasses parts of Oneida, Herkimer, and St. Lawrence counties, as well as all of Hamilton and Fulton counties. Contact him at butlerm@assembly.state.ny.us

Michael D. Altieri

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Manufacturing & Engineering, People on the Move, Subscriber Only

BCA Architects & Engineers has named MICHAEL D. ALTIERI an associate of the firm. He spent two summers as an intern at BCA Architects & Engineers and joined the firm full time in 2009. Altieri graduated from SUNY ESF with a degree in environmental resource and forestry engineering. Contact The Business Journal News Network at news@cnybj.com

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Brandon Lovett

Employee Benefits & Human Resources, People on the Move, Subscriber Only

M3 Placement and Partnership has hired BRANDON LOVETT as senior account executive. He has more than 15 years of local administrative experience, most recently as director of administrative services with the City of Rome, where he oversaw human resources and operations. Lovett will specialize in business development and recruiting for direct placement, temporary, and contract

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Prudent Engineering

Construction, Design & Real Estate, Energy, Environment & Sustainability, Manufacturing & Engineering, People on the Move, Subscriber Only

CHRISTOPHER CHAMBERS has joined Prudent Engineering as a survey technician in the East Syracuse office. He earned his associate degree in construction technology from Monroe Community College and an associate degree in land surveying technology from SUNY ESF. Chambers’ experience includes conducting construction, topographic, boundary, and cell-tower surveys. Prior to joining Prudent, he worked as

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Caleb Richter

Health Care, People on the Move, Subscriber Only

CALEB RICHTER, a physician assistant, has joined Carthage Area Hospital’s Carthage Behavioral Health Clinic. He holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and chemistry from Roberts Weslayan College and a master’s degree in physician assistant studies from Daeman College. Richter previously worked at Samaritan Medical Center’s Leray Urgent Care. Prior to that, he worked at Carthage

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Kathryn A. Donnelly

Insurance & Financial Services, Law, Accounting & Taxes, People on the Move, Subscriber Only

Tully Rinckey PLLC announced that KATHRYN A. DONNELLY, an attorney with extensive military law and litigation experience, has joined the firm as an associate. She will concentrate her practice on military law, regularly handling cases involving Article 15s, letters of reprimand, court martials, and officer/enlisted separation proceedings. Prior to joining Tully Rinckey, Donnelly most recently

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