BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — As Ewelina Zajac-Holdrege describes it, the process to create a website is “very structured and creative.”

Her company, Idea Kraft, uses modern tools for project management and file sharing.

The web-design process has three phases, including user research and discovery; design and development phase; and production, launch, and support.

“So we really put … a lot of emphasis and efforts into strategy and effective information architecture before we even apply any design to the site,” she says.

It then evolves to mock-ups, layout designs, revisions, and then building a framework. Zajac-Holdrege, Idea Kraft’s founder and creative director, spoke to CNYBJ on April 20.

Even through the pandemic, the firm was busy building large websites, ecommerce stores, and marketing campaigns because, as she tells CNYBJ, “having a modern successful digital presence has never been more important for [a] brand.”

Idea Kraft marked its 10-year anniversary with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Lackawanna Train Station on Jan. 25. Clients, friends, and community leaders joined the agency to acknowledge the milestone.

Origin and growth

Zajac-Holdrege was working as a graphic designer and started a freelance-design business in 2011, an effort that evolved into what is now Idea Kraft. She started the business in her basement before moving to the Lackawanna Train Station at 45 Lewis St. in Binghamton.

She had previously worked for Modern Marketing Concepts in Binghamton.

Zajac-Holdrege graduated from an art school in her native Poland and didn’t have any business-administration experience, so she sought help from “every possible resource” that she could find. Those resources included the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in Binghamton.

“It helped me with my first business plan and to get my first bank loan to furnish the office,” Zajac-Holdrege notes.

She also worked with the entrepreneurship-assistance center at SUNY Broome Community College to pursue the MWBE (minority and woman-owned business enterprise) certification, which she secured in 2015 to help pursue state contacts.

Zajac-Holdrege also participated in the annual SBA Emerging Leaders program during 2019. It’s a six-month course aiming to help small businesses develop and execute strategic growth plans.

Securing the MWBE certification was a “long process,” but it was easier as a new small business because she had to revisit a lot of documents and information that she needed while launching Idea Kraft.

The certification helps a business compete for state projects with New York’s goal that at least 30 percent of state projects should be awarded to minority or woman-owned businesses. Idea Kraft works with a lot of nonprofits on grant-specific projects, including ones in New York City and the higher-education sector.

“This certification does not suddenly open a door for you. You still have to [complete] proposals,” says Zajac-Holdrege. “You have to do outreach. You have to do the same business development as you do with your private sector [clients] but it does give you some advantage … in order to compete for those projects.”

Some examples of Idea Kraft’s MWBE-generated clients include Rural Health Network in Binghamton for a marketing campaign and web-development projects and Jewish Community Center of Coney Island in Brooklyn, which became aware of Idea Kraft through a New York MWBE director, according to Zajac-Holdrege.

“We want to be hired by those agencies because [of] our work and our expertise. I want the certification to be additional added value,” she says.

Idea Kraft currently has 10 full-time workers but also works with freelance contractors and partners with other companies that complement its services “so we can provide a full service to our clients,” Zajac-Holdrege says. They include photographers, video companies, and media buyers.

 Handling the pandemic

When asked about dealing with the COVID pandemic, Zajac-Holdrege says it “definitely brought some challenges” but notes that many of Idea Kraft’s large accounts were “strong” and projects were active.

In transitioning to remote work, Idea Kraft actually went to work remotely a week before it was mandated in New York State. The transition was fairly seamless since the firm already used many cloud applications.

“Ironically, we got closer with some distant clients since we adopted Zoom meetings versus just calls and email,” says Zajac-Holdrege.

She also acknowledged that cultivating the same office culture is a challenge when working remotely. With pandemic emergencies and protocols winding down, the company adopted a hybrid style and employees had an option of working fully remotely, in the office, or through the hybrid method.

“We have employees now in Syracuse and Buffalo, but we try to get together regularly for in-person events,” she says.

Three employees work in the Binghamton office and seven continue working remotely in Binghamton, Syracuse, and Buffalo.

As for what’s ahead for Idea Kraft, Zajac-Holdrege says the firm has room to grow and learn, adding that the business will continue evolving its branding and digital capabilities.       

BINGHAMTON — Companies involved in the spring cohort of the Soft Landing New York program finished the session with a three-day, in-person market exploration bootcamp in New York City from April 19-21. 

The bootcamp coincided with the annual Center for International Business Advancement Global Forum on April 20. The theme of this year’s event was “Soft Landings and Smart Takeoffs: Driving Innovation and Economic Growth Across Borders.” 

Startups from both the fall 2022 and spring 2023 programs were invited to participate in panel discussions, where they could share their experiences with market exploration and customer discovery in the U.S.

“Come prepared with hard questions, different scenarios, and the most open mind you can,” Eric Krohn, director of the business incubation program at the Koffman Incubator, advised at the outset of the spring session. “Give it your all. You will get out of it what you put into it. And as I’ve seen from the last cohort, amazing things happen.”

Soft Landing New York is based at the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator and funded by the U.S. Economic Development Administration. The Koffman Southern Tier Incubator is located at 120 Hawley St. in Binghamton.

A partnership between Binghamton University and Cornell University, the Soft Landing New York program helps foreign companies evaluate and navigate their way into the U.S. market through programming, mentorship, and student assistance. 

In the preceding weeks, program participants embarked on a series of workshops about the U.S. business environment. They also participated in practical bootcamps on both customer discovery for the U.S. market and market entry and go-to-market strategy in the U.S. Participants were also paired with mentors from the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator and student research teams from the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.

Soft Landing New York’s spring 2023 cohort included companies from sectors that included clean energy, food and agriculture, health care, export logistics, fashion, and education. 

During an initial Zoom session at the start of the spring session, each participant was invited to give a brief presentation on their company’s product or service, audience, and goals for expansion into the U.S. market.

About the incubator

Opened in 2017, the 35,000-square-foot Koffman Southern Tier Incubator includes offices, high-tech labs, wet labs, dry labs and common areas, as well as co-working spaces that encourage collaboration between companies, per its website.        

PARTICIPATING COMPANIES

The companies taking part in the spring cohort included:

– Ireland’s Hub Controls has developed an energy-saving smart thermostat that helps users sell carbon credits in the voluntary carbon market.

– Brazil’s GH Solar allows everyday consumers to independently generate their own renewable energy.

– Italy’s Buzzup is developing sensors and data analytics that track pollination for beekeepers, farmers, researchers, and food producers.

– Egypt’s Carraina has developed a frozen breakfast that satisfies all of the nutritional needs established by the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

– Nigeria’s DayDone has developed e-commerce software to help farmers organize, modernize, and optimize their businesses.

– India’s EF Polymer uses food waste to develop a super- absorbent biodegradable polymer that helps farmers save water, reduce fertilizer use, and increase yields.

– Canada’s Hybridyne Health uses AI to create a more accurate and consistent way to diagnose prostate cancer.

– Bulgaria’s Responsa Prevent offers consulting services to make schools and other workplaces safer.

– Guatemala’s Tu Consejeria connects people to app-based mental health services in English and Spanish.

– Canada’s Pash Group is working on a cross-border e-commerce platform that allows people around the world to buy used cars from developed countries.

– Togo’s Togo Cargo has developed an app that helps businesses track shipments, manage inventory, schedule deliveries, and access real-time updates on shipments.

– Uganda’s naRoho trains women to make sustainable handbags, footwear, and other leather items in exchange for fair wages.

– Nigeria’s Univacity is an easy-to-use admissions platform that helps students and recruiters apply to institutes worldwide, making education more accessible across the globe.