2011 Conference Attendees

Robert Kerr - Owner of Swish Data Centers (Cranberry Lake/Warwick, NY) - Keynote Speaker

An entrepreneurial start up in 2006 based on the expertise of Bob Kerr and his wife, Mary Ellen Kerr, Swish Data today delivers federal enterprise architecture solutions to all facets of government operations and maintains cleared staff and facility to leverage State, Local and Federal  business opportunities for clients. The Kerrs created a successful small business model in upstate New York with their share of booms and busts in this ever changing economy. Broadband and an emerging business climate are critical to building their creative lifestyle choice in the Adirondack North Country Region. 

Joshua Ball - Manager of Kentucky Teleworks - Telecommuting Tips

Kentucky Teleworks is the next state-wide extension of the Eastern Kentucky Distance Earning Initiative Joshua Ball created in early 2010 in his role leading a partnership between four community and technical colleges and the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program. He’s a former journalist, newspaper executive and healthcare public relations and marketing executive. He garnered national attention in 2006 when he covered the Aracoma coal mining accident. Joshua Ball is committed to helping others develop green economic and sustainable business alternatives in the Appalachia Mountains he calls home. He brings practical advice to those seeking telecommuting jobs and to those seeking to build a robust infrastructure that supports teleworkers.

Marc Compeau - Reh Center for Entrepreneurship - Overcoming Rural Entrepreneurship Challanges

Marc Compeau, Director of Innovation & Entrepreneurship at the Clarkson School of Business, leads the Reh Center for Entrepreneurship and works with affiliated faculty and staff.

Marc has started several small businesses, received multiple patents and is the founder of My Small Business 101, a program designed to educate small business owners for success. He is also a columnist for Forbes.com, covering topics and issues affecting small business ownership.

He teaches courses in Innovation & Entrepreneurship, including the popular first-year, two-semester course, Small Business 113/114, where students work in groups to create and manage their own real-world business. Opportunities generated through the Reh Center for Entrepreneurship will allow Clarkson students to find solutions to real challenges that small business owners face.

Leigh Rodriguez- Business Development Specialist, St. Lawrence County IDA - Micro-financing

Leigh Rodriguez joined the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency as a Business Development Specialist in October 2010, and served prior to that with the St. Lawrence County Office of Economic Development as Business Services Coordinator. Rodriguez consistently provides local entrepreneurs with creative and effective solutions. She has been instrumental in helping businesses gain access to capital for their start-up or expansion projects through resources such as the St. Lawrence County Microenterprise Revolving Loan Fund administered by the IDA. In 2010, she secured $200,000 to create the St. Lawrence County Microenterprise Grant Program which provided grant assistance to ten microenterprise businesses in St. Lawrence County. Her dedication to entrepreneurial support plays a vital role in the success of the small business community.

Leigh received her B.S. in Business Administration from the University of New Hampshire in 1992, and Certificate of Paralegal Studies from McIntosh College in 1993.  Her professional experience includes sales and customer service in the manufacturing industry, and nearly ten years as a Paralegal working with small businesses and Certified Development Companies to close loans through the U.S. Small Business Administration 504 Loan Program.  
 
Recently, Rodriguez was awarded the Reh Center For Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurs Hero Award.

Jim Murphy - Adirondack Economic Development Corporation - Micro-financing

In the summer of 2011, Jim Murphy became Executive Director of the Adirondack Economic Development Corporation after serving previously as the economic developer for the Village of Potsdam. The AEDC offers a variety of training programs and tutorials for local entrepreneurs and they help small local businesses with finances and loans. Mr. Murphy has an incredible background in economic development and experience in microenterprise loan programs, strategic planning, tourism marketing and promotion, social services and health care. In the past he has worked as an Economic Development Specialist for the Technical Assistance Center at SUNY Plattsburgh and as Associate Director of the Merwin Rural Services Institute at SUNY Potsdam. Also, for many years he has been helping with the Raquette River Blueway Corridor Project and served on other regional tourism initiatives.

Jeff Yette- Sales Engineer, SLIC Network Solutions - Mobile Computing

Jeff Yette is the Sales Engineer at Slic Network Solutions (www.slic.com) where he handles the marketing and sales efforts for their fiber-to-the-home expansion. Most recently, he has been visiting rural north country residents in St. Lawrence and Franklin counties using mobile computing to introduce high-speed Internet and phone services to currently un-served areas. In addition, he also freelances as an Internet marketing professional and musician (www.44dn.com). Jeff Yette's past experience includes being Director of Software Development at Fused Solutions (1998-2000) and Director of Sales and Marketing for Fused Solutions (2000-2006). Mr. Yette attended SUNY Potsdam working toward a BFA concentrating in graphic arts. He is a 2008 graduate and current board member of the St. Lawrence County Leadership Institute program. A native of Potsdam, Jeff currently lives in Parishville with his wife and three school-aged children.

Bruce Kingma - Syracuse University

As Associate Provost for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Professor Kingma leads initiatives at Syracuse University in entrepreneurship and community engagement. The University's program in entrepreneurship is consistently ranked among the best in the nation; while the SU Chancellor's award winning vision of Scholarship in Action, and it's manifestation in community engagement have gained national attention. Associate Provost Kingma's portfolio of responsibilities includes the  Syracuse Campus-Community Entrepreneurship Initiative (Enitiative) -- a collaborative partnership of  six institutions and five community foundations made possible by a $3 million grant from the Ewing  Marion Kauffman Foundation and $15 million in matching funding. The Associate Provost directly  oversees The Center for Experiential Learning in Entrepreneurship (ExCEL); the award winning Web-based Information Science Education (WISE) Consortium; The South Side Initiative (SSI); and The Mary Ann Shaw Center for Public and Community Service.

David Oliveiri - Executive Professor of Business Administration, Simon Graduate School

Professor Oliveiri has held several executive positions over a 30-year career in publishing and law. He most recently served as group vice president of legal education for West Group (an operating arm of Thomson-Reuters) and president of Foundation Press.

He has held positions as senior vice president and publisher, vice president of business development, vice president of product systems, and general mana­ger/chief operating officer for  various Thomson subsidiaries and operating groups.

 Oliveiri began his career at Lawyers Cooperative Publishing in Rochester, N.Y., where he was a  managing editor, and later, an editorial director. He has also served as general counsel at Theatre Confections Inc. and was assistant counsel at Central Trust Bank.

He is a member of the New York State and Monroe County Bar Associations, Beta Gamma Sigma, the Scribes Society of Legal Writers, and the Academy of Legal Studies in Business. He is licensed to practice law before the courts of New York State and the Federal Court of the Western District of New York.

Oliveiri is the author of the revised edition of Nimmer’s Commercial Asset-Based Financing(Thomson/West), a leading legal treatise. His research interests are in the areas of law and economics as interrelated disciplines, and in particular how the legal environment affects comparative advantage.

B.S., Accounting, University at Buffalo
J.D., University at Buffalo
M.B.A., University of Rochester

Ruben Boling - North Georgia College

Ruben Boling is an instructor at North Georgia's Mike Cottrell School of Business, where he teaches a variety of management courses. He also directs the Center for the Future of North Georgia, which focuses on sustainable economic development. Ruben Boling has over 30 years experience in a variety of industries and organizations. His main passion is in entrepreneurship and strategic planning. In the past, Ruben has worked for E-Systems Incorporated as Chief Executive Officer; he was Sr. Vice President at Quebecor World, and an Instructor & Associate Dir Executive MBA at Kennesaw State University. He originally graduated from Southern Polytechnic Institute with a BS in Civil Engineering Technology. He then continued on and holds a Master of Science in Management from Georgia Tech.

Matt Draper- Deputy Director, The Shipley Center for Innovation

As Deputy Director for the Shipley Center for Innovation, Matt works directly with faculty, students, and staff on the commercialization of emerging technologies. Since joining the Center in October of 2010, this work has led to the development of the Clarkson Model for the Commercialization of Innovations which is directly responsible for the formation of multiple startups in Upstate New York. Matt is a graduate of Clarkson, receiving an undergraduate degree in Business Administration as well as an MBA in 2003. Prior to joining the Shipley Center, Matt worked in various management roles of increasing responsibility for W.W. Grainger, a Fortune 500 company and the largest industrial distributor in the world.
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