Clarkson University has been awarded a total of $1.4 million from the Regional Economic Development Council’s Round XI funding initiative to stimulate New York’s post-pandemic recovery.
Of the $1.4 million awarded to Clarkson, $1,250,000 has been awarded to the Shipley Center for Innovation to continue its operation of the North Country Innovation Hot Spot through 2026. This funding is provided by the Empire State Development as part of the NYS Incubator and Innovation Hot Spot program. This program funds one Hot Spot in each of New York State’s ten economic development zones, as well as a total of twenty certified business incubators across the state.
Through this grant the Shipley Center will continue providing support to inventors and entrepreneurs throughout the North Country, including business mentorship, prototype development, marketing assistance, connections to investors and subject matter experts, and much more.
Funding will also allow the Shipley Center to continue facilitating in-person and virtual workshops for inventors and entrepreneurs around the region. In the past these workshops, hosted in collaboration with the Point Positive angel investment group, have taken place in Canton, Lake Placid, Clayton, Plattsburgh, Tupper Lake, and Ticonderoga.
In addition to providing these services to the region, the Shipley Center operates the North Country Business Incubator on Clarkson’s downtown Potsdam campus. This space allows aspiring entrepreneurs to maintain a physical office or lab in an environment surrounded by motivated and like-minded individuals, and to have even greater access to the resources and expertise available at Clarkson.
As the designated Hot Spot for the North Country region, the Shipley Center also coordinates its efforts with economic development organizations and professionals around the region.
“Despite the difficulty and uncertainty of launching a new company in the current business climate, our Center continues to enjoy regular engagement with inventors and entrepreneurs,” said Jamey Hoose, Director of the Shipley Center. “We look forward to continuing our successful program by providing support to these individuals and their companies in an effort to fuel additional economic growth in the North Country.”
The remaining $150,000 awarded to the university will be used towards the Dennings Point Campus Build Out project at Clarkson’s Beacon Institute for Rivers & Estuaries. The Dennings Point build-out is a creative and comprehensive project that will renovate a 40,000 sq. ft. former paperclip factory to bring community revitalization and job creation to Beacon, as well as support its science, technology, engineering and math programming to both Clarkson students and the public, including P-12 students and adults seeking workforce development and research opportunities.
