Happy New Year from FuzeHub! 2017 was a year of exciting growth in our efforts to assist manufacturers and early stage technology companies in New York State. Last year, FuzeHub’s Solutions Program touched 215 companies-most of them through our online Solutions Portal, which saw a 72% jump in activity over 2016.
In our role as the statewide New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership center, we redoubled our marketing of New York State’s innovation ecosystem, especially the 70+ R&D and technology assets supported by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology & Innovation (NYSTAR). We held Solutions Forums and other events across the state to make over 500 connections between companies and these resources, and received a great deal of positive feedback from manufacturers who went on to leverage those resources to innovate and increase their competitiveness.
Our “Faces of Manufacturing” series offered manufacturers the opportunity to showcase their unique story and technology, while FuzeHub webinars and consulting services helped manufacturers craft their own marketing strategies to stand out to their target audience. And FuzeHub continues to play a significant role in the marketing shifts that the MEP National Network is making to reach more manufacturers.
Our staff has grown in order to support FuzeHub’s enhanced outreach. And others have joined our team to provide specialized guidance to companies in new areas of advanced manufacturing.
The Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund, supported by NYSTAR, is one of the most powerful tools we have, allowing us to fund projects that help small manufacturers and early stage companies reach their true potential. In 2017, we awarded nearly $1.1 million in manufacturing grants and to winners of FuzeHub’s inaugural Commercialization Competition.
Last year we embarked upon a valuable collaboration with the New York Rehabilitation Association (NYSRA) and developed a program that provided better access to a previously untapped part of the New York State supply chain – the workshops that utilize personnel with developmental disabilities as their primary workforce. This collaboration served 12 agencies that provide services for over 20 manufacturing companies across New York State.
We traveled many miles around New York State in 2017 and will travel many more in 2018 in fulfillment of FuzeHub’s mission: Providing New York State manufacturers with guided access to our extensive network of industry experts, programs and assets to solve productivity, commercialization, research and development issues, and other challenges to growth. We look forward to continuing to develop new and improved programs that benefit small and mid-sized manufacturing and technology companies, helping them to in turn drive economic growth in the Empire State.
