NY MEP is a network of organizations that provide growth and innovation services to small and mid-sized manufacturers in every corner of the state. In concert with FuzeHub, the statewide NY MEP center, ten regional centers provide affordable services that help manufacturers overcome obstacles to growth. In the last five years, NY MEP has completed nearly 4,500 manufacturing projects.

To learn more about how NY MEP can help your manufacturing business, download the 2023 New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership Impact Report. Along with manufacturer success stories, you’ll find information about the services we offer and the leaders and centers who deliver them.

Schumer met with company executives to see firsthand how the federal investment he secured is supporting Ljungström’s pivot to the clean energy industry, train workers, and discussed how the Inflation Reduction Act can help fuel the company’s continued growth.

“Powered by our Inflation Reduction Act, Ljungström’s Wellsville plant is blowing a gust of energy into one of Upstate NY’s most rural communities, breathing new life into the Southern Tier and Western NY’s manufacturing legacy and helping lead the way for a clean-energy economy. Thanks to the $1.5 million workforce development grant I secured, Ljungström has seamlessly pivoted from coal technology to clean, renewable energy, all while creating good-paying jobs and bolstering our domestic supply chains,” said Senator Schumer. “Now Ljungström’s Wellsville plant projects to add over 50 new good paying jobs in the next year, spurred by the demand from the historic investments we made to boost clean energy manufacturing here in America. With the Inflation Reduction Act as the wind in its sails, Ljungström is primed to grow even more, helping Upstate NY manufacturing reach new heights.”

Read the entire announcement here.

Listen to the podcast here.

We spoke to Joel Dzekciorios, CEO of Centrotherm, about that engagement and how it has helped Centrotherm get where it is today.
 

How did you work with FuzeHub and CEG eight years ago?

We were looking for a more efficient way to make some custom parts that were being fabricated by hand. We thought 3D printing might be an option for these short-run parts. Through FuzeHub, we joined an ongoing 3D printing project with Rochester Institute of Technology and XEROX on the use of alternative print materials. Our goal was to 3D print with polyolefins.

While the collaboration did not yield the desired result, we ended up pivoting and using 3D printing for R&D and the manufacture of prototypes. That gives us the ability to touch and feel including fit and function checks. Our systems have gasketed connections, so it is nice to be able to test and make sure we have the proper seal. Using 3D printing allows us to quickly evaluate a design concept.

FuzeHub and CEG connected us to the 3D printing program at SUNY New Paltz and we partnered with them.

Do you still use 3D printing?

Yes, but we have since brought those capabilities in-house. In addition to prototyping, we 3D print the majority of our jigs and fixtures for manufacturing. That was a direct byproduct of investigating 3D printing for short-run production parts. Not only are we using it as an R&D tool, but we are using it to produce really cost effective and time effective jigs and fixtures.

To me that has certainly been a big win for us.

You have grown quite a bit since 2014

We have probably tripled or quadrupled our business since then. We have grown 120% just in the past two years. We employ about 80 people in Albany. In 2014 we had fewer than 20. We run 24 hours a day. We do extrusion, thermoforming and fabrication here so the majority of the products we sell are of U.S. origin, made in Albany.

Certainly, we have transitioned from a small business into a mid-market business. For us that is certainly exciting.

Clearly the pandemic didn’t slow you down.

We launched an additional product during the pandemic—Air Excellent, a dedicated system for heat recovery ventilation (HRV) and energy recovery ventilation (ERV) that allows you to independently control the air quality in each room of a residential or commercial building. We launched with the help of CEG and have been gaining traction in the U.S. and Canada.

Air distribution is a growing market with the trend toward electrification. New York is aggressively pushing decarbonization. Our initial product, the InnoFlue Polypropylene Vent System, is dependent on gas appliances. As you move toward higher efficiency homes that are better insolated—actually airtight—you need an HRV or an ERV. They are the lungs of your house. So, as demand for HRVs and ERVs grow so does the demand for our Air Excellent ducts.

But while that legacy is an important component of Tapecon’s success, the company’s longevity can be attributed to its willingness to seek out opportunities for reinvention. As President Steve Davis said, “Find your future self.”

Davis believes that while programs for start-ups and entrepreneurs are well known, there is an exciting and innovative world of intrapreneurs — a person within a company who turns an idea into a profitable finished product through calculated risk-taking and innovation. It’s a way for established businesses to explore new ideas, grow, and stay fresh.

Davis has created that environment at Tapecon by leveraging assets of the NYSTAR network — Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation. NYSTAR’s resources provide a range of benefits for established companies — from assistance solving emerging businesses problems, like the ongoing threat of cyberattacks, to providing inspiration and fundamental research to keep an organization’s technology ahead of the curve.

“You need to either find an align yourself with research to drive your company’s new products forward or align with the developing technologies to spin off into new businesses,” Davis said.

Tapecon’s go-to resource for the past 20 years has been Insyte Consulting, the New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NY MEP) center for the Western New York region. For example, when his company wanted to address cybersecurity, Davis called Insyte Consulting for direction and received help securing federal funding to pay for a cybersecurity audit.

Insyte Consulting may be the first call for Tapecon — its front door to the NYSTAR network. But other centers across the state have become a key part of the game plan for Davis as he guides the company, founded in 1919, into its second century of operation.

Davis participates in the CAMP (Center for Advanced Materials Processing) Annual Technical Meeting at Clarkson as one way to immerse himself in ideas, research, and the next generation of technology that can be used at Tapecon. He is also part of the advisory board for the Center of Excellence in Materials Informatics (CMI) at the University at Buffalo, which offers insight on industry trends and needs. CMI’s work helps shape the direction of research and guides public-private partnerships.

That involvement is one of the reasons he created a new company, Protoscale, which has offices at the Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences (CBLS) at the University at Buffalo. It’s one way that Davis stays on top of trends himself — and puts Tapecon in positions to partner with emerging technologists. Of particular interest is work coming out of the FlexMed Center for Advanced Technology at Binghamton University, which could lead to opportunities with another NYSTAR-funded resource: the Center for Advanced Technology in Big Data & Health Sciences at the University at Buffalo.

“I want to physically be around the ideas from the Center of Excellence and look for collaborations that can be leveraged at Tapecon,” Davis said. “We’re interested in the flexible-wearable device space, so we’re interested in pursuing a project with the CAT at Binghamton Flex Med, then using the University at Buffalo’s CAT in Big Data to license technology.

“You get to know these opportunities by plugging into what’s going on in New York and I wish more small- and mid-sized businesses took advantage of these resources. It’s how we can foster intrapreneurship and take advantage of the knowledge and skill already working in the state’s manufacturing economy and grow it through innovation.”

Susan Bardack/Buzz Media Solutions
Phone: (518) 867-7940
susan@buzzmediasolutions.com

Patty Rechberger

patty@fuzehub.com

Grand awardee received $150,000; 6 startups were awarded $50,000 each and 2 were awarded $25,000 each to advance the development of their technologies

(Albany, NY – October 27, 2022) — FuzeHub, a not-for-profit organization responsible for assisting small and medium-sized manufacturing companies in New York State, has selected the awardees for its 2022 Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund Commercialization Competition. The sixth installment of the Commercialization Competition was held October 25-26 at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center as part of the NYS Innovation Summit. The Competition awarded a total of $500,000, the largest payout since the program inception, to nine entrepreneurs from across New York State who pitched their ideas before a live audience and a panel of 4 expert judges from the economic development community.

Empire State Development (ESD) Senior Vice President Matt Watson, who directs ESD’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR), said, “My warmest congratulations to the 9 startups awarded. This is a very competitive program with a tough selection process, and all of the finalists have clearly come prepared. We are happy to support more talented entrepreneurs each year and continue to look for ways to expand our services to them.”

The annual two-day Innovation Summit was held in Buffalo, NY, and included keynote speakers, an executive roundtable, exhibits, breakout sessions on economic development trends and disruptive technologies, and tours of local Centers of Excellence and a new Incubator. Over 500 people and 100 exhibitors were in attendance. During the Commercialization Competition, which is the 4^th Track in the Summit breakout sessions, twelve companies demonstrated the commercialization potential of their product or technology while competing against each other for the opportunity to win an award that will lead them closer to market.

“We are very excited to add these companies to our awardee portfolio. Many previous awardees have achieved significant, sustainable growth, and some have even received national recognition,” said Elena Garuc, Executive Director of FuzeHub, “We believe that this year’s winners are in a position to do just as well, if not better, and we are proud to support them in their journey.”

FuzeHub is pleased to announce the awardees:

Grand Award – $150,000

Farm to Flame Energy Inc. (Syracuse)

Farm to Flame Energy repurposed a Steam Turbine to generate electricity through a smokeless-odorless and portable biomass electricity generation process. They use pulverized feed stocks as biomass to achieve a thermal efficiency of 98%, against the traditional biomass thermal efficiency of 78%.

$50,000 Awards

Aha! Solutions, Inc. (Mechanicville)

Aha! Solutions developed a revolutionary step stool that provides a safer, better step up for customers. The Next-Step Stool contains 2 hooks that attach to a cabinet door of any height, minimizing the distance between the stool and the desired area of reach. These hooks provide a built-in anti-tipping mechanism, creating a higher level of safety during use. Furthermore, the steps can be customized on demand – if the upper step is not needed, it can be easily folded away without any obstruction to using the lower step alone.

Carapace Analytics (Syracuse)

Carapace Analytics is ready to scale their existing automated mobility assessment which measures users’ fall risk. This project includes investment technology infrastructure and sensors.

Envision Biopolymers LLC (Syracuse)

Envision will provide a waste-to-bioplastic platform technology for chemical suppliers to the pulp and paper-based food packaging industry. This not only answers their customers’ demands for more sustainable packaging solutions, but also an impending critical need to replace soon-to-be outlawed

workhouse chemistries (PFAS) that they have been using

Photonect Interconnect Solutions Inc. (Rochester)

Photonect Interconnect Solutions is creating a state-of-the-art laser attach machine which connects optical fibers to photonic chips using fusion splicing with a patented adapter integrated into the photonic chip. This improves device performance by 4x and decreases the speed of manufacturing by 10X leading to a cost savings of 50% per connection.

Levelle Inc. (Poughkeepsie)

Levelle Nutrition seeks to design, procure and install a manufacturing line that forms, fills and pasteurizes energy purée and seed butter single-serve pouches. Levelle aims to revolutionize the sports nutrition industry by focusing on female athletes and tailoring products to the female metabolism. They use low-glycemic, plant ingredients to deliver a sustained release of energy, without a side serving of agony

SOTRO Innovations Inc. (Brooklyn)

SOTRO Innovations builds tech-enabled products to make it easier & faster to style and grow healthier, thicker, and longer hair. They are going to launch an environmentally-sustainable, collapsible hair steamer that facilitates aromatherapy integration, self-sanitizes & allows for set-up on any flat surface.

$25,000 Awards

K-Neesio LLC (Rochester)

NuNee is a clinically proven and recommended bracing system for treatment of anterior knee pain. In 2023, K-Neesio will grow their existing manufacturing capacity in the NY Finger Lakes Region, expand their clinical marketing and sales efforts nationally, and harden the NuNee product for use in the military and contact sports.

Mohawk Machine Works LLC (Amsterdam)

Mohawk will manufacture innovative technology to quickly & efficiently clean & dry surfaces for commercial & government customers in infrastructure & transportation. Market research has identified a worldwide need for Mohawk technology in multiple applications/market segments, with many years of future growth potential.

The Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund, consisting of over $1 million annually, supports a set of activities designed to spur technology development and commercialization across New York State. FuzeHub is administering this fund as part of its role as the Empire State Development designated statewide MEP center. For more information about the Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund, contact Patty Rechberger, Innovation Fund Manager, at patty@fuzehub.com or visit Jeff Lawrence Innovation Fund.

About Jeff Lawrence

During his more than 20 years at the Center for Economic Growth, the Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) affiliate in the Capital Region where he served as executive vice president, and MEP Center Director, Jeff Lawrence directed programs of direct assistance to manufacturers and technology companies to increase their competitiveness. He is remembered for being an invaluable and generous mentor to many in the area’s business community and a tireless advocate for manufacturing innovation throughout New York.

About FuzeHub

FuzeHub is a not-for-profit organization that connects New York’s small and mid-sized manufacturing companies to the resources, programs and expertise they need for technology commercialization, innovation, and business growth. Through our custom assessment, matching, and referral platform, we help companies navigate New York’s robust network of industry experts at Manufacturing Extension Partners centers, universities, economic development organizations, and other providers. FuzeHub is the statewide New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program (MEP) center, supported by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology & Innovation.

For more information on FuzeHub, visit FuzeHub.

About Empire State Development

Empire State Development is New York’s chief economic development agency. The mission of ESD is to promote a vigorous and growing economy, encourage the creation of new job and economic opportunities, increase revenues to the State and its municipalities, and achieve stable and diversified local economies. Through the use of loans, grants, tax credits and other forms of financial assistance, ESD strives to enhance private business investment and growth to spur job creation and support prosperous communities across New York State. ESD is also the primary administrative agency overseeing the Regional Economic Development Councils and the marketing of “I LOVE NY,” the State’s iconic tourism brand. For more information on Regional Councils and Empire State Development, visit www.regionalcouncils.ny.gov and www.esd.ny.gov.

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Media Contact
John Mackowiak
jmackowiak@martingroupmarketing.com
518.618.1175

New York State Innovation Summit to be Hosted in Buffalo on October 25-26

Annual Statewide Event Brings Together Hundreds of New York State Innovators, Business Leaders, and Stakeholders to Foster Greater Collaboration and Accelerate Tech-Driven Economic Growth

FuzeHub’s Commercialization Competition, Held as Part of the Innovation Summit, Will Award up to $500,000 in Grant Funding to Emerging Startups and Tech-Forward Manufacturers

Registration is open at nysinnovationsummit.com

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The New York State Innovation Summit is heading to the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center on October 25 and 26. This annual gathering of New York’s innovation ecosystem — which is expected to attract hundreds of the state’s brightest minds — is organized by Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation (NYSTAR) and FuzeHub, the statewide center for the New York Manufacturing Extension Partnership (NY MEP).

The multi-day event brings together industry leaders, university researchers, investors, economic developers, and government officials from across the state to discover emerging technologies that support innovation and drive business growth. The summit offers a series of speakers, breakout sessions, and networking opportunities, providing attendees with insights into the latest tech discoveries, breakthrough research, and manufacturing advancements that will influence everyday lives and spur economic development.

“Buffalo is emerging as one of the nation’s most watched and most collaborative tech ecosystems — which made it the perfect location for the New York State Innovation Summit. We want to showcase and celebrate what’s happening here to inspire the innovators and entrepreneurs who are driving positive change within their own communities across the state,” said FuzeHub Executive Director Elena Garuc. “With the promising startups, tech-forward manufacturers, brilliant researchers, and collaborative partners that this event brings together, the New York State Innovation Summit has become one of the most important annual gatherings of our state’s innovation ecosystem.”

“Every time we assemble our statewide innovation ecosystem in one place, unexpected interactions spark new collaborations focused on creating solutions to market challenges and launching entrepreneurial endeavors,” said Matt Watson, ESD Senior Vice President, and NYSTAR Executive Director. “The New York State Innovation Summit is a unique opportunity for business leaders, innovators, investors, and economic developers to have direct access to potential collaborators, the latest technologies, and impactful state resources. We are excited to host the summit in the great City of Buffalo and look forward to the future innovations that will be born there.”

The 2021 New York State Innovation Summit attracted more than 500 people to the Mohawk Valley and marked a return to an in-person event. The 2019 summit welcomed more than 500 people to Rochester. Both events helped generate economic activity and local spending in their host communities.

Buffalo’s status as a growing hub for technology and advanced manufacturing was reaffirmed when the region received a $25 million award through President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Challenge. The grant will allow Western New York to further expand its advanced manufacturing capabilities, train more than 1,600 workers, ignite innovation and entrepreneurship and grow the economy.

Among the highlights of the Innovation Summit, FuzeHub’s annual Commercialization Competition will feature live pitches and award grants of up to $150,000 to high-potential startups and tech-forward small- to mid-sized manufacturers across New York State. During this year’s competition, a total of up to $500,000 will be available, with funding going to the companies that show the greatest potential to commercialize their technology or product in ways that will support regional economic growth and solve important challenges. The competition is designed to help companies further develop their prototypes to then pursue additional investment, strengthen their go-to-market strategies and attract customers as they move from new products to production to the marketplace.

The summit will feature experts who focus on several key industries including semiconductors, biotechnology, advanced materials, clean technology, agriculture innovation, sustainable manufacturing, energy, software and digital technology, cybersecurity, and more. Attendees will have opportunities to engage, learn and connect throughout two days of compelling panel discussions and keynote sessions — which include:

The Semiconductor Executive Roundtable will feature key leaders from several industry powerhouses — David Rooney, Principal of DMR Group; Alex Oscilowski, President of TEL Research; Balaji Suresh, VP Operations at L3 Harris; and Oliver Vatel, Senior Advisor at IBM Research. Together, they’ll discuss the federal CHIPS and Science Act, the state’s Green CHIPS Program, and how New York is leading America’s microchip resurgence.

In a fireside chat, Niel Sandfort, the Chief Innovation Officer at Chobani, will share how this high-growth company takes products from delicious ideas to supermarket shelves. He’ll also explain how sourcing local ingredients — in this case, milk — enabled Chobani to thrive and not just survive the pandemic.

A discussion on Rebuilding US Manufacturing will be presented by Mojdeh Bahar, the associate director for innovation and industry services at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which oversees the federal Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program.

Attendees will be able to tour the University at Buffalo’s Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics Life Sciences and its incubator, which are both NYSTAR-backed innovation resources that are accelerating growth within a critical industry regionally and statewide.

Breakout sessions will be held both days with topics that include the circular economy, emerging opportunities for New York State manufacturers in battery and energy storage, advanced materials and supply chain resilience, and statewide funding resources for manufacturing and technology companies.

For the latest on the New York State Innovation Summit, including registration, visit nysinnovationsummit.com.

About NYSTAR

Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology, and Innovation – known as NYSTAR – advances technology innovation and commercialization in New York State. NYSTAR offers programs that assist companies from start-up through maturity, leveraging the state’s unparalleled investment in world-class technology assets and expertise. It provides roughly $55 million annually in funding to support over 70 centers that provide direct assistance to New York State companies – a network of vital assets for enabling technology- and manufacturing-led growth and job creation. NYSTAR and its partners are proud to contribute to New York’s leadership in the global innovation economy. For more information, visit esd.ny.gov/nystar.

About FuzeHub

FuzeHub is a nonprofit organization that connects New York’s small and mid-sized manufacturing companies to the resources, programs, and expertise they need for technology commercialization, innovation, and business growth. Through its custom assessment, matching, and referral platform, FuzeHub helps companies navigate New York’s robust network of industry experts at Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers, universities, economic development organizations, and other providers. FuzeHub is the statewide New York MEP Center, supported by NYSTAR (Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology & Innovation). For more information on FuzeHub, visit www.fuzehub.com.

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Usheco Inc., of Kingston, is a family-owned business that has been manufacturing custom plastic parts, for a variety of markets, for over 60 years.

“Our main business is thermoforming,” said Alethea Schaeffer, Vice President of Sales and Engineering for Usheco. “However, we also do injection molding, CNC routing, die cutting, line bending and assembly work.”

The company also manufactures the Plant Air Purifier, which is sold directly to consumers.

Family & Friends

Schaeffer’s grandfather, Bernarr Schaeffer, founded the company in 1961 as U.S. Health Equipment Co., a metalworking shop. One day, a customer asked if he could make plastic components, so he built a thermoforming machine.

“That was when we got started in plastics,” Alethea Schaeffer said. “Now we are primarily plastics although we do work with other materials such as wood, composites and foam.”
The company incorporated as Usheco in 1985.

Schaeffer has worked for the family business off and on for more than 20 years. During the “off” years, she got an associate degree in Drafting and Design at SUNY Ulster, a bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from RPI, and worked on her master’s at Clarkson. She worked for a time with a lighting manufacturer, managing a custom engineering team. She then moved to a design and build company, first as a project manager and then running the bearing and robotics department.

Then, in October 2017, “it just happened that I came back to work with my parents,” she said.

Her responsibilities include troubleshooting on the manufacturing floor, speaking with customers and using her engineering background to help them design for manufacturing. With a repeat business rate of 93%, most customers become good friends.

“The relationships Grandpa built over the years were key in that, and then my father (Wayne Schaeffer) continuing those and now me,” she said.

The pandemic pivot

When COVID hit, Usheco cut workers’ hours to avoid layoffs. But that was short-lived.

“That was a Wednesday,” Schaeffer recalled. “On Thursday, I said ‘dad, we’re going to design a face shield.’ We did and I put them online that day and by Friday we had sales. Monday, I told everyone we were coming back to work full time.”

The work required a die cutter, so on Friday, Usheco applied for a grant from the Workforce Development Institute. The funds were approved on Monday and the equipment was installed within a few weeks.

“That never happens,” Schaeffer said.

The pivot not only enabled Usheco to retain workers but to hire—including two student interns at Hudson Valley Pathways Academy, who assembled face shields from home. Employees also were added when a competitor reached out about a large order for face shields it could not complete on its own.

“Then we contacted one of our customers and they started doing assembly work, so we were kind of the center of this little triangle of collaboration,” Schaeffer said. “It was one of those highlights I never want to forget from the pandemic because we found ways to get things done that were definitely out of the box and collaborations that never would have happened.”

Looking forward

Today, Usheco employs 12 and is looking for more people. The shop is busy and “I am quoting some jobs that I think mean we are going to be even busier,” Schaeffer said. “I see us moving from one shift to two in the next year, possibly the next six months.”

Like most manufacturers, the company is dealing with a workforce shortage, supply chain issues and rising materials prices. But Schaeffer sees a bright future ahead. Plans call for the purchase of new, faster thermoforming technology as well as ultrasonic equipment to enable Usheco to pick up work returning from China.

Usheco also is in the early stages of working with FuzeHub and SUNY New Paltz on new material for thermoforming.

Five years and one pandemic later, Schaeffer has no regrets about rejoining the family business.

“I get to carry on my grandfather’s legacy and really honor his memory in what I’m doing,” she said.