Tech Garden II, an 18,000 square-foot expansion of the Tech Garden, has officially opened in downtown Syracuse.

An affiliate of the CenterState Corporation for Economic Opportunity, a 12-county economic leadership and development system based in Syracuse, the Tech Garden is a technology business incubator that provides researchers, inventors and aspiring entrepreneurs with the tools they need to start a business.

“Entrepreneurship is not for the faint of heart. There are a lot of personal and financial struggles that can make or break a business,” said Tony Kershaw, an innovation specialist at the Tech Garden. “The Tech Garden provides a safe place for entrepreneurs and leaders to sort of fail safely in a controlled environment.”

The new $200,000 expansion opened Feb. 2 and came to be as a result of demand for innovation programing in the area, according to a Feb. 2 Central New York Business Journal article. The original 48,000-square-foot Tech Garden facilities are located at 235 Harrison Street, and currently host around 30–40 different companies, from Brand Yourself to Full Circle Feed to Chronicle Me, Inc.

Kershaw said the opening of Tech Garden II shows the growth of the start-up ecosystem in Syracuse and said the resources the Tech Garden brings make it possible for companies to grow.

For example, Dave Bulger, the Tech Garden’s marketing executive in residence, is the CEO of “Tuzag,” an advanced advertising technology and methodology company that generates individually tailored ads for consumers. Both Bulger and his company have benefited from the Tech Garden and its services, which is a main reason Bulger has kept tuzag headquartered in Syracuse.

“The Tech Garden is the jewel in central New York’s economic development crown,” Bulger said in an email. “The Tech Garden’s dedication to earliest-stage investments is a major reason I kept tuzag in Syracuse instead of heading toward locations with more mature investment communities.”

The Tech Garden also works with Syracuse University students to create and develop start-up companies. Through Student Sandbox, a start-up incubator facilitated by the Tech Garden, student entrepreneurs are given the coaching, mentoring, programming and space they need to grow their business ideas.

“The program allows students to pursue their passions while they pursue their degrees,” said John Liddy, the director of Student Sandbox. “They get a chance to try it out and put their education to work.”

Student Sandbox started in 2009 as a byproduct of a technology innovation class. When the class was over, the aspiring student entrepreneurs enrolled didn’t have a viable next option or outlet for their ideas. The Student Sandbox accelerator program was created as a result and has since served 120 student teams.

Liddy said the program has a three-part structure: strategy, product market fit and finance. During the strategy stage, students develop the “nuts and bolts” of the business. In the product market fit stage, they make sure they are targeting the right market with the right product. Finally, in the finance stage, students organize supply chains and analyze what is needed for investment.

“We’ve seen SU students in particular take advantage of these opportunities and really grow as entrepreneurs over the three to four years that they’re here,” Kershaw said. “We take it as a pleasure to take these students and embrace them.”

Published on February 11, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Brigid: brkenned@syr.edu