SYRACUSE, N.Y. — CenterState CEO on Monday formally opened the Tech Garden II on the ground floor of AXA Tower Two at 120 Madison St. in downtown Syracuse.
The more than 18,000-square-foot space is an expansion of the Tech Garden, which operates adjacent to the AXA Towers at 235 Harrison St.
CenterState CEO pursued the expansion in response to the “demand for space and innovation programming,” the organization said in a news release.
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“That ability to start and nurture and grow business is fundamental to the success of any economy and that is the singular mission for the Syracuse Technology Garden,” Robert Simpson, president and CEO of CenterState CEO, said in his remarks to begin the formal opening event.
The Tech Garden II, which “soft launched” in October, is home to six tenants. They include M.A. Polce Consulting, Inc., a Rome–based computer consultant; VentureTechnica, a company offering custom-technology products; tuzag, Inc., a digital-advertising technology company; Lake Effect Applications, a gaming-application developer; TangoSquared LLC, a firm specializing in branding and marketing-communication design; and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s Clean Tech Center.
CenterState CEO, the region’s primary economic-development organization, represents 2,000 members in a 12-county area of Central New York.
The Tech Garden II, a $200,000 expansion, will support the collaborative efforts between CenterState CEO, the Tech Garden, and Syracuse University.
National Grid provided an additional $50,000 to help with the build-out.
The Tech Garden for the last two years has operated at “maximum physical capacity,” currently supporting 70 companies with more than 175 employees.
New York recently selected the Tech Garden as one of the first five New York State Innovation Hot Spots, a program that provides startup companies sales and income-tax relief “with the ability to grow into START-UP NY space,” according to CenterState CEO.
Grants for Growth
CenterState CEO also used Monday’s event to announce $425,000 in Grants for Growth to seven companies.
The awards included $150,000 “concept to marketplace” investments for tuzag, Inc. and Skinny Eats, LLC, which will expand into a new specialty food manufacturing facility in Binghamton.
The funding also includes $25,000 “proof of concept” grants to Solstice Power, which will construct of field-test prototype of its Solstice hybrid system.
Its hybrid system is a “new solar technology that produces three times the electrical-energy efficiency of traditional flat solar panels and generates both electricity and heat from a single system,” according to CenterState CEO.
In addition, Ichor Therapeutics, Gyro Heat Technologies, Azeer Intimates, and Gridstream also secured “proof of concept” grants.