Tech Incubator named finalist for INFOTECH'S Beta Awards

The SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator has been named a finalist for the "Rookie of the Year" BETA Award, given by InfoTech Niagara, the trade association of Western New York's information technology industry.

This year marks the 12th annual award ceremony honoring the best and brightest companies and individuals in the Western New York technology community. Over 400 technology professionals are invited to InfoTech's BETA Awards dinner tomorrow evening at the Buffalo Convention Center.

“It is a great honor for the university, as well as a tribute to the hard work and innovative spirit of the entrepreneurs at the incubator, to be nominated for this award,” says Robert Fritzinger, Director of the SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator. “I am very excited about the potential of the current and future start-up businesses in the program."

“The Incubator’s nomination for this award is great recognition for Chautauqua County,” added Todd Tranum, President & CEO at Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce & Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier. “Great things are happening over at the SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator, which means greater opportunity for economic growth and jobs in the community.”

Rookie of the Year is BETA’s newest award, given to a new technology organization launched in Western New York within the past year that shows both the growth and potential to become a leader in their industry. According to InfoTech Niagara, to be nominated for a BETA Award is an honor for any organization, as it signals it has been recognized among the very best that the region’s technology community has to offer.

The SUNY Fredonia Technology Incubator is a university-sponsored economic development initiative that supports entrepreneurs and business start-ups in the technology sector, and related industries. Officially opened in December of 2009, the incubator is ahead of its growth projections and currently houses 16 start-up companies. According to a recent report by the Rockefeller Institute in Albany, N.Y., the Western New York Region provided 70 percent of all pure start-ups in the entire state — with SUNY Fredonia’s incubator providing nearly half of these, state-wide. A recent study by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation shows that start-up firms are responsible for all net job growth in the U.S.

InfoTech Niagara is “the” trade association of Western New York’s information technology industry. Membership in infoTech opens the door to a network of hundreds of companies across the nation through their national affiliation. InfoTech Niagara has a directory distributed to over 12,000 business professionals in Western New York, courtesy of Business First.