Michael is a nationally-recognized expert on economic development trends and programs, and has supported communities in over half of the states in the U.S., across a range of community typography, from diverse, multi-county regions to individual rural villages. With experience in private sector real estate development, Michael brings a unique insight to our client-communities—providing valuable, …
As a Senior Project Manager with the Environmental Research team at NYSERDA, Kate is working to advance responsible development of offshore wind. Kate chairs the New York State Offshore Wind Environmental Technical Working Group, bringing together stakeholders and developing strategies to address the environmental challenges of offshore wind energy development. With a master’s degree in …
Julian Fraize is a Program Manager at the National Offshore Research and Development Consortium. His work there includes project management, technical overview and review of projects, and consulting with states to manage stakeholder engagement and region-specific offshore wind related research. Julian Fraize has a professional and educational background in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering. Julian …
Efrat is an entrepreneur and manager with over 15 years of experience in various industries. Efrat started her career as a software engineer, then received her training as a professional nutritionist, and moved into the food-tech industry where she worked with leading companies such as Daytwo on product development and marketing. While attending industry conferences, …
Jacob Kumpon is the co-founder of KLAW Industries, which turns landfilled glass into a core component of concrete called Pantheon™ to increase strength while drastically lowering carbon emissions and cost. Founded in 2019, KLAW Industries has scaled its technology past the piloting phase. KLAW Industries has raised over $620,000 in grant funding and has opened …
Jennifer Tegan has been Managing Director of Empire State Development’s New York Ventures since April 2020. In that role, Tegan oversees and leads the activities of the NYS Innovation Venture Capital Fund (New York’s $100M venture investment fund) along with several other fund programs. New York Ventures invests in diverse entrepreneurs and high growth companies …
Lauren Baynes currently serves as Vice President of Operations for Bounce Imaging, the world leader in tactical 360° imaging technology, where she manages human resources, finance, sales operations, and government affairs for the company. Prior to working at Bounce, Lauren served as Vice President of Portfolio at 43North, a New York State-funded venture capital fund …
Tinia Pina has a B.S. in Business Information Technology from Virginia Tech. She began her career in sustainability as a former student pursuing a Masters of Science degree at Columbia University prior to becoming the CEO and Founder of Re-Nuble, Inc., an agricultural technology company and social enterprise headquartered in New York City. LinkedIn | …
David Gottfried is Deputy Director of the Center for Advanced Ceramic Technology at Alfred University, one of 15 NYSTAR-funded Centers for Advanced Technology located at research universities across the state. CACT supports applied research in technical ceramics and glass materials, linking industry with Alfred University technical resources, faculty, staff, and students. Gottfried joined Alfred in …
Colleen Heidinger is the president of 43North, a startup accelerator program that invests $5 million annually to attract and retain high-growth companies in Buffalo, New York. Born and raised in the First Ward neighborhood of Buffalo, Colleen went on to Babson College for her undergraduate studies, the top-rated university for entrepreneurship in the country. Her …
