Six new businesses projected to create 90 new jobs are coming to the Stony Brook area due to Stony Brook University’s participation in START-UP NY, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo has announced.
The businesses are among the latest wave of companies participating in the new initiative that creates tax-free areas associated with colleges and universities across the state.
With additional businesses to be located at the University at Albany, University at Buffalo, Cornell University, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and the University of Rochester, a total of 17 firms are projected to invest more than $14 million and have committed to creating at least 464 new jobs. This group of companies admitted to the program brings the total number of businesses participating in START-UP NY to 41, representing 1,750 new jobs and approximately $77 million in investment across the state.
“Building on the State’s success in cutting taxes for New York businesses and families, we created START-UP NY to continue our efforts to reduce the cost of creating jobs and bringing new economic development to the Empire State,” Governor Cuomo said.
SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher said, “Nowhere in the country do new businesses and entrepreneurs stand to benefit more by partnering with higher education than in New York State, thanks to the widespread success of Governor Cuomo’s START-UP NY program.”
The recent announcement includes the following businesses to be located Stony Brook University:
- Guided Interventions, Inc. was founded in 2011 with the vision to create a medical device company developing enabling technologies designed to maximize efficacy, minimize risk and reduce the cost of interventional procedures. The company is currently pursuing two product developments: Fractional Flow Reserve (FFR) guide wire and Bronchial Thermoplasty with a worldwide customer base. The company is new to New York State, expanding to Long Island from Ohio, and will create five net new jobs while investing $300,000.
- Saniteq is a new business focused on the research, design, and manufacture of embedded computer-based industrial and commercial products targeted at worldwide markets. The company’s initial product is a novel clamp-on transit time ultrasonic flow meter to address public safety, environmental and economic needs for thousands of miles of oil and gas pipelines around the world. Saniteq will locate at the Advanced Energy Research and Technology Center and create 28 net new jobs while investing $600,000.
- GridBridge, Inc. is a developer and enabler of breakthrough power delivery systems. Its applications are extremely broad, covering the vehicle, military, aerospace, and electrical grid markets. START-UP NY will enable the company to enhance its energy router platform through linkages with regional utilities, national labs, and universities. GridBridge will create five net new jobs and invest $150,000.
- Killer Content, Inc. is an existing business that is a merger of Killer Films, an independent film company in New York City, and Glass Elevator Media, a media production incubator that develops, finances, produces and monetizes content across multiple platforms. Killer Content will establish a media facility at Stony Brook University to operate the business, investing in building renovations for a digital suite to prepare content for delivery and to purchase new media software to optimize the content for multiple media platforms. The company will create 18 net new jobs and invest $1.48 million.
- Jasmine Universe, LLC is a new high technology company developing a home energy management system, which will include an electronic console and related software, and will be sold through trade channels (utilities/energy markets), with a planned introduction into the consumer market after the trade channels are developed and successfully launched. The introduction of this product is closely aligned with the advancement of Smart Grid technology. Jasmine will create 17 net new jobs and invest $273,400.
- Polynova Cardiovascular, Inc. is a start-up medical device manufacturer, initially developing prosthetic heart valves for the treatment of aortic stenosis using synthetic biomaterials. Polynova intends to produce FDA Class III devices using proprietary synthetic biomaterials. The company is commercializing technologies based in part on research performed at Stony Brook University, and the global markets for the products the company intends to produce aggregate to multi-billions of dollars. Polynova Cardiovascular will create 17 net new jobs and invest $314,000.
About START-UP NY
START-UP NY seeks to accelerate entrepreneurialism and job creation across the state on a large scale, with a particular focus on Upstate New York. The State University of New York (SUNY) campus system, City University of New York (CUNY), and private university and college communities serve as the framework of the START-UP NY program to attract high-tech and other start-ups, venture capital, new business and investments from across the globe. Under the program, businesses have the opportunity to operate tax-free for 10 years on eligible land and space. Businesses partner with the higher education institutions and are able to access industry experts and advanced research laboratories.
Under START-UP NY, interested colleges and universities draft campus plans that identify their goals for the program and the space that they are proposing to designate as tax-free, as well as the types of businesses and industries that they are seeking to attract through the initiative. Public colleges and universities, including SUNY, provide their plans to community stakeholders for a 30-day comment period before submitting the plans to ESD, which, in consultation with the SUNY Chancellor, reviews the plans for final approval and designation of tax-free areas. CUNY plans, after a 30-day comment period, also are reviewed and approved by ESD. Plans submitted by private schools are reviewed by ESD and presented to the START-UP NY Approval Board for final approval and tax-free designation.
Once a school is admitted to START-UP NY, interested businesses may begin to apply to the program through the sponsoring college or university. After a thorough and comprehensive review of an application by the sponsoring college or university and ESD, approved businesses that create net new jobs will operate 100 percent tax-free for 10 years, paying no state income tax, business or corporate state or local taxes, sales tax, property tax or franchise fees.
To date, 57 schools have been approved for START-UP NY, establishing more than 310 tax-free areas for new or expanding businesses to operate on or near campus. Each school’s approved START-UP NY plan is available at www.startup-ny.com.
START-UP NY includes strong provisions to protect against fraud. Businesses are required to submit certification to ESD, and falsifying certifications is a felony. The program also includes strict provisions to guard against abuses such as shifting jobs among related entities or “shirtchanging,” when a company simply reincorporates under a new name and claims its existing employees are now new jobs. In addition, START-UP NY includes measures to prevent self-dealing and conflicts of interest. In cases of fraud, the State is empowered to claw-back benefits granted to the business. Companies that do not meet the terms of the program – including meeting their job creation targets – may have their benefits reduced, suspended or terminated. ESD has the authority to review company data to ensure that jobs have been created and maintained, and to end participation by companies that have not created net new jobs. ESD is required to publish a comprehensive annual report to enable the public to evaluate the program’s impact.
For further information, see www.stonybrook.edu/startupny/ and www.startup-ny.com.
Add comment