For Release:      Immediate ­ September 24, 2015

Contact:             Jerry Gretzinger, Vice President of Strategic Communications and Public Relations ­

                            (518) 956-7359 |  jgretzinger@sunypoly.edu

Partners Announce Strategic Partnership to Create Clean-Tech Innovation and Commercialization Hub in Onondaga County

Furthering Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s successful innovation-driven economic development model in Central New York and across Upstate, SUNY Polytechnic Institute, Le Moyne College, and Nectar Partners today announced a strategic partnership to create a CleanTech Innovation and Commercialization Hub in Onondaga County.

CleanTech companies work to reduce energy consumption through efficient new technologies for both commercial and residential uses. The hub will serve as a magnet for global companies and be a center for research and development, light manufacturing, LED packaging, global distribution, packaging, and business operations. The initial focus will be on LED technology and will branch into other areas and applications including HVAC and window technologies. The parties will work jointly to establish a CleanTech eco-system in Central New York which includes developing curriculum to further educate students and the existing workforce to meet the needs of the industry.

“Governor Andrew Cuomo has proven that his innovation-driven economic development blueprint can be successfully applied to an array of job-generating high-tech industries, and SUNY Poly’s new partnership with Le Moyne and Nectar aligns perfectly with the governor’s vision,” said SUNY Polytechnic President and CEO Dr. Alain E. Kaloyeros. “We are thrilled to expand our presence in Onondaga County and will continue to work with County Executive Joanie Mahoney and our corporate and academic partners to bring more jobs, investment, and vitality to Central New York.”

"This represents a watershed moment for Le Moyne College," said Le Moyne President Linda LeMura. “This partnership leverages the rich intellectual resources of our faculty and provides entrepreneurial opportunities for our students, while benefiting a sector of the economy that needs attention -- clean technology -- which is also in line with our Jesuit mission of environmental sustainability.”

"We are thrilled to collaborate with the scientists of Nectar and the talented learning community of SUNY-Poly. Under the visionary leadership of Dr. Kalyeros, SUNY-Poly has catalyzed unconventional partnerships and generated new jobs across upstate New York by leveraging the strengths of the educational and business sectors to launch new initiatives built on emerging technologies. I offer my gratitude for everyone who worked with the College over the past several months on developing this partnership and hope that it will prove to be a tremendous boon to the region's economy."

"Bringing CleanTech R&D and manufacturing jobs to the area has been a vision since our start at the Syracuse Center of Excellence and the Syracuse Tech Garden," stated Dusty Billings, CEO of Nectar Partners. "The region has a tradition of growth through technology, and bringing CleanTech companies to grow in Onondaga County builds our economy as a global hub of clean technology innovation, education and manufacturing for generations to come."

As part of the growth of the CleanTech Hub, SUNY Poly and Le Moyne will develop a faculty exchange program that will enhance the academic offerings at both institutions and will bring SUNY Poly’s world-class nanotechnology curriculum to the Syracuse area. Additional degree and workforce education programs will be jointly implemented in areas including finance, business, environmental science, robotics, and computer science. The partnership is also expected to result in faculty/student research, as well as internship and mentoring opportunities for Le Moyne students.

Nectar Partners is a sustainable consulting firm that works exclusively in the area of Disruptive CleanTech Building Sciences. After identifying, investigating and testing an emerging energy-saving technology, it provides CleanTech companies with access to its proprietary list of clients: corporate facility owners and managers at Fortune 500 companies. Nectar consults the facility engineers, architects, building owners and managers to accelerate the adoption and rapid incorporation of these breakthrough technologies throughout their portfolio. Nectar also consults CleanTech companies to reduce overhead by re-shoring their manufacturing to the US, while scaling their manufacturing production in order to meet the increased demand.

One of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities in the U.S., Le Moyne College is a private, four-year institution enrolling approximately 2,500 full-time undergraduate students in programs of liberal arts, science, business and pre-professional studies, and 800 full- and part-time students in graduate programs in nursing, education, business administration, arts administration, occupational therapy, family nurse practitioner, information systems and physician assistant studies. Since its founding in 1946, the College has modeled and strengthened the nearly 500 year-old Jesuit educational tradition. As a diverse learning community, Le Moyne is recognized for its academic excellence and commitment to cura personalis – the education of the whole person.