Green energy co-op, Redhouse Arts Radio among 53 new projects benefiting from Enitiative grant funding

Thursday, September 4, 2008, By News Staff

Green energy co-op, Redhouse Arts Radio among 53 new projects benefiting from Enitiative grant fundingSeptember 04, 2008Eileen Jevisejevis@uc.syr.edu

Enitiative (the Syracuse Campus-Community Entrepreneurship Initiative) has awarded funding for 53 new projects centered on neighborhoods, arts and culture, and technology that connect campus and community through entrepreneurship. Funding for the projects is part of a $3 million, five-year grant awarded to Syracuse University by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation of Kansas City, Mo., as part of its Kauffman Campuses initiative. The foundation’s vision is to foster a society of economically independent individuals who are engaged citizens, contributing to the improvement of their communities.

Among the projects, Michael Kelleher and Neal Abrams from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) have been awarded an Enitiative grant to develop a green energy cooperative. Scientists from SUNY-ESF and business students from SU’s Whitman School of Management will develop a business to deliver biodiesel to SU and SUNY-ESF made from waste oils from the campuses.

“We are excited to help SUNY-ESF and SU students develop a Green Energy Cooperative that will deliver environmental benefits to our campuses,” says Kelleher, director of renewable energy systems at SUNY-ESF. “We think that the experience of science and business students working together will foster understanding and teamwork in their future careers.”

Joanna Spitzner, assistant professor in SU’s College of Visual and Performing Arts, and Natalia Mount, managing director of the Redhouse Arts Center, have been awarded an Enitiative grant to create Redhouse Arts Radio.

Redhouse Arts Radio will use the latest trends in Internet technology to become more sustainable by broadening its reach into the local and global community. The radio station will deliver an MP3 stream and podcast archive of music, discussion, documentaries, theater, literature and audio art. Its programming will be developed with existing businesses, cultural and community groups in Syracuse, as well as through curriculum connections at SU. Le Moyne College students have been involved in the planning process and will continue to work on the creation and implementation of this new venture.

“The Kauffman funding has enabled us to fund great faculty and community members with great ideas,” says Bruce Kingma, associate provost for entrepreneurship and innovation at SU. “Faculty and students at the six Central New York Kauffman campuses have shown they are willing to connect with entrepreneurial and innovative organizations to make a difference. We will see the fruits of these efforts for years to come.”

Among the other projects being funded:

  • Geoffrey Navias, artistic director of Open Hand Theater, will work with Le Moyne faculty and students to develop a Mask and Puppet Cultural Heritage Library through Open Hand Theater.

  • Steven Keeler, professor at Cayuga Community College, will create the C3 Studios Initiative in which students will learn the business of running an independent video and film production and distribution company.

  • Carol Hill, of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, will work with Larry Bennett and Craig Watters, faculty from the Whitman School, to develop a Family Business Center. The center will develop strategies and policies to perpetuate family ownership while advancing those strategies necessary for success, such as business planning, organizational structure, management practices and succession planning.

  • Onondaga Community College (OCC), Child Care Solutions, the Small Business Development Center and the Children’s Learning Center at OCC will help students preparing for careers in early childhood education develop the entrepreneurial skills they will need to creatively respond to the unique challenges of the field and adapt to evolving, diverse child care needs within our communities.

  • Morrisville State College and the SCORE Association of Madison County are collaborating in an effort to expand entrepreneurship in the community. The project includes a boot camp for SCORE members, an entrepreneurial video toolkit and consulting projects for students at Morrisville State College in the entrepreneurship and small business management degree program. These efforts will help to further the skills of SCORE members, expose entrepreneurship students to real entrepreneurs, and create entrepreneurial projects for future entrepreneurs.

  • Michael D’Eredita, professor of practice in SU’s School of Information Studies, and Nasir Ali, vice president of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, will co-teach “Technology Entrepreneurship” at the Syracuse Technology Garden. The course takes young technology entrepreneurs from SU and enables them to take their first step by offering them both the education and resources necessary to be successful in Central New York.

Descriptions of all of the funded projects can be viewed on the Enitiative website (http://www.entrepreneurship.syr.edu).

The next deadline for Enitiative proposals is July 1, 2009. To apply for a grant, visit www.entrepreneurship.syr.edu or contact the ExCEL Center at Syracuse University at (315) 443-7086 or excel@syr.edu.