Albany, NY – U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten E. Gillibrand, and Congressman Steve Israel today announced over $1 million in federal funding for the New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) School of Engineering and Computing Sciences in Old Westbury. The funding is being used to establish an Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center (ETIC), expected to create 65 jobs and save 6 jobs. The funding is being awarded by the Economic Development Administration (EDA).

"The high tech industry will provide the jobs of the future, and this investment will help ensure those jobs are created right here on Long Island," said Schumer. "NYIT's new Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center is exactly what the Long Island economy needs and I look forward to hearing of its success. I applaud the EDA for delivering funding to this very important project which will create 65 jobs and save 6 jobs."

"This important federal investment will go towards creating a new innovation center at the New York Institute of Technology," said Gillibrand. "The growing high-tech industry is the future of our economy, and we need to help make sure it starts right here on Long Island."

"These EDA funds will spur jobs and innovation at NYIT by tapping into the entrepreneurial spirit of Long Islanders. With this new innovation center, our region can attract more private investment, launch businesses and further Long Island's role as a high-tech hub for economic growth across the region," said Israel.

"The Center will create jobs, save jobs, create human capital and invest in market-place technologies and hi-tech enterprises of the future. That is a winning formula for us locally, regionally and nationally.  We are delighted to have our investment supported by the U.S. Economic Development Administration and our elected representatives in Washington," said Edward Guiliano, Ph.D., President of New York Institute of Technology.

This EDA investment funds rehabilitation of an existing facility on the Old Westbury Campus of NYIT to establish the Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center. NYIT School of Engineering and Computing Sciences Dean Nada Anid, Ph.D., who led the grant initiative, said, "The renovated facility will serve as an urban entrepreneurship program and incubator to foster and assist business creation and growth in the region's growing healthcare and high-tech clusters."

The ETIC will bolster regional economic development by focusing on three critical areas:, IT and cyber-security and bio-engineering and health analytics energy and green technologies. The Center's key role is to be a conduit for strategic partnerships between industry, government, entrepreneurs, venture capital/angel investors and academia/the workforce. Two key NYIT initiatives are designed to support these industry-academe linkages. The first is an Industry-University Tech Innovation program with established companies and the second is an Entrepreneurship Program with start-ups.

The Center is being created with the assistance of a Dean's Executive Advisory Board made up of members of industry (Alcatel Lucent, AT&T, Computer Associates, IBM, IPS, Juniper Networks, Leviton Manufacturing, Motorola Solutions, CA Technologies, Owl Computing Technologies, Inc., Power Management Concepts, Retlif Testing Laboratories and more); community and economic development organizations (the South Bronx Overall Economic Development Co.; the Industrial and Technology Assistance Co.; Sustainable South Bronx) government agencies and the financial and venture capital community (Golden Seeds, Goldman Sachs, Pegasus Global Holdings).

The project is expected to create 65 jobs, save 6 jobs, and will leverage $425,000 in private investment.

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About NYIT

New York Institute of Technology (NYIT) offers 90 degree programs, including undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees, in more than 50 fields of study, including architecture and design; arts and sciences; education; engineering and computing sciences; health professions; management; and osteopathic medicine. A non-profit independent, private institution of higher education, NYIT has 13,000 students attending campuses on Long Island and Manhattan, online, and at its global campuses. NYIT sponsors 11 NCAA Division II programs and one Division I team.

Led by President Edward Guiliano, NYIT is guided by its mission to provide career-oriented professional education, offer access to opportunity to all qualified students, and support applications-oriented research that benefits the larger world. To date, nearly 95,000 graduates have received degrees from NYIT. For more information, visit nyit.edu.

Bobbie Dell'Aquilo
Office of Communications and Marketing
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