New Windsor, N.Y. – Nov. 15, 2012 – Orange County Business Accelerator (OCBA), a business incubator program launched by Orange County Government and the Orange County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), has a challenge for small businesses throughout the Hudson Valley: Present your outstanding business summary and compete for a chance to win one year at the Accelerator for just one dollar.
The Orange County Business Accelerator Challenge, sponsored by Advance Testing Company, Inc., Jacobowitz & Gubits, LLP and Hudson River Ventures, LLC is a chance for small-business owners to receive prime office space and business support at the region’s premier business development center. Food and beverage companies, veteran-owned-and-operated businesses and innovative technology firms are part of a growing dynamic in the Hudson Valley and are strongly encouraged to enter.
Orange County Executive Edward A. Diana said, “We take business development very seriously here in Orange County. With assistance from county government and the IDA, The Accelerator has become a beacon of economic activity over the past three years and we’re sure it will continue to breed great innovators. The success of the program helps show that Orange County is truly open for business.”
Mike Oates, Managing Director at OCBA, said, “We are extremely excited and thrilled that the business community in Orange County has partnered with us to sponsor the Challenge. Bottom line: We want your business in Orange County! The Challenge helps small businesses and entrepreneurs get the help they need to be successful to grow. The Orange County IDA and County Executive Diana understand that in these challenging economic times, we need to be creative and innovative to attract and support business risk-takers. We know that there is great talent and fantastic business ideas that simply need a leg up to get to the next level. The Orange County Business Accelerator Challenge provides them the tools they need to be successful. So, if you are food & beverage company, a veteran owned and operated business, or have an innovative technology, we want you in Orange County!”
To enter the Orange County Business Accelerator Challenge, email your business summary in five pages or less to moates@ocaccelerator.com by Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013. A local panel will conduct personal interviews over the following two weeks. Top picks will be chosen by OCBA and announced at a live event. Winners will move in Friday, March 1. For more information on the Challenge, please text O-C-B-A to 57682 or visit www.ocbaChallenge.com
The Accelerator offers Class A office space in a strategic location near Stewart International Airport, a 35-person video conference room and WiFi, access to capital and exceptional business mentoring, support and guidance. The Accelerator’s first graduate was Continental Organics, an aquaponics farm. With help from the Accelerator’s aggressive three-year program, the firm has recently opened its 70,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility in New Windsor, and is one of the fastest-growing such operations in the Northeast.
James O’Donnell, executive director of the Orange County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), added, “Orange County Business Accelerator has made great strides in promoting small business growth and entrepreneurship since opening in 2009. Orange County is committed to strengthening the business community here and this challenge is a great way to show it. If you think you have what it takes to be the next Continental Organics, then you need to enter the Challenge!”
James P. Smith, owner of Advance Testing, said, “I can’t think of a better way to accelerate a business from a dream to reality. I wish a program like this was available when I started my business. I had to work out of my station wagon for a year before I could afford rent. To have all of these resources available when you open your business – copy machines, telephones, receptionist and a conference room – it is really amazing.”
Gerald Jacobowitz, founding partner of Jacobowitz & Gubits, said, “We are very pleased to help the Business Accelerator launch a new initiative for creating more local jobs and business. We have participated in many programs at the Accelerator and have seen first-hand how it has helped local business, including a number of our clients. The focus of the Challenge on food, veterans and technology is the right prescription for our region.”
Sean Eldridge, founder of Hudson River Ventures, said, “The Challenge is a terrific way to incubate the Hudson Valley’s next great success stories. Hudson River Ventures is thrilled to co-sponsor the project.”
OCBA, located at 4 Crotty Lane in New Windsor, N.Y. at New York International Plaza at Stewart Airport, is a business incubator program launched by the Orange County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) in partnership with Orange County Government. The incubator, 10,000 square feet of Class A high-tech research and development space, is designed to attract new entrepreneurial investment by providing businesses with below market occupancy costs, a menu of mentoring programs and a high-tech plug-and-play office environment.
