As Director of the Shipley Center for Innovation and Associate Director of Research & Technology Transfer at Clarkson University, he empowers entrepreneurs and researchers to drive economic growth through technology commercialization. He supports faculty, students, and tech startups on a range of topics including patent law, market evaluation, and securing funding, with a focus on scalable technologies in industries like clean energy, medical devices, and cybersecurity.

With 10+ years of leadership at Clarkson, Jamey specializes in building strategic partnerships, managing intellectual property portfolios, and securing public and private grants. His work is committed to advancing innovation and promoting regional economic development across New York State.

Tom is the President & Chief Executive Officer at Queens Chamber of Commerce where he advocates for local proprietors large and small, as well as the borough’s seven colleges, including York College in Jamaica, where Grech is a member of its foundation’s board of trustees. He connects the chamber’s total number of members, which now includes more than a thousand.

When he was the Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, he grew the total number of chamber members by 30 percent and strengthened businesses in the different communities of Queens who are in fields like advertising and media, arts, culture and entertainment, home and garden, health care, business and professional services, among others.

At CCI Energy Solutions LLC, he was the Director of Sales / New Business Development where he helped owners, developers, co-op boards, etc. take advantage of sustainable energy solutions.

He was a Professor of Business at Farmingdale State College, specializing in Entrepreneurial Studies and Small Business Management.

He also was the Managing Director of JJT Energy, an Energy Service Company.

Tom is a graduate of the Univesity of Scranton where he was Class President and later received an MBA in International Busines from Manhattan College.

Kathi Durdon, MA, CCRP, is Executive Director of the CNY Biotech Accelerator (CNYBAC), a division of Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, NY.

Kathi develops biotech innovation-oriented programs, coordinates resources and promotes educational and investment opportunities for clients and the startup community. Kathi mentor’s medical device innovators relative to Good Clinical Practice regulations, FDA submission requirements and device classification as well as human factors usability testing. Kathi created the Medical Device Innovation Challenge supported in part by an Empire State Development NYS Certified Business Incubator grant. The grant also funds management of the monthly-held CNYBAC Concept to Commercialization Virtual Series.

Kathi volunteers as a GCP Instructor for the not-for-profit 15,000-member educational organization Society of Clinical Research Associates (SOCRA) and is the device track chair for SOCRA’s Annual Conference. Kathi is also a member of the Business Incubator Association of NY (BIANYS) Board of Directors, a member of the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) Human Factors Engineering Committee and is Volunteer Faculty at Upstate Medical University.

Kathi holds bachelor’s degrees in English and Anthropology and a master’s degree in business policy. Previously, Kathi was employed at Welch Allyn, a medical device manufacturer, as Manager of Clinical Affairs and as Director, Clinical Trials at SUNY Upstate Medical University. Kathi is married to Pete Durdon, has 3 wonderful daughters who live in the area and has 8 energetic grandchildren.

Deborah is the Director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation within the Westchester County Office of Economic Development, where she directs the Element 46 incubator program and oversees the Biosciences Accelerator program. In addition, she looks for opportunities to grow the entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem in Westchester.

Novick was most recently Director of the Biotechnology Incubator at New York Medical College, a position she held since late 2017. Among her responsibilities was creating a collaborative community within the incubator and recruiting new start-ups. She was also responsible for overseeing the design and physical expansion of the incubator, which doubled in size.

Her background also includes having served as an instructor for a course on entrepreneurship at the Women’s Enterprise Development Center; co-founded a successful real estate staging firm and served as fund manager for several venture capital funds. A resident of Larchmont, Novick earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Cornell University’s College of Industrial and Labor Relations. She holds a Chartered Financial Analyst designation.