February 13, 2025
SUNY Poly creating business center with AI, financial technology, ethics, entrepreneurship.
SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Marcy plans to create an $800,000 interdisciplinary business center in Donovan Hall to prepare students for the modern business world.
The plan got a major boost with a $500,000 pledge from the New York State Technology Enterprise Corporation, which the university announced Wednesday. In honor of this gift, the center will be named the NYSTEC Center for Business Excellence.
In the gift announcement, the college described the enter as a “hub for innovation, entrepreneurship and interdisciplinary education, integrating cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, business ethics and financial market innovation.”
NYSTEC is supporting the next generation of business leaders, said Andrea LaGatta, vice president of institutional advancement at SUNY Poly.
“This investment in the NYSTEC CBE,” she said in a statement, “underscores the vital role of public-private partnerships in fostering innovation and driving economic growth in our region and beyond.”
The center will house:
- A trading room where students can use financial tools and engage in experiential learning.
- An artificial intelligence and business lab to look at the way AI will change business.
- The Business Ethics Initiative, a series of programs and events about the moral complexities of the modern business world.
- An entrepreneurship and innovation hub to support student startups, provide mentoring and foster networking.
The trading room has received a $100,000 donation from Steve and Gina Surace, SUNY Poly graduates and co-chairs of the fundraising campaign.
“Through partnerships with local businesses, the center will serve as a catalyst for job creation and collaborative research initiatives, fueling regional economic development,” reads a statement sent out by SUNY Poly. “As students work alongside industry professionals, they will help identify unique market needs, create innovative solutions and foster new enterprises — all of which promise to strengthen the local economy and improve the quality of life for residents of the Mohawk Valley.”
“We are thrilled to provide foundational support for the NYSTEC CBE, which aligns closely with our mission of improving the lives of New Yorkers and developing the workforce of tomorrow,” said NYSTEC CEO Kevin Owens in a statement. “This will be a transformative community resource for the Mohawk Valley and will contribute to the region’s economic development goals.”
SUNY Poly is still raising money for the center so it can complete the project and endow the center.
Read the full article from the Observer-Dispatch.
Learn more about NYSTEC.
