Tech Garden Staff

Nasir Ali	Paul Brooks	Lynn Hughes	Larry Kalish
Cathy Niedzwiecki	Linda Dickerson Hartsock	Beth Bornick	Emily Weldon

S. Nasir Ali

President, The Tech Garden

Areas of specialty:

Technology
Entrepreneurship
New Venture Development
Early Stage Tech Investing

Nasir Ali is president of The Tech Garden, an affiliate of the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce. Ali’s primary mission is to support the creation of an entrepreneurial culture in Syracuse and the Central New York region. In addition to managing the Syracuse Technology Garden incubator, Ali also manages a network of experienced mentors and oversees www.thetechgarden.com, a one-stop online resource for the region’s entrepreneurs. In 2008, Ali co-taught a course in technology entrepreneurship at Syracuse University, which has since grown into a year-long community-campus collaborative effort known as the Syracuse Student Startup Accelerator. In addition to these efforts, Ali also has responsibility for the Center for Clean Tech Entrepreneurship and a NASA supported small business technology assistance program.

Ali is the founder and Executive Director of the Seed Capital Fund of CNY, a private LLC whose members are actively engaged in funding and supporting early stage tech companies. He also serves on the board of the Upstate Venture Association of New York and is a member of Cornell University's Center for Materials Research Jumpstart Advisory Board.

Ali moved to Syracuse from Washington, DC, where he was an associate at Booz Allen Hamilton charged with helping IRS Commissioners manage over $1 billion in technology modernization and workforce restructuring initiatives. Prior to this, he co-founded New Think (a mobile commerce services firm) and WritersPoint (an offshore technical writing company). Before beginning his career as an entrepreneur, Ali turned around large-scale software, telecommunications, and systems integration projects for Fortune 100 companies. He received his MBA in finance and operations management from Yale University’s School of Management, where he helped initiate a joint master’s degree program in industrial environmental management. Ali graduated from Princeton University with a degree in physics and a concentration in economics.

Nasir can be reached by email at: nasir@thetechgarden.com

Paul Brooks

Paul Brooks, VP Entrepreneurship Programs, joined the Syracuse Technology Garden as Executive Director in July 2006. He is responsible for management of the Technology Garden and oversight of its programs and entrepreneurship outreach. His focus is to foster high tech entrepreneurship in the Central New York region through start-up business incubation, both resident and virtual.

Paul is an experienced entrepreneur having owned Brooks Communications, a technology oriented marketing communications firm. In addition, he has a wealth of sales, marketing and administrative tenure in both high-tech businesses, and financial services organizations. His special area of expertise is business development, sales and marketing, lending that capability to the Technology Garden's services to its clients.

Prior to joining the Technology Garden, Paul was Northeastern Regional Business Development Director of Cincom Systems, a worldwide software development and marketing firm headquartered in Cincinnati. His previous associations include management responsibilities at Xerox Corporation, Sykes Datatronics and CIS Corporation where he served as Vice President Communications and Management Services.

Mr. Brooks received both a BS degree in Business Administration and an MBA in Marketing Management from Syracuse University. In addition to his business involvement he has an active community presence having served as Chairman of the Board of the Greater Cazenovia Area Chamber of Commerce, and currently serving as an elected member of the Board of Trustees and Deputy Mayor of the Village of Cazenovia.

Paul can be reached at 315-474-0910 or by email at: paul@thetechgarden.com

Lynn Hughes

Lynn Hughes, Director of Operations, joined the Syracuse Technology Garden (STG) as Associate Manager in October 2004. She is responsible for facility and operations management. She is also responsible for organizing all events at STG and represents STG at promotional events and in community outreach.

Lynn is an experienced manager having served as Vice President of Administration with United Way of Central New York. In that role she was responsible for facility management, human resources, and information technology.

Lynn's professional associations include membership with Woman Business Owners Connection (WBOC), South Side Entrepreneurs Association (SSEA), and the Downtown Business Connections networking group. She also represents STG with the Th3 program in downtown Syracuse.

When not managing STG Lynn provides a foster home for dogs waiting for adoption, serves as coordinator of her high school reunion campaign, and assists her entrepreneur brother with his flourishing business Alyn's Emporium in Madison, New York.

Lynn can be reached at 315-474-0910 or email at: lynn@thetechgarden.com

Larry Kalish

Larry Kalish is the Director of Marketing and Outreach for the The Tech Garden. His goal is to promote economic development throughout New York State by helping upstate and downstate companies form economic and technical partnerships to take advantage of regional strengths to grow their businesses.

Larry joined the Greater Syracuse Chamber of Commerce in 2002, when he was named Regional Director of the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program. He has managed the Long Island, New York City, and Lower Hudson Valley region, and has grown a strong network of economic development organizations and small technology companies.

He is a sales and marketing executive with extensive experience in the high-technology and communications industries. Larry was previously with Ericsson as a Global Account Manager for a client offering a worldwide VOIP communications network. Prior to that, Larry worked for NEC America where he served as the Director of Business Development for 14 years, where he helped introduce many new technologies to the US market.

Larry began his career as a Components Engineer for Xerox Corporation. He was one of the first engineers to make a successful transition into sales, achieving Presidents Club status in his first full year of equipment sales. Larry holds a BS in Electrical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and an MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology.

Larry can be reached at: larry@thetechgarden.com

Cathy Niedzwiecki

Cathy Niedzwiecki currently serves as special projects coordinator at The Tech Garden, having provided ongoing support in various capacities to both the Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP) and The Tech Garden since January, 2006.

Prior to her return to Syracuse, Cathy held the position of administrative assistant for the emergency department of Rochester's Highland Hospital while concurrently working to establish two family-owned restaurants in the Rochester area. A graduate of Empire State College, Cathy has provided administrative and marketing support to Corporate Health Dimensions in Latham, NY, for the group tours department of Adirondack Trailways, Kingston, NY, and the Boy Scouts of America (Schenectady County Council).

Cathy can be reached at: cathy@thetechgarden.com

Linda Dickerson Hartsock

Linda Dickerson Hartsock is Director of the Center for CleanTech Entrepreneurship, a consortium that includes leading Upstate academic institutions, research and development centers, investors, industry associations and government agencies. The NYSERDA-funded initiative helps entrepreneurs and early stage clean tech companies understand the industry from a policy and market perspective, develop best practices and new technologies, and finance growth.

Linda brings expertise in state, regional and local development, strategic planning, and structuring complex projects. She has helped organize regional development efforts across New York State, particularly education-industry partnerships related to emerging technologies, and has been the recipient of numerous federal and state awards related to her work.

She was previously a senior member of New York State’s economic development team, with responsibility for the Central Upstate region. She led a comprehensive outreach program, working closely with ESD’s International and Strategic Business Division, and helped structure major expansions by some of Upstate’s leading employers. She has also administered an Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and Local Development Corporation (LDC), and has a depth of experience in public authority governance and finance issues, as well as local development financing and capacity building. She is an executive board member of the New York Business Development Corporation, and also serves on the board of many Upstate organizations.

Before moving to the Upstate region, Linda was the President and CEO of a Hudson Valley based nine-county regional planning, policy and development group spanning from New York City to Albany. She was also a longtime faculty member at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, NY, teaching organizational studies.

Linda can be reached at 315-579-0028 or by e-mail at: linda@thetechgarden.com or at cleantech@thetechgarden.com

Beth Bornick

Beth Bornick is Executive Director, Technology Programs, and is based in the Capital District. Beth served as Director of the NY Space Alliance Technology Outreach Program (SATOP) from its launch in 2001 to 2006, and returned in 2009 to restart SATOP and develop additional programs.

Previously Beth worked at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Office of Technology Commercialization where she managed patenting, marketing, and licensing for engineering and physical sciences innovations. She has also worked for a manufacturer of internet server computers, and held sales, support, and training positions for the leading developer of PC-based mechanical CAD/CAM software. Beth thrives on learning new technologies, touring manufacturing facilities, and seeing the latest developments from the research labs.

Beth earned a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Clarkson and an MBA from Rensselaer at Hartford. She is currently studying technology transfer and intellectual property in Albany Law School's evening MS program.

Beth can be reached at: beth@thetechgarden.com

Emily Weldon

Emily Weldon joined The Tech Garden, as Program Associate for the Center for Clean Tech Entrepreneurship, in August 2009. In this role, she provides direct support to overall program management, including client services, and the coordination of special projects. She also manages a comprehensive outreach and communications program.

Emily is a graduate of Syracuse University with a dual major in finance and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining The Tech Garden, she was development process manager for the Rescue Mission Alliance where she helped manage operations and development activities.

Emily views successful entrepreneurship not just as venture starting or small business ownership, but instead, as a discipline of opportunity recognition, problem-solving, and decision-making which can be applied to many aspects of life. Using this approach, Emily has been able to start and run her own business and currently holds two provision patents for products she has invented. Emily can be reached at 315-579-0024 or emily@thecleantechcenter.com.