Center of Excellence at Cornell AgriTech in Geneva

• DEANNA RENEE GENTNER –

Food, beverage, and agriculture entrepreneurs, startups, or businesses looking to expand have innumerable resources located in Geneva at the Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture at Cornell AgriTech and Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park.  These two organizations are helping to grow the economy of New York State by working with new and or existing companies to provide them with the resources they need to innovate, grow, and thrive. 

The team of experts at the Center of Excellence (COE) can help at the very beginning stages, assisting in fleshing out a sound business plan right through to the next level of planning to site planning and technical advice.  The COE’s business mentorship services utilize the extensive network of resources along with proven business strategies to bring an idea to the final steps of commercialization.  To help aid in successful business start-ups, the COE works to build partner to partner relationships with their extensive network of industry leaders.  This can help ease the burden of ingredient sourcing, work on various value-added opportunities, and aid with research and development.  Additional support that the COE offers includes, product safety, ag technology business development and funding assistance. 

Cornell COE has a vast network of resources for product development.  COE is strategically housed in the same facility as the Cornell Food Venture Center, and the Cornell Craft Beverage Institute.  Cornell Food Venture Center is a state-of-the-art facility that has brought more than 20,000 food products to market through innovative solutions.  The Food Venture Center offers educational material, workshops, direct assistance, product safety evaluation, process development, and guidance in local, state and federal regulatory compliance.  Start-ups working in the distilled beverage arena can work with the Cornell Craft Beverage Institute (CBI).  The CBI experts can advise in wine, craft beer, distilled spirits, and hard cider.  The CBI specializes in analyzing industry samples, processing samples for research and training the professionals in the craft beverage industry.  Services offered include anything from tasting room strategies to fermentation microbiology and everything in between. 

The COE has space available to rent out as the business and product development evolve.  This is meant to be used as an incubator space, as businesses grow and move into commercial production they can transition next door to Cornell Agriculture and Food Technology Park where companies can rent out space for production.  This space is meant to be accommodating, where it can be developed, and transformed to meet the needs of the tenants.  

Here is a snapshot of the impact of the COE between July 2018 and December 2020 the COE has serviced 143 food and agriculture clients.  The impact of this includes:

• increased venue by $30.8 million
• created and retained 296 jobs
•  saved $6.7 million
• acquired 23.8 million in non- government funds
•  raised $4.7 million in private investment
• realized in non-job impact $69.2 million

We are incredibly fortunate to have such a wealth of resources located right in Geneva.  So, if you or someone you know is interested in starting a food, beverage or ag company in New York State the COE and the Tech Park have the resources to help in every step of the way from business planning, to product development, and commercialization.