    Business Climate The Tompkins County economy outperforms many other communities in New York State—even the Northeast. Durable goods producers, light manufacturing, and high tech firms all find great employees, strong technological advice, and nurturing business support in the Ithaca area. Among our traditional durable goods manufacturers, Borg Warner continues to thrive here building components for the automobile industry. Tompkins County is also home to several state-of-the-art turbine blade manufacturers including Therm Inc., which has supplied custom-machined components since 1935, and Stork H&E Turbo Blading , Inc ., which has two local facilities plus one in the Netherlands. Finally, dozens of home-grown light manufacturers design and build products like printers, circuit boards and optical equipment — and sell them to the world. In fact, many area businesses sell to both national and international customers. Ithaca is not far from larger urban markets, with Rochester, Syracuse, and Albany nearby; Philadelphia, Boston, and New York City a few more hours away, and Toronto and Montreal just over the border. So are the world’s markets! Technology-related firms thrive around Ithaca. Start-ups and expansions reflect the vitality of a broad range of sectors including biotechnology, electronics, and software, with specialties ranging from food chemistry to microfluidic systems. The entrepreneurial spirit is strong here. Cutting edge ventures, alternative enterprise, and just plain good business ideas are enthusiastically received. For example, in 1993 Kionix was founded to bring the latest in MicroElectroMechanical Systems technology to the global marketplace. Advion develops bioanalytical services and nanoelectrospray products; it is now a global company with customers in all of the top pharmaceutical companies, as well as with universities and government research agencies. Some of the more recent high tech start-ups include Mesmeriz, Widetronix, and e2e Materials. Other success stories include the CBORD Group , now the world’s leading provider of food service management software solutions, with products and services used by more than 5,000 organizations across the globe. Then there is Transonic Systems Inc., founded by the inventor of the “gold standard” transit-time ultrasound flowmeter, which now has regional offices in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Taiwan. Entrepreneurs and inventors profit from numerous business support and startup incentives. Growing companies can find sophisticated accounting and legal services nearby — including intellectual property protection. Local real state developers provide turn-key solutions for high tech companies, building facilities with wet labs and, clean rooms. Tompkins County startups can attract venture capital from national and international sources. Talk to the Cayuga Venture Fund or to TCAD (that’s Tompkins County Area Development). Join the Finger Lakes Entrepreneurs Forum or the Independent Consultants Network. And visit the Cornell Center for Technology, Enterprise, and Commercialization to discover what a distinguished research university can offer your company. Whether your market is around the corner or around the world, Ithaca is a great place for your business.
Tompkins County Area Development
200 East Buffalo Street, Suite 102A Ithaca, New York 14850 ( 607 ) 273 - 0005 |
