Startup Allegany Collegiate Competition, postponed due to COVID-18, will be held in April

ALFRED, NY – The inaugural Startup Allegany Collegiate Competition will be hosted by Alfred University on April 10 beginning at 1 p.m. The event had originally been scheduled for April of 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The competition, involving students from Allegany County’s three institutions of higher education—Alfred University, Alfred State College, and Houghton College—is based on solving problems faced by businesses. The goal of the competition is to promote economic development through entrepreneurship.

Hosted by Alfred University’s College of Business, the competition is being held virtually via Zoom.

Students from the three institutions will compete as teams to solve a challenge focusing on sustainability: meeting today’s needs without compromising tomorrow’s resources. Teams will come up with ideas for promoting sustainability in business, with the winning plans determined by a panel of judges.

The Alfred University College of Business describes the Startup Allegany Collegiate Competition as an “innovative, collaborative event which invites students from all three colleges and all disciplines to participate in an entrepreneurial-focused competition that seeks to develop creative solutions to real-world challenges.”  Top winners will receive cash toward the launch of their business as well as in-kind donations of professional services.

The competition is a partnership of Alfred University, Alfred State College, Houghton College, Allegany County, the ACCORD Corp., IncubatorWorks, and the Western New York Incubator Network. The Center for Advanced Ceramic Technology (CACT) at Alfred University and Sealing Devices Inc. are event sponsors. Sealing Devices, a Lancaster, NY manufacturing firm that produces o-rings and gaskets, was founded by late Alfred University alumnus Terry Galanis Sr. ’40. His son, Alfred University Trustee Terry Galanis Jr., is company president and CEO.