Visions Magazine, 2008

EAP students receive generous gift

The 13 members of the Chamber’s Entrepreneurial Assistance Program Spring program were offered a free one year affiliate membership to the U-Start Business Incubator, which is affiliated with Union College.

The value of an affiliate membership is $1,000 or students may apply for a one year tenant membership with $1,000 off the rent, subject to availability.  Benefits to belonging to the U-Start Business Incubator include use of conference space, student interns, invitations to regularly held Lunch & LEARN seminars on business topics, use of the copy machine and access to professional advisors including accountants, attorneys and business consultants.

Entrepreneurs David Elfeldt and Rob Tymchyn of Rhino Equipment Sales & Service in Schenectady were especially excited by the potential opportunity. “We’re designing a new prototype,” said Elfeldt. “We priced out what it would cost us for research and design. If we had access to some mechanical engineering students and professors who could help us design our new product, that’d be fantastic.”

The Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce conducts extensive training seminars for its clients by offering skill enhancement workshops twice annually. Each course consists of 60 hours of intensive classroom training on subjects such as legal issues, marketing, finance, insurance, advertising, real estate, human resources and more, all of which are incorporated into creating a specific business plan. The main sponsor of this semester’s training program is Sunmark Federal Credit Union, who is offering a $1,500 cash grant to the top prize winner in a business plan competition held at the end of the semester. The top prize winner also receives a complimentary one year Chamber membership. Other sponsors include Repeat Business Systems and MicroKnowledge as well as several business consultants. EAP is partially funded through a grant from Empire State Development Corporation. Graduation will be held on May 13.