06/10/2025
SUNY Cortland is working with Tompkins Cortland Community College (TC3) to open a new learning space that supports local economic development and student entrepreneurs, with the university moving forward with the purchase of TC3’s Main Street building this summer.
The SUNY Cortland Entrepreneurship Center is expected to open during the 2025-26 academic year at 157 Main St., a building that previously housed the Tompkins Cortland Community College Extension Center. Students will have access to the facility for coursework that benefits local businesses, non-profit organizations and student start-up ideas.
The building’s purchase was approved by the SUNY Board of Trustees in March, with final steps continuing this summer. An official ribbon-cutting is anticipated during the fall semester.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for our campus and our surrounding community — a new way to showcase the entrepreneurial spirit of our future business leaders,” said SUNY Cortland President Erik J. Bitterbaum. “This new location will provide easily accessible meeting space connecting our students with local companies and organizations that can utilize their talents. We are grateful to Tompkins Cortland Community College, and we look forward to creating future community partnerships and possibilities.”
“TC3 has long been known for its commitment to high quality education and workforce training programs and to serving our local communities,” said Tompkins Cortland Community College President Amy Kremenek. “Over the years, the ways educational programs are delivered have changed based on the needs of students and the evolution of technology, resulting in increased demand for remote, online options.
“The college is thrilled with SUNY Cortland’s vision to purchase this underused space from the TC3 Foundation and to transform it into a flexible education and training facility with like-minded partners. TC3 looks forward to partnering with SUNY Cortland and others in this new and exciting capacity.”
The overarching goal of the new Entrepreneurship Center is to support current businesses and non-profits while helping foster new business growth. The new center is part of the university’s entrepreneurship minor, reflecting the university’s growing undergraduate enrollment in business-related programs and the value of learning outside a traditional classroom.
SUNY Cortland’s Business Assistance Internship Program will operate out of the center, providing opportunities for students in the entrepreneurship minor to work directly with community employers. Undergraduates will provide services that include developing business models and plans, digital and traditional marketing, graphic design, website development and technical writing.
According to an assessment of local businesses from Cortland County’s Business Development Corporation, 88% of small businesses and nonprofits indicated interest in social media assistance, 78% sought market research and 73% identified the desire for promotional assistance.
SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Economics Kathleen Burke helped develop the idea for the facility’s new use. Plans were born in her Community Innovation Lab course, where students work on projects for local small businesses and nonprofits. Projects that previously were too narrow in scope may now be pursued as part of an internship, with student teams working across disciplines for varying amounts of time, depending on business needs.
The city of Cortland’s proximity to nearby entrepreneurial hubs, including the Syracuse Tech Garden, the WISE Women’s Business Center and the Binghamton and Onondaga Small Business Development Centers, present additional possibilities.
With majors spanning business economics to healthcare management, the university’s Economics Department enrolled 511 students in Fall 2024 — representing a 19% enrollment increase since 2019 and one of SUNY Cortland’s largest academic departments. The entrepreneurship minor, introduced in Fall 2022, has welcomed students from 11 different majors and its popularity continues to grow.
The 2024-25 academic year included several highlights. In April, a trio of business economics majors earned a $10,000 first-place prize at the New York Business Plan Competition. Additionally, the university hosted its inaugural Innovation Day in May to celebrate student business owners and the progress of Burke’s Community Innovation Lab course. Burke also earned recognition as one of only 28 educators in the nation to be awarded a Faculty Innovation Fellowship by the Business-Higher Education Forum.
“Higher education institutions have the potential to be local economic engines — not only as large employers, but as campuses that encourage students to learn by doing meaningful work,” Bitterbaum said. “I have been so pleased to witness the growth of our local partnerships, the success of our alumni in business-related careers and the vision for the university’s Entrepreneurship Center becoming a reality.”