BINGHAMTON, NY – The SUNY Business and Education Cooperative of the Southern Tier (SUNY BEST) will host a presentation, titled "Entrepreneurship: What we know and why does it matter?" at 10 a.m. Thursday, Oct. 3, in room 220 at Binghamton University’s Downtown Center on 67 Washington St., Binghamton. This presentation is free and open to the public.

Guest speaker Vishal Gupta is an assistant professor in Binghamton University’s School of Management where he teaches courses in strategy, sustainability and international business. Gupta’s practical experience in entrepreneurship includes a depth of knowledge of machine tools and also spans the automotive and educational arenas. His research on entrepreneurship has been published in several national and international journals.

According to the U.S. Small Business Policy Index (2012), New York ranks 47th in the country for entrepreneur-friendliness in terms of institutional environment for entrepreneurship. In a similar vein, the annual survey of CEOs has ranked New York 49th on business-friendliness in general for several years in a row. And even though the state of New York ranks third in the nation in the number of female-owned businesses (American Express OPEN report), about 90 percent of them are located in the NYC metropolitan area, with little growth over the years in women-owned businesses in other parts of the state. New York is one of the most ethnically diverse states in the country, but research conducted by Forbes magazine does not rank any of its cities among even the top 30 metropolitan areas for minority entrepreneurs. Clearly, a lot of work needs to be done to change the state of entrepreneurship in New York.

Gupta will speak about the vital importance entrepreneurship has to the Greater Binghamton area, New York state and the United States in terms of economic growth, increased employment and greater incomes, which in turn may enrich the tax base and improve the lives of all citizens. 

This presentation discusses what we know about entrepreneurship, with special focus on women and minority entrepreneurship, and why it matters for the people of our local community, the state and the nation.  

Pre-registration for this discussion is required through the SUNY BEST website at http://ceo.binghamton.edu/sunybest. For additional information, e-mail sunybest@binghamton.edu.

Directional signage to the meeting room will be visible for those entering the main entrance of the Downtown Center from Washington St. Parking is available in the Collier Street Ramp, the Water Street Ramp, (both within two blocks of the Downtown Center) or if available, at any of the metered parking spots in front of the building on Washington St.