Business ideas spark upcoming Innovation Day

05/03/2026

It's all business at SUNY Cortland's Innovation Day, as more than 90 student entrepreneurs will present their ideas to alumni and the local community.

Taking place Wednesday, May 6, in the Corey Union Function Room, it was once an internal function of the Economics Department. Now, it will be the second year of a new format that connects participants more closely with area businesses.

"While this event is a celebration of our students' work, the applied learning experiences within these courses help students develop skills that our employers are seeking," said Kathleen Burke, SUNY distinguished teaching professor of economics.

Those skills directly relate to the NACE Career Readiness Competencies , she added, with particular focus on leadership, teamwork, critical thinking, communication, professionalism and technology.

Six student teams in the Entrepreneurship I class taught by lecturer Jamie Wilson were chosen to pitch their ideas to a panel. Judges include President Erik J. Bitterbaum; Diana Lawson '76, dean of the Seidman College of Business, Grand Valley State University, and Cortland College Foundation board member; and Adam Weitsman, owner and chief executive officer of Upstate Shredding - Weitsman Recycling , the largest privately held scrap metal processing and recycling company on the East Coast.

Those judges will select a winner that receives the Red Dragon Innovation Cup.

The student teams competing are:

• Throwing Shade : Jayden Lont.

• ShredAir : Bryan Sredniawski, Esteban Mitchell, Morgan Shevlin, Nick Bliss and Lindsey Hillenbrandt.

• Motion : Johnathon Finewood and Michael Burke.

• Rockwood by Vinci : Dominic Vinci.

• Scrap Fit : Chris Youngs, Justin Womeldorph, Thomas Wheeler and Luka Kvizhinadze.

Scrap Fit, an idea for gym equipment created from scrap metal, and NextLife, an idea for a service that sorts collected junk for donation, recycling or scrap, each earned distinction in the first round of the recent New York Business Plan Competition, advancing to compete at the state level.

Other students from the class will discuss their business plans during a Student Business Showcase in the morning and afternoon.

In addition to the presentations, five projects worked on by students in Burke's ECO 365 Community Innovation Lab will be delivered to their local community partners.

• Cortland Police Department : Website update and redesign.

• Cortland Historical Society : A business model for their new building.

• Cornell Cooperative Extension
  • Camp Owahta : A business model for facility use during non-summer months.
  • 4-H Animal Sale : Marketing materials for youth to promote the sale of their animals.

• Kleen Korner, Paddy's Pub, The Green Arch : Strategies to promote non-Main Street businesses to SUNY Cortland students.

Burke also noted that students from a Technical Writing course taught by Professor Laura Davies consulted with the student teams, elevating all public-facing documents by implementing their technical writing skills.

In between the other activities, 11 SUNY Cortland students will become the university's founding members in the national Sigma Nu Tau Entrepreneurship Honor Society. The United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship recently approved the new chapter and Bitterbaum will present its charter during a ceremony for the group.