| For immediate release INNOVATION TRAIL TELEVISION SPECIAL, Airs Thursday, May 26 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV/HD
(Rochester) May 18, 2011 – What are the challenges of starting a small business in New York State? WXXI’s Innovation Trail will discuss this question and more with a panel of small business experts from across the state in an hour-long television special, Small Business, Big Deal, airing Thursday, May 26 at 8 p.m. on WXXI-TV/HD (DT21.1/cable 1011 and 11). Part of Innovation Trail’s ongoing Innovation Conversation series, the program looks at the challenges and opportunities for small businesses in New York State. Co-hosted by Innovation Trail Managing Editor Rachel Ward and New York Now’s Matt Ryan, the program highlights three small businesses in upstate New York: Salamida's State Fair Spiedie Sauce in Johnson City, Sonwil Distribution in Buffalo, and iCardiac Technologies in Rochester. These profiles will springboard an in-studio discussion with a panel of distinguished guests from government, academia, business, and advocacy. Panelists include: Dottie Austin, Principal at Career Partners International and President-elect of the Buffalo chapter of National Association of Women Business Owners; Patrick Doyle, Director of Broome County Industrial Development Agency; Steve Hawley, New York State Assemblyman; Robert McNary, ESD Finger Lakes Regional Director; Sandy Parker, CEO of the Rochester Business Alliance; Jeff Peterson, Program Manager, NYSERDA; Brian Sampson, Executive Director of Unshackle Upstate; James Senall, President of High Tech Rochester; and Harry Bronson, New York State Assemblyman. In addition to WXXI-TV/HD, Innovation Conversation: Small Business, Big Deal will air on WSKG-TV in Binghamton and WMHT-TV in Albany at 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 26, and on WNED-TV in Buffalo on Sunday, May 29 at 4 p.m. It will also be available online at InnovationTrail.org following the broadcast. Funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), the Innovation Trail is a collaboration of five upstate New York public media outlets led by WXXI, and including WNED (Buffalo), WRVO (Syracuse/Oswego), WSKG (Binghamton) and WMHT (Albany). The Innovation Trail provides in-depth reports about the innovative technologies, businesses, and policies that are helping rebuild the region’s economy. You can see the Innovation Trail’s reporting at http://www.innovationtrail.org/. ### |