HelpGuest to occupy 300 s/f at Harriman Ctr.

According to Empire State Development, HelpGuest Technologies, an online marketer of computer support services, has become the most recent addition to the growing number of companies at the Harriman Campus. HelpGuest was started in 2004, will occupy 300 s/f in the Harriman Business Center Incubator, initially housing 3-5 employees Empire State Development Corp. upstate chairman Dan Gundersen said, "We are extremely pleased to welcome HelpGuest Technologies to the Harriman Business Center.  The continuing economic development in New York State is directly related to the formation and growth of companies like HelpGuest Technologies and the entrepreneurial people who create them.  Empire State Development Corp. and it's subsidiaries throughout the state are actively promoting the technology-based growth business climate.  We are finding that small business owners such as this are seizing upon this initiative to establish and grow their businesses within the State." ESDC president Avi Schick joined chairman Gundersen in welcoming the latest tenant to the Business Center. He said, "ESDC has made a firm commitment to asssure that the State remains the forerunner in attracting start-up technology firms such as HelpGuest and we welcome the opening of their Harriman office as further proof that our programs and initiatives are succeeding" The Harriman Business Center is a member of the Business Incubator Association of New York State (BIA/NYS).  According to the National Business Incubation Association, business incubators nurture the development of entrepreneurial companies, helping them survive and grow during the start-up period, when they are most vulnerable.  These incubators and associated programs provide their client companies with business support services and resources tailored to young firms.  The most common goals of incubation programs are creating jobs in a community, enhancing a community's entrepreneurial climate, retaining businesses in a community, building or accelerating growth in a local industry, and diversifying local economies.  The Harriman Business Center highlights the role of the overall Harriman Campus in stimulating the innovation economy of the Tech Valley and New York State as a whole.  Harriman is also a founding member of the Business Incubator Association of New York State, a state-level association dedicated to promoting incubation statewide.  The Business Center hosted the group's organizational meeting in April 2006.  Mayor Gerry Jennings said, "The City of Albany and the Capital District benefit tremendously from the start-up of companies such as HelpGuest Technologies as they are exactly the type of new technology firms that we have been working to attract and grow locally.  We are pleased to welcome to them to Albany and to the Harriman Business Center."