BINGHAMTON, NY – The SUNY Business and Education Cooperative of the Southern Tier (SUNY BEST) will host a presentation, titled “CaRDI and Stronger Economies Together,” at 10 a.m. Thursday, Apr. 5 at the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, 904 East Shore Drive in Ithaca, New York. This presentation is free and open to the public.

“We are especially pleased that our colleagues at Cornell University and others in Tompkins County are hosting this event,” said Thomas Kowalik, director of Binghamton University Continuing Education and Outreach, and facilitator and catalyst for SUNY BEST. “Our success as a regional organization has been, in large part, due to the active involvement of a great number of representatives from this area.”

Rod Howe, assistant director of community & economic vitality at Cornell Cooperative Extension, and executive director, Community and Regional Development Institute (CaRDI), will be joined by Heidi Mouillesseaux-Kunzman, extension associate and CaRDI Institute member, to present an overview of CaRDI.

Mouillesseaux-Kunzman will also highlight the Stronger Economies Together (SET) initiative, which is part of a national project co-developed and implemented through a multi-level partnership of Land Grant University faculty, extension educators, USDA Rural Development and community members, and is designed to support regional economic development. Three New York regions are currently using the SET program to develop regional economic development plans. Program highlights and key features will be discussed from a community and economic development perspective.

SUNY BEST is a volunteer group comprised of senior staff members from key economic and educational institutions in the Southern Tier. The group works to forge strong alliances, strengthen industry specific needs and provide information and outreach for business.

SUNY BEST also seeks to explore and support the business community workforce needs for traditional and emerging industry clusters such as nanotechnology, biotechnology, energy, photonics, energy conservation and renewal.

Pre-registration is required through the SUNY BEST website at http://ceo.binghamton.edu/bande/. For additional information e-mail dhulbert@binghamton.edu. Parking is available on site at the Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce, 904 East Shore Drive, Ithaca.