Montgomery Township’s first-ever Innovation Summit is ready to connect innovators and leaders in the areas of science, technology, and finance.
The innovation summit will take place at the Montgomery Municipal Center and Montgomery Innovation Hub from 8:30 a.m. to noon on May 22.
“The summit’s focus is on the life science industry and government resources to assist entrepreneurs in this field, but this event is open to all businesspersons located in or interested in locating in Montgomery,” said Tammy Garaffa, Montgomery’s community information officer.
People are asked to register to attend the summit, which is a free event. The summit’s goal is to highlight assets available in the area and state and how they can be leveraged to support starts-ups and entrepreneurs.
“Montgomery is a town on the rise for innovation, and this summit is an exciting step in solidifying our role in New Jersey’s economic future,” Mayor Neena Singh said. “We are proud to host this collaborative forum to support and inspire the next generation of life science and tech leaders.”
There will be networking sessions, panel discussions and presentations through the event. The panel discussions are titled “Resources, Opportunities & Emerging Trends” and “Life Science & Finance Startups.”
Jessica Paolini, manager of Economic Development for Somerset County, will be the moderator of the “Resources, Opportunities & Emerging Trends” panel.
The panel features Kathy Guzman, a senior small business liaison for the New Jersey Economic Develpment Authority (NJEDA); Lucy Partman, senior project officer, Technology Innovation Partnerships for NJEDA; Judith Sheft, executive director of the New Jersey Commission on Science, Innovation & Technology under NJEDA; and Samuel Wear, supervisor for New Jersey Department of Labor’s (NJDOL) Central Region’s Business Services Unit.
Dr. Himanshu Bhatia, founder of Ricovr Healthcare (a diagnostic healthcare company), is set to moderate the “Life Science & Finance Startups” panel. The panel features Lakshmi Raghavan, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Healios Labs (a research and development laboratory for pharmaceuticals), and Junaid Mian, venture partner for 1435 Capital (a venture capital firm).
Raj Bath, executive director of the NJ-India Commission (a commission advancing bilateral trade and economic development in New Jersey and India), has a presentation called Marketing Your Business & Leveraging Partnerships.
Christine Galib, who is the director of Advancing Photonics Technologies at Princeton University’s Office of Innovation, is presenting on Advancing Photonics Technologies.
The Innovation Summit will hear remarks from Mayor Neena Singh and a keynote address from New Jersey State Sen. Andrew Zwicker (D-16).
Additionally, two networking sessions are taking place that day. One session is at 8:30 a.m. at the Montgomery Municipal Center (100 Community Drive) and a second session will be held at noon at the Venture-X Montgomery Innovation Hub at 23 Orchard Road across from the municipal center.
For a detailed schedule for the Montgomery Innovation Summit, more information and to register, visit www.innovatemontgomerynj.com or www.montgomerynj.gov.
