2 local firms get Start-Up NY designations
The local companies Anchor ID and Up Homes have been designated Start-Up NY businesses, which waives state income taxes for their employees in exchange for the firms working with SUNY Ulster programs.
The designations were by New York’s Empire State Development Corp., which said Anchor ID is expected to add 15 jobs at 8 North Front St. in Kingston and Up Homes will add seven jobs at 430 Old Neighborhood Road in the town of Ulster.
Anchor ID is an information technology company that has “developed a multifactor authentication platform for enterprises and small and medium-sized businesses,” Empire State said. “Anchor ID’s platform eliminates passwords for enterprise computer systems, providing a better user experience and high compliance.”
Chris Marx, SUNY Ulster’s dean of continuity and professional Ddvelopment, said Anchor ID is expected to provides internships for the college’s technology students.
“Anchor ID has some really unique software,” he said.
“As with a lot of colleges right now, we are working to develop our computer science and software programs ... and we’ve been using [Anchor ID] to help us kind of navigate this field,” Marx said. “It’s really broad. You look at a lot of these coding companies, these coding schools that are cropping up, and obviously there’s a great workforce need for it, and they’re all very different. So having that curriculum support from Anchor ID is going to be very beneficial.”
Up Homes, according to Empire State, is a “formative stage company that will design, manufacture and sell modern, energy-efficient and customizable” manufactured and modular homes.
“SUNY Ulster has a very robust building science program, and we’re one of only four energy auditor and building science test sites in New York state funded by NYSERDA (the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority),” Marx said. “So working with them on a professional level has been very beneficial to us.”
Both companies were designated as eligible for Start-Up NY benefits earlier this year because of their proximity to the college’s programs at the Business Resource Center in the town of Ulster.
Companies accepted into the Start-Up NY program receive benefits that include 10 years of property tax exemptions for the business, a waiver of corporate taxes and state income tax exemptions for employees.