Mr. Neumann is the current Managing Director of the Hudson Valley Center for Innovation (HVCFI), a business accelerator which he co-founded in 2005 along with the Hudson Valley Technology Development Center. Mr. Neumann conceived of the HVCFI's unique business proposition to assist regional entrepreneurs by accelerating the development and commercialization of their products and services through the support of a national team of Executive Mentors, cultivated business professionals and global business contacts. As HVCFI's Managing Director, Mr. Neumann formed the Board of Directors, chairs the multi-disciplined Board of Advisors and was responsible for creating the HVCFI Cleantech Acceleration Program (CAP) in 2007 and the WindPower Initiative (WPI) in March of 2009.
Prior to becoming Managing Director of the HVCFI, Mr. Neumann served as the Chief Operating Officer of VRSim, a Connecticut based virtual reality development company charged with the development of numerous simulations for private industry, government and military applications. Mr. Neumann was also Director of New Technologies for RCC a global cosmetic sampling company located in Manhattan where he developed several revolutionary electronic, virtual reality based self-serve kiosks and on-shelf technologies featuring the electronic release of branded fragrances as well as co-owner of an established point of purchase display brokerage specializing in interactive display techniques.
Mr. Neumann has several patents and was a contributing author of a recently published book on branding (Living Brands) and experiential marketing techniques. Les also founded and was CEO of Interpreter Inc. in Westminster, Colorado where he was responsible for an initial public offering of the company's securities in 1983. The company developed a series of proprietary hardware/software devices dedicated to document translation and transmission. Interpreter Inc. was the first company to be granted the use of a video prospectus as a component of its offering prospectus and Les was instrumental in the Securities and Exchange Commission honoring digitally produced signatures as authentic for filing SEC documents.
Mr. Neumann serves as the current Chair of the Rockland Business Association's Technology Initiative, is a founding member of the New York State Business Incubator Association and serves as a Director with a New Jersey operated Wind development company.
About the Hudson Valley Center for Innovation With the nearest technology incubators in Albany and New York City, there are few places in New York State where fledgling companies can begin their business and gain mentoring support. The Hudson Valley Center for Innovation, Inc. (HVCFI) was created to provide that support and focus on economic development of the Hudson Valley region.
HVCFI's ambition is to:
Thanks to the support of business and economic development agencies, academia, and the Hudson Valley investment community, two powerful not-for-profit Hudson Valley business entities, the Ulster County Development Corporation (UCDC) Ulster County's lead economic development agency (http://www.ulsterny.com/), and the Hudson Valley Technology Development Center, Inc. (HVTDC) (http://www.hvtdc.org/), collaborated to create a business incubator designed to foster the growth and development of emerging, high value businesses and technology development firms, and the creation of high-value jobs in the Hudson Valley region.
HVCFI creators believe that the benefits of its Enhanced Services, full-time Executive Mentoring Team, Management, Board of Directors, and Board of Advisors could reduce the ‘typical' incubation period for an emerging company from 4 to 6 years to 2 to 4 years.
Headquartered in the Hudson Valley Business Center in Kingston, New York, HVCFI's ambition is to establish physical and virtual satellite facilities during the next 4 to 6 years throughout the Hudson Valley counties of Ulster, Orange, Dutchess, Sullivan, Putnam, Rockland, Westchester.
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