Join Us for the 2026 Launch Event
The Hudson Valley has the talent, capital, and expertise to expand and strengthen our small business economy. We're featuring three important conversations on how we connect them:
digital transformation and the AI era with Dr. Rebecca Gott, CTO, IBM Power Platform
the challenges and opportunities facing small businesses today
creative capital approaches for investing in our region
DATE
Thursday, 10/15/26
1:00 PM — 5:00PM followed by Demo Night
VENUE
Senate Garage
Kingston, NY
ADMISSION
Tickets - sliding scale
Afternoon + Demo Night
THE EVENT
Agenda
1:00 PMArrival
Guests are invited to network for the first hour
2:00 PMWelcome & Greater Hudson Valley Introduction
Meet the team building the tools to drive better connectivity to resources for small businesses
2:15 PMDigital Transformation and the AI Era
Keynote: how technology is reshaping businesses
3:00 PMChallenges and Opportunities Facing Small Businesses Today
What small businesses face, what’s working, and where the biggest opportunities are
4:00 PMCreative Capital Approaches for Investing in Our Region
What a regional capital ecosystem can look like, and how to build one
5:30 PMHudson Valley Venture Hub Demo Night
Meet the region's up-and-coming startups
KEYNOTE
Dr. Rebecca Gott, CTO, IBM Power Platform
Sarah Lee, EVP, HVEDC
Barbara Clarke, Investor
Sonya Smith, State Director, NYS SBDC
Duane Peterson, Investor
Lizzie Vann, Investor
Nick Preddice, HVEDC Board Chair
THE DAY AND THE PEOPLE IN IT
Who you will hear from.
2:00
Welcome & Greater Hudson Valley Introduction
Noa Simons
Board Chair, Greater Good Inc.
HOST
Kevin Raper
Greater Hudson Valley
HOST
Kris Backhaus
SUNY New Paltz
HOST
2:15
Keynote · Digital Transformation and the AI Era
Technology is reshaping how businesses run, how they reach customers, and how they connect to the resources they need. This keynote is a direct look at where things are going and what the AI era means for the people building small businesses in our region. The choices made now, about access, cost, and infrastructure, will shape who gets to build.
Dr. Rebecca Gott
CTO, IBM Power Platform
Rebecca Gott leads the technology roadmap for IBM Power Platform, spanning hardware, systems, and AI strategy. A Hudson Valley resident, she is one of the most influential voices in enterprise computing. She will discuss the shape of the AI era, the economics of digital transformation, and how technology can serve the humans and communities it reaches.
3:00
Challenges and Opportunities Facing Small Businesses Today
Running a small business today is harder than it used to be. The existing support is inefficient to navigate for knowledge and networks, and often out of reach for capital. This panel takes on what small business owners are up against, what's working, and where the biggest opportunities are right now.
Sonya Smith, MBA
State Director, New York Small Business Development Center
Sonya Smith leads New York's network of 22 regional Small Business Development Centers hosted by SUNY, appointed state director in December 2021 and the first woman and first African American to hold the role in its nearly 40-year history. She sits on the Board of Directors of America's SBDC, where she also co-chairs the legislative committee, carrying New York's small business voice into national policy.
Sarah Lee
Hudson Valley economic development corporation
Sarah Lee leads Strategic Initiatives as Executive Vice President at the Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation, following a run as CEO of Think Dutchess Alliance for Business and Executive Director of the Dutchess County Industrial Development Agency, where she built the county's economic development programs from the ground up. She carries that regional expertise onto the national stage as Chair of the Future Trends Committee for the International Economic Development Council, and she also sits on the board of the New York State Economic Development Council.
4:00
Creative Capital Approaches for Investing in Our Region
Most small businesses don't have access to the capital they need on terms that fit them. This panel brings together investors doing it differently: keeping capital local, matching how businesses grow, and backing founders who have been overlooked. The conversation looks at what a regional capital ecosystem can look like, and how to build one.
Barbara Clarke
Founder & Investor
Barbara Clarke is one of the most active individual impact investors in the United States, having backed more than sixty companies and twelve funds across North America and Europe. Through Tethered LLC, she holds an early-stage investment portfolio built on the premise that diversity and inclusion drive results, and she founded the Impact Seat Foundation to combine investing, advocacy, and grantmaking into a single strategy for a more equitable economy, with a particular focus on women and women of color as business leaders. She serves on the boards of Portfolia and Founders First Capital Partners, a revenue-based financing firm for diverse small businesses. She is the author of Build Your Board, Build Your Business.
Duane Peterson
Angel Investor and Co-Founder, SunCommon
Duane Peterson co-founded SunCommon in 2012 and built it into one of the largest residential solar companies in Vermont and the Hudson Valley, structured from the start as a Public Benefit Corporation and Certified B Corp. Before SunCommon, he spent twelve years as Chief of Stuff at Ben & Jerry's, executing Ben Cohen's creative vision and learning to run a business where every decision reflects the company's values. Today, he is an active angel investor and a limited partner in several funds backing the next generation of values-led entrepreneurs.
Lizzie Vann
Entrepreneur, Investor, and Founder of Project Regeneration
Lizzie Vann is an entrepreneur and impact investor based in Woodstock, NY. She founded Organix, the UK's leading organic children's food company, in 1992 and sold it to the Hero Group in 2008. In 2019 she revived the Bearsville Theater and Utopia Studios complex, and she is now leading Project Regeneration, a redevelopment of six historic buildings in downtown Woodstock into low-cost green housing, coworking space, and community facilities, alongside an accelerator fund of loans and grants for local small businesses.
WHO IS THIS FOR
If you care about this place, you belong here.
Small business owners, and the people dreaming up their first. Investors and funds. Makers, designers, and builders. Shopkeepers and operators. Students and teachers. Civic leaders. And anyone curious about where the Hudson Valley goes next.
BUILT WITH THE REGION
We are building this together.
