Though not a Buffalo native, Rick Gardner was struck by the area’s entrepreneurial ecosystem long before he moved here.
Gardner, who has worked at the University at Buffalo since March 2020, was president and general manager of EWI Colorado, an engineering and technology nonprofit that operates Buffalo Manufacturing Works. During his role at EWI, he spent time in Buffalo and made friends and developed a professional network.
“It really is an infectious community in terms of coming together for a greater purpose,” he said. “I really started to get intrigued by that passion, and it doesn’t exist anywhere else I’ve worked or lived.”
When he heard about UB’s open position for director of startup ventures in business and entrepreneur partnerships, he “jumped on the opportunity.” The university recently named Gardner associate vice president for economic development to replace Christina Orsi, who will become president of the John R. Oishei Foundation.
Gardner will lead UB’s business and entrepreneur partnerships office, which aims to connect local innovations with university resources; manage state-funded grant programs such as Innovation Hub; and work with organizations such as the UB Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences.
He has more than two decades of experience in the private, public, startup and nonprofit sectors, holds 32 U.S. patents and has taken dozens of products to market, according to a UB news release.
Gardner, a Colorado native, has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Colorado State University.
“Overall, the mission is really to advance UB as an economic engine in Western New York and beyond,” he said.
That includes fostering a diverse and inclusive ecosystem and bringing research and innovation from the university to society.
To do so, the university will continue to encourage entrepreneurship among students, faculty and startups, as well as collaborate with industry partners to help innovations go to market and understand workforce and talent needs, he added. UB will also focus on evolving its strategy over time based on working with partners and the startup ecosystem.
For example, the current ecosystem does a good job with software tech startups, but the economic development team is looking into augmenting that with a program that focuses on creating manufactural hardware startups in the future, he said.
Gardner, whose first day is Jan. 24, will lead a team of about 50. As a manager, his focus is on having clear goals and giving his workers the path and tools to be successful.
“My leadership style is to really focus on the objective that we’re trying to achieve,” he said. “I don’t necessarily tell people how to achieve it. I want to maximize their creativity and input into creative ways to meet the objective.”
