Bernie Brenner
Bernie Brenner specializes in securing and expanding strategic partnerships and is a frequent speaker about business development (BD) to entrepreneurs and venture investors. Bernie is the Co-founder and EVP of Business Development of TrueCar Inc., a company focused on changing how cars are sold. Under Bernie’s direction, True Car secured more than 100 BD deals, including partnerships with USAA, American Express, Geico, Nationwide Insurance, Consumer Reports, and AAA.

Bernie is also a partner at the Capital Factory, an accelerator in Austin, Texas, where he is a mentor to early stage entrepreneurs. Previously, Bernie ran business development at Carfax, Inc., where he secured partnerships with Toyota Motor Sales, AutoTrader.com, Cars.com, and many other giants in the auto industry. Bernie lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and three children.

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Douglas Whitcomb
Douglas Whitcomb is President of Whitsons Culinary Group, which provides a wide range of highly customized dining services to corporations, public schools and residential facilities, and manufacturing of prepared meals for customers across the country.Doug plays a leadership ll areas of the company’s operations, with a concentration on managing the support services teams of purchasing and marketing, as well as corporate and residential dining operations. Mr. Whitcomb started Whitsons in 1979, along with his father and several other family members. Over the years, he has played an instrumental role in growing Whitsons from a small local business to a successful multi- million dollar corporation.

Doug earned a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Auburn University in Auburn, Alabama and is also a Food Management Professional (FMP). He is a member of the Society for Foodservice Management (SFM) and World Presidents Organization (WPO), for whom Mr. Whitcomb established the first Long Island WPO chapter.

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Jake Schmigelski
Jake Schmigelski,19, is a serial entrepreneur and student at Stony Brook University. Mr. Schmigelski began working on his first company, an investment group for young adults, at the age of sixteen. By the age of seventeen, he had founded Gale International Trading LLC, a wholesale food and beverage brokerage that currently works with numerous national and regional accounts.

When not in class or studying, Mr. Schmigelski works to build his existing holdings and promote growth his new ventures. He has previously done work as an independent agent for CRC Logistics, a 3PLP located in Rockville Center, NY, along with acting as an intermediary Chief Executive for an Israeli tech-startup. One of his latest initiatives is Private Equity consulting, where he sources real estate and corporate assets for private institutional and personal buyers.

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Burke Liburt
(Burke Liburt@me.com)
(631-379-1627)
Burke Liburt is the co-founder and CMO of SynchroPET, a bio-medical device company that has licensed patented nuclear imaging technologies from Brookhaven National Laboratories; the company is now entering the preclinical research market with innovative devices.

Burke has developed marketing strategies at television groups (Dun & Bradstreet / ABC Television) and at his own multi-media company; he understands the challenges-financial, psychological and emotional—of overcoming the hurdles of building a successful commercial enterprise. Because of his wide experience and contacts, he has recruited many clients for MBA projects at the Innovation Center.

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Joseph Pufahl
(jpufahl@adchem.com)
Son of Adchem founder, Joseph A. Pufahl, Joe leads Adchem branding, public relations and web development.

Joseph as leads Adchem business development efforts for market-based products including strategy, market research, product development, channel management, collateral and web support, and sales and distributor training.