Connect Fall 2016 | Page 4

FROM THE CEO T Jack L. Kopnisky President & CEO Sterling National Bank hank you for reading our previous issue of Connect, which focused on innovation. I trust that you found plenty to inspire you as you seek to take your business to the next level. Inside this issue, we’re once again exploring technology. At Sterling, we're committed to utilizing proven technologies in order to streamline your personal and business banking experience— freeing you to keep your focus on growing your business. We're also enthusiastic about offering financing and banking resources that help you as you research, develop, or implement technologies that will improve efficiency, boost effectiveness, or expand reach. Toward that end, we ask the important question of whether a given technology will help or hurt your business—and how to determine that (page 6). We also survey various technologies that may impact the way you do business—such as 3D printing (page 16), which is more accessible than ever. Finally, we listen as others share how they’ve adapted new technologies to create a fresh business model (page 22). In this age of accelerated design and implementation of new technologies, it’s critical to identify those that will enable you to better deliver on your business, brand, and customer promise. We hope to help you do that here. As always, we're grateful to be your bank, and consider it a privilege to serve you as you seek to move your business forward. Sincerely, 4 | SNB.COM // CONNECT TECHNOLOGY FALL 2016 EXCITING NEWS FROM THE CUTTING EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY HVEDC Positions New York as 3D Printing Leader In 2013, Hudson Valley Economic Development Corporation (HVEDC) launched HV3D, an award-winning public-private partnership promoting 3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing) throughout the Hudson Valley and now reaching around the world. Sterling National Bank is a proud supporter of HVEDC, so we sat down with President and CEO Laurence Gottlieb to learn more about the program. Q: How has HV3D impacted New York’s business community? A: We’ve been able to position the Hudson Valley as a 3D hub, connecting digital design and fabrication experts, investors, business and government leaders, and academics to ensure our place at the table. Not only are we some of the first adopters of the technology as an economic development tool in the country, but we are now permeating 3D printing education to a long list of schools connected to our new Hudson Valley Center for Advanced Manufacturing, paving the way for a skilled workforce. Q: What advice would you give business leaders not already in the 3D printing world? A: Seek out opportunities to engage with the technology. As part of the HV3D initiative, the nation’s first MakerBot 3D Printing Innovation Center and Stratasys SMART-lab was built at SUNY New Paltz. There you have access to 3D printing technology, training classes, and most important, onsite assistance with the digital design and fabrication platforms.  Q: What are the biggest challenges to adoption that additive manufacturing faces? A: Cost and speed have always been the biggest hindrances to adoption, but the technology is becoming sophisticated very quickly. Beyond that, procuring a skilled workforce will be critical. For more information on HV3D, please visit HVEDC.com.