The South Side Innovation Center (SSIC) is part of the South Side Entrepreneurial Connect Project launched several years ago by the nationally ranked Entrepreneurship and Emerging Enterprises (EEE) Program at the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. The foundation for the project was the strong belief and commitment to this belief that the key to sustainable economic development and empowerment of those in the South Side is entrepreneurship. By building upon valuable assets in the South Side, and connecting them to resources on the Syracuse campus and in the broader Syracuse region, the SSIC will help to create a vibrant entrepreneurial culture that is sustainable and growth oriented.

The overarching goal of the South Side Entrepreneurial Connect Project is to foster the development of a sizeable entrepreneurial community within the South Side, increasing the number of new start ups, together with a supportive infrastructure that ensures the sustainability of existing small businesses. The SSIC was the first critical step to provide much needed physical infrastructure to support entrepreneurial development and address the entrepreneurship-related needs of residents of the South Side.