Kim Grant started her career in telecommunications and then pivoted to advanced manufacturing, medical devices and biotechnology when she was repatriated to Buffalo from Columbus, Ohio in 2007. Since then she has been actively involved in the Western New York start up community, working with 43 North, the Western New York Venture Association, and UB’s Business and Entrepreneur Partnerships.
Kim was recruited to UB in 2013 as the Business Development Executive for the Center of Excellence Bioinformatics and Life Sciences. In that capacity she was responsible for the NYSTAR Center for Advance Technology (CAT) and the Bright Buffalo Investor Forum. In 2018 she transitioned over to the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences UB RISE (Research, Innovation, Simulation, Structure, Education and Engineering) Center to help entrepreneurial minded clinicians develop and test new products as well as facilitate a testing and training facility for industry partners to collaborate with clinical experts and stakeholders.
During her tenure at UB, Grant was responsible for engaging industry partners and cultivating academic, public and private collaborations to generate economic development. These efforts included attracting firms to relocate to Western New York, connecting companies to potential grant funding, state programs and investors as well as leveraging her professional network to catalyze innovation and growth.
Over the last decade, Kim has served on the Buffalo Public School Policy Board, the Western New York Invention Convention board and was President and Treasurer of the International Society of Automation – Niagara Frontier Section. After ten years, she retired from the National Ski Patrol
Kim received her bachelor’s degree from Buffalo State College and is a 2011 graduate of Leadership Buffalo. Kim and her husband Robert live in Clarence.