Creating a life-saving solution

Three years after Woodmere resident Eric Forkosh met fellow classmate Benji Strauss while attending Cooper Union, a private college in Manhattan, the duo developed the concept for the SmartEKG, a comfortable and personalized heart monitor, but lacked the funding to create a usable prototype.

“I decided in the summer of 2011 that I wanted to develop a solution to some of the cardiac problems I see as an EMT (emergency medical technician) and in January 2012 [Eric and I] decided to invent it together,” Strauss said. “We aimed high and wanted the quality and availability of [the SmartEKG] to ultimately be responsible for reducing morbidities such as heart attack and stroke.”

The SmartEKG is a vest that can be worn under clothing and syncs wirelessly to the patient’s Smartphone, offering patient interaction with the monitoring process and providing data to medical professionals on an online portal. “Things started to get really inspiring when we started showing our products to younger patients, who really loved the possibilities our system allowed; the fact that our heart monitor was so small and inconspicuous, it could let them live more normally,” said Forkosh, a graduate of Rambam Mesivta High School in Lawrence.

Bohemia-based FrontStreet Facility Solutions provides facility management to companies in retail, restaurant, financial, healthcare and commercial industries. Chief Development Officer Joseph Scaretta said the company launched the Long Island Young Entrepreneur Challenge in 2012 as a way to support and empower entrepreneurs.

“Entrepreneurship is vital in fostering economic growth and bolstering job creation,” Scaretta said. “The best way we felt we could help is by giving them all the things we never had — the opportunity to present their product to successful entrepreneurs and business leaders, get feedback on their products or ideas, access to proven business vendors, some start-up money to get going and, most importantly, mentorship.”

In May, Forkosh travelled to Capital One Bank’s headquarters in Melville to compete against eight other applicants. Each participant, according to Scaretta, had to be a Long Island resident between the age of 17-22 and enrolled as a full-time student at an accredited college or university and was paired with a Capital One Bank mentor to refine their pitch and presentation before demonstrating their idea to a team of entrepreneurs.

Forkosh won the competition and was awarded $10,000 to design the SmartEKG and was given access to business mentors. “It felt great to win the competition and to get rewarded for all the hard work,” Forkosh said. “I wore the heart monitor under my suit the entire competition so I could demo it live. Even when I walked up to accept my award and my check, it was a great feeling to know that I worked so hard and produced something that is useful to society and that I would be getting money to continue my dream and my company.”

To enter the 2014 FrontStreet Long Island Young Entrepreneur Challenge, call (631) 244-8474 or visit www.frontstreetfs.com.