September 28, 2011
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CONTACT
Patrick Muncie/Kyle Sklerov ( NYCEDC )
(212) 312-3523 (212) 312-3523
Lem Brewster ( Deutsche Bank )
(212) 454-2085 (212) 454-2085
Alejandra Boggiano (ACCION USA)
(646) 833-4552 (619) 535-2254
New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, and Baruch College announced today the five finalists of the Competition To Help Reach Immigrant Ventures and Entrepreneurs (THRIVE). Competition THRIVE is designed to generate business plans that will address the challenges faced by immigrant entrepreneurs, including access to credit, financial management, language barriers, and access to business networks. The five selected finalist organizations are ACCION USA, Business Outreach Center Network, Inc. (BOC Network), Make the Road NY (MRNY), Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC), and Washington Heights Inwood Development Corporation (WHIDC).
"Immigrant entrepreneurs are vital to New York City's long-term economic success, and Competition THRIVE is an important part of our efforts to support and empower this growing community," said New York City Economic Development President Seth W. Pinsky. "These five programs have the potential to reach hundreds of immigrant business owners across the five boroughs, and address the challenges they so often face. I would like to congratulate all the finalists, and look forward to the development of programs that will benefit our City's immigrant entrepreneurs, and ultimately, our economy."
"We are pleased that Competition THRIVE has uncovered such promising business plans to address the needs of a critical component of the city's social and economic fabric," said President of the Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation Gary Hattem. "THRIVE's success reflects the value of combining the expertise of a range of partners across the public and private sectors, and Deutsche Bank is proud to be an integral element of that partnership."
The five finalists for Competition THRIVE were selected by a panel of judges from 39 organizations that submitted proposals. Each of the finalists will receive seed funding of $25,000 and have six months to pilot their programs, at which point the program viewed by the judges as the most sustainable-and with the most potential to be expanded further-will receive an additional $100,000 to further develop their program. Proposals were judged on several criteria including: feasibility, applicability, scalability, and sustainability. Competition THRIVE is jointly funded by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, and is administered by Baruch College's Lawrence N. Field Center for Entrepreneurship.
The panel of judges includes leaders in academia, business, City government , and non-profits. The judging panel consisted of: Fatima Shama, Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs; Maria Torres, Chief of Staff of the New York City Economic Development Corporation; Akbar Poonawala, Managing Director and North America Regional Head of Global Transaction Banking/Global Head of Global Equity Services; Jonathan Bowles, Director of the Center for an Urban Future; Melanie Stern, Senior Program Officer at the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions; Orson Watson, Program Officer at the Garfield Foundation; Chung-Wha Hong, Executive Director of the New York Immigration Coalition; and Justin Shon, Director of Corporate and Administrative Affairs for Bogopa Service Corp.
"Immigrant entrepreneurs are today -- as they have always been -- central to the New York City and U.S. economy," said Baruch College Entrepreneurship Professor and Management Department Chair Edward Rogoff. "This program is significant both because it identifies and supports high-growth potential immigrant entrepreneurs and because it is building and demonstrating a new model to support immigrant entrepreneurs and their ventures. I know of no program that will be more effective in having positive economic impact on our city and in creating a model that can be used not just on a continuing basis in New York but, indeed, then being adopted around the country to enhance the benefits that society receives from the most entrepreneurial Americans."
"This is yet one more step in advancing immigrant entrepreneurship in New York City. Immigrant-owned businesses are a great source of strength for the City and have helped us weather the recession better than much of the country," said Chief Policy Advisor to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg John Feinblatt. "In fact, the vitality of New York's immigrant entrepreneurs shows yet again that we need to rethink our nation's immigration system to do more for our economy."
"New York City has always been a thriving destination for people around the world who want an exciting place to create and grow a business," said Commissioner of the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs Fatima Shama. "Competition THRIVE provides a wonderful opportunity to highlight the diversity of our business community and gives our newest New Yorkers a chance to receive the assistance they need to realize their dreams of entrepreneurship."
"All five finalists in the THRIVE competition have proven track records of working closely with immigrant entrepreneurs," said NYC Council Member and Immigration Committee Chairperson Daniel Dromm. "The money these organizations will receive as THRIVE competition finalists will enable them to expand much needed services to our immigrant business communities. These services include helping immigrant businesses obtain increased access to credit, which from my experience is perhaps one of the greatest needs of this community."
"Immigrant communities throughout the five boroughs are a great source of innovation and an essential part of the City's economy," said Council Member Diana Reyna, Chair of the Committee on Small Business. "As a daughter of an immigrant entrepreneur, I am excited that my colleagues working with the administration have developed a plan to foster and encourage entrepreneurship - reaching out to community groups. New York City is home to 3 million foreign-born individuals, representing 36% of the City's population and 43% of the City's workforce. The importance of investing in projects that put New Yorkers back to work cannot be overstated."
Among the finalists, ACCION USA's program will address some of the key obstacles faced by immigrant entrepreneurs attempting to access credit in order to grow their business. ACCION USA will partner with immigrant focused community-based organizations throughout the City, and provide these organizations with ACCION's free, web-based loan application, a dedicated ACCION USA staff member, training, and on-going support, so that these organizations can provide credit services to their constituents. During the initial pilot period, ACCION USA expects to identify and train community partners. The community partners will help increase the efficiency of ACCION's current program, and during the last two months of the pilot program, they plan to disburse at least six loans.
"We applaud this unique effort to scale access to capital to the most entrepreneurial and job-creating segment of our economy-immigrant entrepreneurs," said CEO of ACCION USA Paul Quintero. "THRIVE's focus on their vitality and growth is a clarion call to the nation that supporting immigrant entrepreneurs should be a larger part of the economic development toolkit."
The BOC Network will utilize Competition THRIVE pilot funds to introduce a new online business resource and lending platform for their existing network of business counselors, lending service representatives, and other service providers. This will make the network's resources and expertise instantly available to BOC Network's direct service staff. This new platform will be introduced concurrent with the expansion of staff capacity to interact with African communities in Central Brooklyn and Hispanic communities in Northeast Queens.
"We at BOC Network are thrilled to be included among the Competition THRIVE finalists, and to participate in this progressive effort to promote the success of immigrant entrepreneurs," said Executive Director of BOC Network Nancy Carin. "Competition THRIVE support promises to make a lasting impact on our organization. We are looking forward to engaging in a collaborative planning and development process aimed at scaling up business assistance and lending services that are indispensible to the growth of immigrant businesses in New York City."
MRNY plans to create a three-tiered program to address core challenges faced by immigrant-owned small businesses in Jackson Heights, Queens; Bushwick, Brooklyn; and Port Richmond, Staten Island. Tier I will include workshops in core small business operation areas, targeted toward businesses with limited formal education. Additionally, MRNY will form a group of "roving educators" tasked with visiting businesses periodically to provide up-to-date information and gather feedback on emerging training and needs. These educators plan to reach owners that fall out of traditional business support services due to the constraints of day-to-day operations. For Tier II, MRNY will work with a subset of Tier I businesses to train and provide technical assistance around a range of areas that will identify these businesses as socially responsible. These include: running a healthy/safe work environment; responsible implementation of wage and hour laws; and engaging in neighborhood revitalization efforts. For Tier III, MRNY will convene a group of Tier I and II businesses to implement ways of collaboration to increase business and savings. This coalition will develop collective purchasing, collaborative ad campaigns, and other community engagement initiatives.
"Immigrant entrepreneurs, along with immigrant workers, are the vital heart of so many NY communities, and MRNY is thrilled to participate in EDC's innovative initiative to help get them the support they need to thrive," said Co-Executive Director of MRNY Andrew Friedman.
QEDC's program will address challenges faced by the City's Chinese community in becoming Home Improvement Contractors licensed by the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs. Assistance will be provided in the form of training by a qualified instructor prior to taking the licensing exam. The training course will be accompanied by one-on-one business advisory services in the trainee's native language, including consultation with marketing and business development experts. The program will give immigrant entrepreneurs the opportunity to go from working in an unlicensed, underpaid, and uninsured environment, to legitimizing and formalizing their business for larger growth opportunities.
"The mission of the QEDC is to create and retain jobs," said Executive Director of QEDC Seth Bornstein. "The focus of this program will be to help entrepreneurs become licensed, take on bigger projects and as a result hire more people."
WHIDC plans to use Competition THRIVE pilot funding to expand their childcare business development program, which already provides a 22-session Spanish-language classroom training seminar to assist home and center-based childcare providers. The programs focus on financial literacy, marketing skills, and assistance in securing small start-up grants and loans. The program has already proven successful, completing 15 cycles and graduating 234 providers over the past 6 years. WHIDC plans to double their current capacity by hiring an additional course director, and by expanding into Harlem, with courses for Caribbean and African immigrants.
"We are very pleased and honored to receive this award," said Executive Director of WHIDC Dennis Reader. "We look forward to the challenge of increasing our communities' immigrants ability to create jobs and livelihoods for themselves and others in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx."
Competition THRIVE was one of three new initiatives announced in March 2011 by Mayor Bloomberg to support immigrant-owned businesses to start, operate, and expand their businesses in New York City. The other two initiatives, also being implemented this year, include a new pilot series of free NYC Business Solutions courses in Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Russian, and Haitian Creole; and a business expo, to be held on October 24, to showcase locally-based immigrant food manufacturing businesses and link them to customers nationwide. The initiatives were the result of a year-long series of roundtables with community groups and are part of the City's agenda to support immigrant communities and empower them to grow and create jobs.
So far this year, NYC Business Solutions courses have been offered in Spanish, Russian, and Haitian Creole in both Brooklyn and Queens. Each course was attended by nearly 20 people. Courses in Chinese and Korean are planned to be offered before the end of the year. In total, approximately 10 NYC Business Solutions courses will be offered in five non-English languages across all five boroughs.
The food manufacturing expo will convene approximately 50 immigrant food manufacturers. All attendees will be able to network with buyers, distributors, suppliers, and industry experts; and receive technical assistance from professionals in the field. There will also be a competition, with a select group of attendees winning an invitation to participate in the National Association of Specialty Food Trade Fancy Food Show, in summer 2012, in a booth subsidized by NYCEDC. Over 19,000 New Yorkers work in over 900 food manufacturing firms, and about 70 percent of those working within the food manufacturing industry are foreign-born.
New York City's immigrant population has more than doubled since 1970 - from roughly 1.4 million to 3 million - and immigrants now represent nearly 40 percent of the City's population and 43 percent of the City's labor force. Immigrants are a significant and important piece of the City's entrepreneurial economy: Immigrants make up 49 percent of all self-employed workers in the City compared to 25 percent in New York State and only 12 percent in the U.S.
About NYCEDC
New York City Economic Development Corporation is the City's primary vehicle for promoting economic growth in each of the five boroughs. NYCEDC's mission is to stimulate growth through expansion and redevelopment programs that encourage investment, generate prosperity and strengthen the City's competitive position. NYCEDC serves as an advocate to the business community by building relationships with companies that allow them to take advantage of New York City's many opportunities. Find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, or visit our blog to learn more about NYCEDC projects and initiatives.
About Deutsche Bank
Deutsche Bank is a leading global investment bank with a strong private clients franchise. A leader in Germany and Europe, the bank is continuously growing in North America, Asia and key emerging markets. With more than 100,000 employees in 74 countries, Deutsche Bank competes to be the leading global provider of financial solutions, creating lasting value for its clients, shareholders, people and the communities in which it operates.
The Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation administers the philanthropic activities of Deutsche Bank within the United States, Latin America and Canada. Together, the Bank's Community Development Group and Foundation carry out the firm's corporate social responsibility commitments through a program of loans, investments and grants. Based in New York City, where the majority of grants are awarded, the Foundation supports nonprofit organizations that concentrate on community development, education, and the arts.