BROOKLYN CHAMBER TO LAUNCH BROOKLYN MADE CERTIFICATION AT BROOKLYN EATS
Defining What Counts as "Brooklyn Made"
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce will be unveiling its new Brooklyn Made certification program this Friday at Brooklyn Eats, the Chamber's food and beverage trade show taking place at 630 Flushing Avenue. The certification program, which began as an initiative of the Chamber to promote locally manufactured goods, comes on the heels of a nine-month research effort through the NYU Wagner Capstone Program.
"The Food and Beverage industry is a growing, thriving sector in Brooklyn, accounting for 27% of all manufacturing in the borough," said Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Carlo A. Scissura. "What better place to launch the Brooklyn Made program than at the hottest food and beverage show in New York City, where our authentic producers showcase the Brooklyn brand to exclusive buyers and the food-loving public."
As baseline criteria, only legal businesses headquartered in Brooklyn making one or more physical products will be considered. From there, the points-based system will evaluate a range of manufacturing activities, taking into account criteria such as share of total employees located in Brooklyn, location of product assembly, where design and development takes place, and other important factors.
Interested businesses can apply by completing an online application, which can be found on the Chamber's website. An independent advisory board, consisting of Brooklyn-based manufacturing stakeholders, will review applications on a quarterly basis. There will be a $50 one-time fee for non-members, and $25 fee for member businesses. The fee will be waived for those who choose to apply at Brooklyn Eats, which will take place on Friday, June 27 at 630 Flushing Avenue.
"Brooklyn is a growing brand that the whole world wants to get in on, from Dutch coffee shops, to Swedish vodka companies, to Midwestern parents choosing baby names," said Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Carlo A. Scissura. "Brooklyn stands for authentic local craftsmanship, and when you see the Brooklyn Made label, you know that's what you are getting. There are a lot of pretenders, and we want to make sure we protect the real deal makers who are getting it done here in the coolest city on the planet."
"Brooklyn's history and its future are tied to our manufacturing and industrial sectors. The Brooklyn Made program recognizes the responsibility we have to protect our businesses from imposters trying to capitalize on the honest efforts of those who have contributed to Brooklyn's culture and economy," said Chamber of Commerce Board Chair Denise Arbesu. "It's wonderful that Brooklyn has been recognized as such a leader in innovation and creativity. No doubt, the entire Brooklyn brand has become hot and desirable. The Brooklyn Made label is a great way for our consumers to identify products that are made here and for all of Brooklyn to be proud of what we are producing."
The Brooklyn Made program was made possible in large part to a team of NYU Wagner students as part of their capstone program. Their full report is available on the Chamber's website at www.ibrooklyn.com.
"The 'Brooklyn Made' certification program exemplifies the impact of the NYU Wagner Capstone program," said Sherry Glied, Dean of New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service. "In this case, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce approached us to help create an official certification program that producers could use to promote themselves as authentically 'Made in Brooklyn.' A team of NYU Wagner students developed a solution that benefits communities across Brooklyn and NYC as a whole."
Chamber Member Gaia DiLoreto served as an advisor on Brooklyn Made throughout the process. As the owner of By Brooklyn, Located at 261 Smith Street, DiLoreto sells only Brooklyn-made products.
"The mission of By Brooklyn is to promote and protect the Brooklyn brand so I'm excited that the Chamber of Commerce is taking that effort to the next level," said DiLoreto, "I will encourage all of my vendors to submit for Brooklyn Made certification and I will look for it from future vendors as well."
Ed Mafoud of Damascus Bakeries, located at 50 Gold Street, is one of the 90 food and beverage makers taking part in Brooklyn Eats this Friday and was a recipient of one of the Chamber's inaugural Made in Brooklyn awards at its annual meeting last year.
"There are 84 years of Brooklyn cruising through our veins. My grandfather started Damascus Bakery in 1930 in Brooklyn because he believed in Brooklyn and the promise of the Present and the Future," said Mafoud. "My Brother David and I hold the same passion for Brooklyn today as well as tomorrow!"
The logo that will make it easy for consumers to see what truly counts as "Brooklyn Made," were designed by Hannah Trimble of Trimble Racing, Brooklynite and Brooklyn Chamber Member since February 2012
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and NYBDC Celebrate One Year Anniversary of the Brooklyn Fund
When New York Business Development Corporation (NYBDC) was looking to take its mission to extend credit that would not otherwise be available to small businesses to the next level, they partnered with the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. One year later, the Chamber and NYBDC have closed on over $1 million in loans to Brooklyn based small businesses through The Brooklyn Fund.
“Several of our bankers are long standing members of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and attend [the Chamber’s] events,” said Hosheus (OC) Isaac, Vice President at NYBDC. “We‘ve always held the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce in high regard as one of the premier Chambers in our nation.”
NYBDC works in partnership with banks to provide term loans, many of which do not meet the requirements for traditional financing. Their goal is to promote economic activity and prosperity in New York, by providing loans to small businesses including start-up, early stage and mature businesses with a particular emphasis on minority and women owned businesses.
The Chamber created The Brooklyn Fund in partnership with NYBDC to provide Brooklyn-based small business owners with access to business loans to help promote growth and expansion. The Fund was created with a particular focus on Immigrant and Veteran Owned small business in Brooklyn. This May, the Brooklyn Fund celebrated its one year anniversary.
“We saw the Chamber’s commitment to small businesses and the close relationships these Brooklyn entrepreneurs had with the Chamber’s staff, said Isaac. “We thought a formalized partnership will take our ability to deploy capital to Brooklyn based small businesses to the next level - which it has.”
Chamber staff operating the NYC Business Solutions Center in Brooklyn have been able to make connections between small businesses in need of financing, and the Fund, which offers small dollar loans up to $350,000 backed by U.S. government guarantees through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Community Advantage and Small Loan Advantage Program.
“Nobody knows business in Brooklyn better than we do,” said Chamber President and CEO Carlo A. Scissura. “The partnership between the Business Solutions Center, which we operate, and NYBDC builds on our unique access to the business community, and gives us a greater ability to promote economic activity throughout the borough.”
So far the partnership has been a remarkable success. Business Solutions staff have closed over a million dollars in loans to small businesses, with even more on the way.
The success of the Brooklyn Fund has inspired both the Chamber and NYBDC to look for new ways to provide financial assistance to promote the growth and expansion of Brooklyn’s businesses.
“It allows us to consider other targeted lending opportunities in the future,” said Isaac.
Catholic Guild for the Blind finds success in Coney Island
The Catholic Guild for the Blind not only provides training and rehabilitation services for visually impaired individuals throughout the five boroughs, Nassau and Suffolk Counties, but offers free Employment Services to employers and individuals. Anthony Severo, a Chamber member who works with the group to promote employment opportunities for the visually impaired attended a Chamber Visits event, several organizations benefited.
Here’s how it happened:
Rose is the Manager of Partnerships & Acquisitions Community Media for BRICMediaArts, who was interested in my discussion about visually impaired clients I represent and low and high-tech assertive technology that enable visually impaired individuals that most fully sighted people are oblivious to.
We started to talk about publicizing the challenges that visually impaired individuals have when seeking employment due to preconceived ideas, fears and ignorance on the part of employers.
That conversation and a subsequent back and forth about the Catholic Guild helps facilitate employment for the visually impaired, led me to Natasha Gaspard, a producer for BKLIve, who asked me to appear on one of their shows. On January 22 I appeared on a segment demonstrating the technology and the challenges faced by visually impaired job seekers.
I was able to continue the Catholic Guild’s mission a few weeks later when I found out about a grant that BRIC was offering for Brooklyn based non-profits where they would assist the organization in video development. The Catholic Guild not being based in Brooklyn was not eligible to participate, but rather than let the opportunity go to waste I forwarded the e-mail to other non-profit Chamber members.
Deborah Rodriguez who is Co-Chair of the Chamber’s Ambassador Committee, as well as Director of Development of Helen Keller Services for the Blind adroitly responded to BRIC’s request and got the grant.
One conversation led to rewards for three members, proof the Chamber’s events are powerful platforms for organizations to connect and partner for mutual benefits.
The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, in conjunction with Brooklyn-based technology company BlankSlate, today unveiled Explore Brooklyn (ExploreBK.com), the borough’s first official tourism website. The announcement was made at BKLYN DESIGNS, an annual exhibition of Brooklyn designers in DUMBO, sponsored by the Chamber.
Each year Brooklyn lures millions of visitors. ExploreBK.com will be their one-stop-shop website to find the best places to eat, stay, shop and play.
“Brooklyn has everything a global city can offer- theatres, beaches, amusement parks, bars, restaurants, hotels, parks, beautiful architecture, and a great community of 2.6 million of the most diverse neighbors you will find anywhere,” said Chamber President and CEO Carlo A. Scissura. “ExploreBK is going to take all those great things that make us the coolest city in the world, and put them into a simple easy to use guide for residents and tourists to move beyond the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge and really explore Brooklyn. Our partners at BlankSlate have done an incredible job taking this idea and helping to make it a reality.”
Based on a brand-new tourism solution developed by BlankSlate to premiere with the site, Explore Brooklyn is designed to help New Yorkers and visitors find the best of Brooklyn all in one place, while giving local businesses and attractions an easy-to-use tool to promote themselves in a seamless social environment. The site is optimized for desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, and includes Brooklyn-centered editorial content written by some of the best bloggers in Brooklyn, a robust events calendar, and visually striking neighborhood pages.
The central feature of the site, however, is a searchable directory of every business, restaurant, park, and point of interest in Brooklyn. This directory is populated by content from BlankSlate’s new local marketing solution, BlankSlate Pages. “Pages” dynamically gathers content about each business from Facebook, Google, Twitter, Foursquare, and many other sources around the web to create ready-made profiles that can then be customized by the business owner. Businesses and attractions on Explore Brooklyn can curate and showcase user reviews, maps, menus, photos, social network feeds, store hours, and more. Various marketing opportunities are also available to increase exposure.
“We see Pages as a way to unify the local experience for consumers, businesses, and destinations through mapping everything in their local world,” said Kael Goodman, CEO of BlankSlate. “Whereas traditional tourism content can be somewhat static, Pages gives businesses, restaurants, hotels, and local governments a way to keep their content up to date, and will give visitors to ExploreBK.com an informative, immersive Brooklyn experience like never before. We are excited to have ExploreBK as the inaugural site for BlankSlate Pages.”
Explore Brooklyn is seen by BlankSlate as a tourism solution that can be used in large, mid-size, and small markets.
