NY State Assembly Announces $11.5M for Incubators in Brooklyn, Queens

More than $11 million in two New York State Assembly grants will support several new incubators for Brooklyn and Queens. The investments were recently announced by Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Assembly members representing the two boroughs.

A $4 million investment for the creation of a SUNY Downstate Advanced Biotechnology Incubator project aims to spur the development of a new cluster of biotechnology and medical technology companies in Brooklyn. The project will provide affordable space, services and access to resources essential to start-up companies engaged in the commercialization of technologies developed at SUNY Downstate, as well as to other biotechnology and medical start-ups and early stage companies.

Once completed, the Advanced Biotechnology Incubator will accommodate approximately 32 new start-up companies that are expected to create an initial 200 jobs, with an estimated 400 new jobs within five years.

The second grant, at $7.5 million, will allow the City University of New York (CUNY) to establish the first in a network of high-tech incubator facilities throughout New York City. Of the grant total, $5 million will be awarded for the expansion of a demonstration incubator at LaGuardia Community College to provide community-based entrepreneurs with low-cost, wired space, as well as administrative, legal, financial, managerial and funding support. The grant sets aside $2.5 million for the planning of three additional incubators in the near future that could be operational by the end of 2003.

Borough of Manhattan Community College will sponsor two of the planned incubators, while the Hostos Community College in the Bronx will host the third. A Lower Manhattan incubator will focus on the high-tech industry and allow for the revival of the New York Telemedia Accelerator, which was destroyed on September 11, 2001. A Harlem incubator will capitalize on the college's technology resources to nurture firms specializing in video gaming, interactive sports, web concerts and companies providing technical and support services for the entertainment industry, including production and design-related businesses.

The above facilities are expected to launch over 200 businesses and create more than 5,000 jobs over five years in the city's lowest income communities. Additional incubators are contemplated for City College (photonics), Hunter College (biotechnology), the College of Staten Island (polymer science) and the New York City College of Technology (information services and communications). More information is available at: http://assembly.state.ny.us/