The City is partnering with academic institutions, commercial landlords and space operators to establish high-quality, ready-to-use office space that comes with basic business services and administrative support.   Currently, entrepreneurs can find affordable space solutions through the following partners:

• 160 Varick St Incubator
  Start-up companies will be able to sublease the space starting at $200 per person per month for six months with an option to renew. The space comes with basic business services (e.g. telephones, fax machines, copiers, shared conference rooms and shared kitchen areas) and networking and mentorship services, and will be able to accommodate 85-100 entrepreneurs.
• For more information please submit an inquiry on the incubator's intake page, or contact the director at the 160 Varick St incubator.
• In addition, the City is partnering with The Coalition of Office Space Providers (COSP),  able to accommodate over 1,000 entrepreneurs.  The space is offered at discounts of 10 to 50 percent, and offers basic business, networking and mentorship services.
• For more information and to find the site that is the best fit for your business, please see the website www.cospnyc.com.
• If you require further help, you can reach a member of COSP, Cheni Yerushalmi, at 212-624-5872 or cheni@sunshineny.com.
• The Office Business Center Association of New York (OBCANY), an award-winning association of independently owned and operated office full-service office suites, with over 30 years of experience in supporting entrepreneurs in the New York City market, has made available through the EDC, discounts off its members’ standard rates ranging from 10 - 50%.  In addition to offering well-appointed, fully-serviced private offices, each center has set aside special low cost alternatives, that includes support services, starting as low a $500 per month.
• OBCANY has initially committed over 250 desks for use by EDC-referred entrepreneurs at its upscale locations throughout the New York metropolitan area.
• Visit the OBCANY Website to pick the location that is right for your business - www.obcany.com

To date, through NYCEDC's various initiatives, over 2,000 desks have been identified and are being offered to New York City entrepreneurs at discounted rates starting at $180 per desk per month.

160 Varick Street

• November 2009: The incubator increased its capacity by 30 seats, bringing the total number of start-up companies leasing space to 33.
• July 2009:  The incubator officially launched and is fully operational. The space currently houses 23 local entrepreneurs from sectors ranging from financial services, digital media, clean technology, professional services and other related sectors. The incubator plans to be able to accommodate 85-100 businesses in the Fall.
• June 2009: First tenants are expected to move in shortly.
• May 2009: Furniture and space partitioning completed

 COSP

• August 2009: COSP launched the COSP Cutters Program that focuses on offering small business and entrepreneurs a first class benefit program to which they can save 10% - 80% on services such as health insurance, car rental, hotels, office supplies, financial services, legal services, gym membership, etc. To date, COSP Cutters has signed deals with companies like UPS, Beacon Financial, Edison Fast Parking, Manhattan Mini Storage and others to help small business save money. For more information please visit www.COSPcutters.com
• May 2009: COSP launched a dedicated website (www.COSPNYC.com). The website includes a full suite of tools to help entrepreneurs identify suitable affordable office space solutions.
• April 2009: total COSP membership reached 11 and total number of committed desks and offices is over 1000 across the City.
• April 22 2009: COSP successfully held a large-scale networking and informational session at Webster Hall during NYC Entrepreneur Week. Over 1,000 entrepreneurs, investors and other participants attended the event, many of whom were able to find space solutions that met their individual needs.  Please refer to www.BootUpNYC.com for more information on this and other upcoming events. 

OBCANY

• June 2009: NYCEDC has partnered with OBCANY to provide additional discounted space solutions  to entrepreneurs in NYC. For additional information on all offerings from OBCANY please visit www.obcany.com.

Additional Incubators

• November 2009: NYCEDC is reviewing proposals for additional space manager(s).
• October 2009: Responses to the RFP are due Friday October 2, after which NYCEDC will begin reviewing proposals. NYCEDC will select space manager(s) by December 2009.
• August 2009: Having identified through RFEI submissions several locations that could be used as incubators, NYCEDC issued a Request for Proposals (RFP)  to identify academic institutions, foundations, and other organizations to act as space managers, committing to run business incubators for New York City entrepreneurs at these properties for a period of at least three years.
• June 2009: To create additional business incubators, NYCEDC issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI) and identified 5  additional spaces throughout Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn that could be used as business incubators.

The City will create funds of approximately $9 - 10 million to make angel investments of $20,000 to $250,000 to New York City-based start-up companies.

• The Fund is expected to make first investments in the coming months.
• For more information please contact NYCEDC  (select "Domestic Business" in the subject field).

• November 2009: NYCEDC has selected FirstMark Capital, LLC as its private sector partner. Details on the Fund's application process will be posted soon.
• September 2009: NYCEDC is currently negotiating with several finalists with expectation to sign a term sheet with the winner by October 2009.
• June 2009: NYCEDC has selected several finalists and will enter into formal negotiations with them in the coming weeks
• May 2009: NYCEDC held interviews with prospective fund managers.
• April 2009: NYCEDC received and evaluated a number of proposals from potential private sector partners.

The City is launching several initiatives to help highly skilled talent find opportunities in key NYC sectors.

• JumpStart NYC, a job training and placement pilot program designed for workers laid off from the financial services sector looking for opportunities within New York City’s network of entrepreneurial businesses.
  • Created by NYCEDC and SUNY’s Levin Institute, JumpStart NYC offers an entrepreneurial “boot camp,” after which participants will be offered 10-week unpaid internships with start up companies with the potential to convert to full time employment at the end of the internship.
  • For more information, please visit JumpStart NYC .

• FastTrac, a business training program to help emerging entrepreneurs start new businesses and existing entrepreneurs run their businesses.  Operated by the Kauffman Foundation, the program will offer two courses:
• FastTrac Your Start-Up, a six-session classroom-based “crash course” that helps entrepreneurs determine the viability of their business concepts and develop start-up strategies for their businesses.
• FastTrac Your Business Strategy, an eight-session training course that will teach existing business owners how to review and reshape their business models in order to meet the current economic challenges.
• Applications are available at on the FastTrac website. More information can be found on the Small Business Services website.

JumpStart

• December 2009: Second series of the JumpStartNYC program launched by Levin Institute. Up to 50 fellows selected from over 100 applicants will attend the first module of the installment. The current class of fellows  brings on average 17 years of experience in the financial services sector and will supplement it with an intensive educational boot camp followed by hands-on work on one of the 60 projects lined up by start-up companies participating in the program.
• November 2009: Levin Graduate Institute has been selected to runt he next 6 installments of the expanded JumpStart NYC program during the next 18 months. Along with offering opportunities within the City's general entrepreneurship community, the expanded program will also offer modules specializing in the green finance and arts & not-for-profit sectors. The first class is scheduled to start on December 7, 2009.
• August 2009: NYCEDC is currently in the process of selecting an institution to scale up the program within next 12 months. The new program will cover Arts and Green sectors as well.
• July 2009: the program has graduated its first class and proved to be a success: over 50% of fellows continue their relationships with NYC-based entrepreneurial companies.
• May 2009: The first “boot-camp” class concluded with 100% placement for participants into New York City-based entrepreneurial companies
• April 13, 2009: program launched at Levin Institute - 49 fellows have been accepted to the pilot program out of 139 applicants; internship opportunities have been identified for all participants.

FastTrac

• June 2009: FastTrac has successfully administered several courses over the last month, educating hundreds of NYC entrepreneurs. To date, over 185 entrepreneurs have graduated the program, and over 250 participants registered for FastTrac courses. Class calendars and applications can be found on their website www.nyc.gov/fasttrac
• May 2009: Levin selected to administer the FastTrac program for the next year
• April 2009: NYCEDC received and evaluated a number of proposals from potential private sector partners.

The City will market and conduct an annual business plan competition with top business and engineering schools throughout the U.S., Europe, Asia and Latin America.

• Finalists will receive a free trip to New York City and the winning team will receive a $20,000 cash prize, and access to investors, entrepreneurs and the business community.
• Status and additional information:
  • Outreach for the competition will be completed by May 2009 and the final round of the competition will be held in NYC on January 4 – January 8, 2010.
  • Universities interested in participating should contact NYCEDC at NYCNextIdea09@nycedc.com.
  • More information can be found at nycedc.com/NYCNextIdea2009.

• July 2009: NYCEDC received executive summaries from participating universities across Asia, Latin America and Europe for the first round of the competition.  All teams were provided feedback forms with an assessment of their executive summaries.  Five teams were advanced to the next round.  These teams will submit full business plans by October 15, 2009.
• May 2009: 15 universities across Asia, Latin America, and Europe who are confirmed to participate in the competition.
• April 2009: Competition rules and regulations for round I was issued to participants.
• March 2009: NYC Next Idea 2009 was successfully launched on the 23rd.
• March 2009: Marketing material was distributed to students.
• More information can be found at nycedc.com/NYCNextIdea2009.

The City will create and manage a website that will serve as a central information portal and will include a comprehensive calendar of seminars and networking events, directory of existing real estate and funding venues, a discussion forum and other resources to help entrepreneurs succeed in NYC.

• NYCEDC will release a Request for Proposals from website developers in the second quarter of 2009. Information about the RFP will be available on our Request for Proposals page.
• If you have additional questions please contact NYCEDC  (please select "Domestic Business" in the subject field).

• November 2009: Pace University has been selected as the Consultant to assist NYCEDC conduct a discovery process to determine the web portal's content. An RFP for a web design and development firm to build the web portal is due on November 23, 2009.
• August 2009: NYCEDC has received and is currently reviewing proposals from a large number of companies to help develop a robust concept for the site. Upon selecting the thought partner, NYCEDC will RFP for the developer to execute it and then maintain and host the website
• June 2009: NYCEDC released an RFP to select a thought partner to help design and maintain the website once it is built.

In March, the City and State announced details on the redeployment of more than $30 million in Federal incentives to attract new financial services firms.

• In order to encourage the creation of new employment opportunities in smaller innovative financial services firms, the program will now support projects creating at least 75 new jobs.
• Participating companies will receive up to $4,000 for each new job created, with the exact amount based on the project’s economic impact on both the City and State and the firm’s demonstrated need for public funds. Grant recipients will commit to maintaining the newly created jobs for at least 10 years.

For more information, please see www.nycedc.com/jcrp.

• August 15 2009: NYC-based start-up, SecondMarket, Inc. and its affiliate, Pluris Valuation Advisors, qualified for a $1.2 million grant from the WTC Job Creation and Retention Program (JCRP) in exchange for creating up to 367 new jobs over the next four years in Lower Manhattan.
• May 14, 2009: Information session at ESDC for real estate brokers to promote the benefits to their clients.
• May 11, 2009: Information session held at NYCEDC for international chambers of commerce and commercial consulates to promote the program to international companies.
• March 2009: Changes to JCRP were approved by the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC)’s Board of Directors on and are anticipated to receive federal approval shortly. For more information, please refer to the press release.

• The City will work with established and emerging financial services utility companies to help them capture business in growing areas such as carbon trading and credit default swaps.
• The City will also seek out new utility firms and work with them to identify appropriate space for their operations and together with the State, will design the Lower Manhattan incentive program to target utility firms specifically.
• If you have any questions please contact NYCEDC (please select "Domestic Business" in the subject field), or visit our Financial Incentives page.

The City will conduct an international recruitment campaign focused on attracting retail banks, commercial banks and insurance companies headquartered in China, India and other developing financial markets.

The City has compiled an initial list of 25 firms to target.
The campaign will include in-person meetings starting with firms in Beijing, China in June 2009.
If you have any questions please contact NYCEDC (please select "Domestic Business" in the subject field).

• October 2009: NYCEDC is in the process of planning a recruitment trip to India in December 2009.
• June 2009: NYCEDC's Business Development Team went on a trip to Beijing, attending the International Institute of Finance conference and meeting with Chinese business leaders.

The City will create an ongoing Financial Services Advisory Committee to be led by Deputy Mayor Lieber that will meet monthly through 2009 to maintain a dialogue between City Hall and the industry.

The Committee will discuss industry developments and track the ongoing value and effectiveness of these and other initiatives.
If you have any questions please contact NYCEDC (please select "Domestic Business" in the subject field).

• August 2009: Archie Cox, the chairman of Barclays and Jim McDonald, CEO of Rockefeller & Co agreed to serve as Chairs of the Financial Services Committee; Venture Capital committee has also been formed, with Danny Schultz from DFJ Gotham as the Chair
• June 5, 2009: NYCEDC released a Request for Proposal for Knowledge Partners who will help administer and convene future public-private dialogues
• May 11, 2009: New York City Financial Services Advisory Board met with Deputy Mayor Bob Lieber and Congressman Meeks to discuss New York City's competitive position
• April 24, 2009: NYCEDC held a follow up event with financial institutions who advised on the City's FS Study
• March 31, 2009: NYCEDC held a Carbon Trading roundtable discussion
• February 2009: NYCEDC held public-private dialogue on the media sector, following the FS dialogue held on January 22, 2009

• August 2009: NYCEDC reviewed the potential implications of the carbon derivatives section of the forthcoming Waxman-Markey Bill
• June 2009: NYCEDC conducts on-going screening of proposed financial regulatory changes, and assesses their potential impact on New York City's competitiveness.