Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Quinn, and NYCEDC President Pinsky attended the first ever City-sponsored food manufacturer business expo and networking event where more than 100 New York City-based immigrant food manufacturing businesses connected with brokers, buyers and wholesalers from the food industry. The expo also marked the beginning of a competition for immigrant entrepreneurs to participate in an international trade show. The competition is open to New York City-based immigrant food manufacturers, with four companies to win a booth sponsored by NYCEDC in the National Association of Specialty Food Trade Summer Fancy Food Show, in June 2012, in Washington DC. The international show is expected to attract more than 15,000 buyers from around the world to source products for their stores and restaurants for the year to come.

"When immigrants come to New York City, they enrich our culture and our communities—but they also build our economy," said Mayor Bloomberg. "Entrepreneurs from around the world come here to start businesses and create jobs, and we must do everything we can to support their quest to build better lives. Food manufacturing is a growing sector of the City's economy, and today's expo will further strengthen the connections between the established industry and new start-ups."

Learn more about NYCEDC's initiatives to support immigrant entrepreneurs in NYC.

Photo courtesy of NYC Mayor's Office/Edward Reed