The history of New York City is interwoven with the growth and development of Lower Manhattan. Here, merchants landed from abroad bringing with them wares to spur a new economy. Here, traders gathered beneath a cherry tree to swap goods – actions that would lead to the establishment of a stock market. More recently, $30 billion in infrastructure investment has attracted a new type of merchant – harnessing intellectual capital and creative ingenuity – and brought thousands of new residents and businesses to Lower Manhattan.

Watch this video and hear from Take the H.E.L.M 1.0 finalists what Lower Manhattan means to them.

Take the H.E.L.M. 1.0

About the Competition - Take the H.E.L.M. 2.0

To encourage the continued growth of Lower Manhattan, Take the HELM will award four $250,000 cash grants and four $50,000 cash grants to the following types of companies, in particular:

• Creative – If you’re a creative company, Take the HELM wants to reward you for joining Condé Nast, SHoP Architects, American Media, Rock Shrimp Productions, Flatiron School and XO Group in Lower Manhattan.
• Tech – If you’re a technology company, Take the HELM wants to welcome you to join Control Group, STELLAService, and Booker in a neighborhood that has nearly doubled its tech presence in the last five years.
• New New Yorkers – If you’re a company from outside New York City, Take the HELM will help you establish roots in Lower Manhattan and continue the neighborhood’s appeal to the world’s best and brightest.
• Startups – If you’re a startup less than three years old, Take the HELM will help you build an office and connect you with the neighborhood’s burgeoning startup community.  

The Take the HELM Competition seeks up to 20 finalists that best meet the goals of the competition and seek to open an office in Lower Manhattan. Finalists will receive a $10,000 cash grant, an opportunity to interview with the distinguished Take the HELM Selection Committee, and will participated in exclusive business development programs in Lower Manhattan.

At least one $250,000 prize will be reserved for startup applicants and one will be prioritized for a company that is new to New York.  The winners will be announced in November 2013.

Take the H.E.L.M. 1.0 Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the first Take the H.E.L.M.: Hire + Expand in Lower Manhattan competition: Booker, STELLAService, Grapeshot, Paperless Post and The Flatiron School. The finalists were broken into five separate tracks: creative companies, technology companies, startups less than three years old, companies new to New York and companies currently in Lower Manhattan looking to expand in the area. Below the winners are listed within the track they competed.

• Expanding in Lower Manhattan: Booker enables service businesses to streamline operations and maximize their revenues on a unified, cloud-based platform.
• Startups Track: Moving to Lower Manhattan from the Flatiron District, STELLAService objectively measures and rates the service quality of thousands of online retailers, helping consumers make more informed buying decisions and helping businesses benchmark and improve the end-to-end customer experience.
• New to New York Track: Coming to New York from Cambridge, England, Grapeshot analyzes webpages to create keyword profiles based on probabilistic algorithms, for content recommendation and contextual advertising.
• Technology Track: Leaving their current location on West 25th Street in Manhattan, Paperless Post will help users create custom online and paper stationery through elegant technologies and powerful design. Users pay Paperless Post directly for a product they love and trust for milestone events like weddings and holidays.
• Creative Track: Moving from West 26th Street in Manhattan, The Flatiron School gives passionate people the skills they need to become software developers, and helps them get jobs at fast growing technology companies in New York City.

Take the H.E.L.M. 1.0 Finalists

Meet the Finalists

Each finalist produced a 90-second video promoting their company, their commitment to the goals of the competition, and why they want to be in Lower Manhattan. Finalists all received a $10,000 cash grant for participating in the competition.

About the Finalists

The nineteen finalists in the five tracks were: