"We have experienced explosive growth and found the talent, support, and infrastructure we were searching for right here in New York City."

Barry Silbert, Founder and CEO, SecondMarket

Business Need

As a start-up financial services and technology company, SecondMarket sought a location where it could establish its headquarters and expand its business. The company serves as a marketplace for hard-to-trade financial assets and is the largest transparent, centralized platform to buy and sell these products. In its infancy, SecondMarket was utilizing five employees, basic email, and Excel spreadsheets to complete its transactions. Within a few years the company exploded to 135 employees and 14,000 buyers and sellers on its platform. To meet the new demand, SecondMarket needed to find strong talent, solid infrastructure, and resources to build up its technology and create a user-friendly, highly secure trading platform.

Solution

NYCEDC facilitated SecondMarket’s application to the WTC Job Creation and Retention Program, which provides City and State funding to eligible companies committed to creating a minimum of 75 new jobs in Lower Manhattan, as well as to employers committed to retaining at least 200 Lower Manhattan jobs. SecondMarket fit the requirements of being a new company willing to relocate to Lower Manhattan and pledged to create more than 300 new jobs over the next four years. In August 2009, NYCEDC awarded a $1.2 million grant to help expand SecondMarket, allowing it to invest in its talent and infrastructure.

As a response to the economic downturn, NYCEDC helped expand the Job Creation and Retention Program to target $30 million in unused funds to reinforce Lower Manhattan’s position as the heart of the financial services industry, attract smaller, innovative financial services firms, and create new employment opportunities.