More than 100 business owners from throughout the borough met with Queens Borough President Melinda Katz last week. Photo courtesy Queens Borough President’s office
Borough President Melinda Katz announced last week that she is forming an economic development advisory council, which will aim to support and encourage the small businesses that Katz has called the backbone of Queens’ economy.
Katz unveiled the initiative at a “meet and greet” event with more than 100 small business owners at Borough Hall, during which time she shared ideas on how to promote economic growth in Queens.
Some of those attending the event, which included leaders of merchant associations, local development corporations and business improvement districts, may be asked to join the council, which will advise Katz as she crafts a boroughwide economic master plan for Queens.
“It is my firm belief that all Queens residents should be able to find employment without having to cross a bridge or go through a tunnel, so I am very happy to be able to work with our borough’s small business community to spur job growth in Queens,” Katz said. “I welcome the input that small business owners have provided me about their challenges and success stories. Small businesses are the bedrock of our borough’s economy. I am committed to supporting them, and their experiences will serve as a guide to my efforts to unlock our borough’s economic potential and achieve greater prosperity for all of our residents.”
The business owners and the borough president discussed a wide variety of topics, and Katz stressed she believed that a focus on real estate development projects will help maximize job creation for Queens residents. She added that she aims to use project labor agreements and job fairs to make sure the employment produced by these development projects goes to residents of the communities where they are being built.
Additionally, Katz said she hopes to grow the economy by expanding transportation and noted she is working with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to establish bus routes that will connect the borough’s tech businesses and industrial zones. She also said she is committed to making ferry service to and from the Rockaways permanent.
As she spoke about during her campaign for borough president, Katz said she hopes to work with the borough’s cultural institutions to market lesser known attractions to those who know Queens primarily because they, for example, attend Mets games, the Resorts World Casino in South Ozone Park, or the PS 1 art museum in Long Island City.
By Anna Gustafson
