It seems that Queens’ cache continues to rise.
Hot on the heels of its most recent honor as a top travel destination, a report this month by Popular Mechanics magazine named the borough one of the best startup cities in America for aspiring entrepreneurs.
The piece cited numerous factors, including cheaper rents compared to trendy Manhattan and Brooklyn, as well as new support for entrepreneurs, such as the Coalition for Queens, a nonprofit that helps attract, grow and retain local technology startups.
“Put simply, Queens is a great place to start a business,” said Rob MacKay, a spokesperson for the Queens Economic Development Corporation. “Some of the converted warehouses and factories in Long Island City are now great office space, and an entire ecosystem has developed over the past decade with great restaurants and an effective [business improvement district].”
MacKay noted that still other neighborhoods offer different amenities, including proximity to major highways and airports. “And, because we are in such a dynamic, diverse county, there is a market for just about everything,” MacKay noted.
In addition, the START-UP NY initiative, launched last year by Gov. Andrew Cuomo and supported by Mayor Bill de Blasio, has helped by creating tax-free zones to attract and grow new businesses in Queens, as well as across the state.
For example, under the program, which partners businesses with higher-education institutions, and the State University of New York system, participating companies pay no taxes—income, state or local—for 10 years on eligible campuses and spaces.
Last year, Cuomo designated the area around York College in Jamaica as a tax-free zone to help bring new businesses and jobs to the area.
And elsewhere in the borough, startups have been flourishing.
“Queens has proven a great place to start a business,” said Adam Belanich, co-founder of Joyride Coffee, a specialty coffee distributor based in Woodside. “The rents are affordable, we have great access to transportation and it’s safe.”
Belanich added that the borough has an “indescribable bustle that is very different from Manhattan, but which is just as vibrant.”
For Priska Diaz, the founder of Corona-based Bittlylab LLC, a company that designs and manufactures air-free baby bottles to help prevent gas in babies, Queens was a natural location for the Peruvian immigrant to live and set-up shop.
“I designed the unique baby bottle from my kitchen table in Corona, then created a hand- made prototype and started the research and development for mass production,” Diaz said.
She is now working on getting national distribution for her baby bottles in big-box retailers such as Babies R Us and BuyBuy Baby.
Sunnyside-based entrepreneur Josh Springer, founder of Northside Web Services, providing web development and social-media services to small businesses in and around New York City, said he has The World’s Borough to thank for his business’ growth.
“Queens has so many resources that have been a huge benefit to me,” said Springer, whose business was featured in a New York Times article on entrepreneurs last year.
“The various Chambers of Commerce, for example, gave me big networking opportunities that led to speaking opportunities and new clients to help get my business off the ground.”
By Alan Krawitz
