By Rebecca Henely
Mayor Michael Bloomberg visited Entrepreneur Space, a food-manufacturing, small business incubator in Long Island City, last Thursday and touted the jobs and enterprises that have sprung from this and the eight other city-sponsored start-up locations.
“This is the start of new businesses who will employ many others,” Bloomberg said.
The city has nine incubators geared toward helping start-up businesses by providing them with a temporary place to work, networking opportunities and other resources such as training and seminars.
The Long Island City incubator, called Entrepreneur Space at 36-46 37th St., was launched late last year by the Queens Economic Development Corp. with the help of a $170,000 grant from the city Economic Development Corp. It is managed by Katherine Gregory’s consulting firm, Mi Kitchen es su Kitchen.
Entrepreneur Space is 12,500 square feet and hosts 120 clients, or businesses, who make use of the incubator’s enormous kitchen and its offices, with the capacity to host more. There is also a classroom at the site. All food businesses have access to the kitchen, which is open to the business owners 24 hours a day. Along with East Harlem’s La Marqueta, it is one of two incubators to focus on food-related businesses.
Rob MacKay, director of public relations for QEDC said the wide variety of businesses hosted at the site include vegan gyros, designer chocolates, designer marshmallows, pies, Indian candies, appetizers with Mediterranean-style dips, granola and food to be served on airplanes.
“They make everything from soba to sauerkraut,” Bloomberg said.
QEDC Executive Director Seth Bornstein said businesses are offered six-month to one-year leases.
“We’re pretty flexible because every business is different,” Bornstein said.
Gregory, Bornstein, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn (D-Manhattan) and elected officials joined Bloomberg as he toured the kitchen, sampled some of the businesses’ wares and spoke to the owners.
“I am so pleased to be here to salute the people who make this possible,” U.S. Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-Astoria) said.
Quinn said that in addition to creating a place for businesses to grow, incubators also make good use out of unused manufacturing sites. Entrepreneur Space had been a place to train iron workers, Maloney said.
“They take spaces that people might want to get rid of,” Quinn said.
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside) said he was at the grand opening of the incubator, which featured a pie-cutting instead of a ribbon cutting.
“The food that is produced here is among the finest and the best-tasting you will find anywhere,” Van Bramer said.
Pilar DeGuzman, who owns Bonne Fete Baking Inc. and created the giant pie cut for the January grand opening, said the incubator has been a great resource, and at it she can always find someone to help her with any issues she faces.
“If I have a problem with marketing, someone’s there to help me. If I have a problem with operations, someone is there,” DeGuzman said.
Reach reporter Rebecca Henely by e-mail at rhenely@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4564.
