BEDC AND ICIC TO CONDUCT
COMPREHENSIVE STUDY OF THE BROOKLYN ECONOMY

BROOKLYN, NY, October 17, 2003 -The U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development David A. Sampson announced October 16 a $275,000 Economic Development Administration (EDA) investment in Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation (BEDC) and Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) to help develop a comprehensive, cluster-based economic development plan for Brooklyn.

“The project we recognize here today, the Initiative for a Competitive Brooklyn, is an example of what can be done when a community has the leadership and vision to develop and implement a new strategy to make Brooklyn even stronger,” Dr. Sampson said during a reception at the SUNY Downstate Advanced Biotechnology Incubator hosted by Dr. John C. LaRosa, president of SUNY Downstate.

“President Bush believes one way to create jobs is to grow the economy by encouraging investments in local communities,” Dr. Sampson continued. “The cluster analysis will reveal the competitive advantages that Brooklyn offers businesses, disclosing sectors of the economy in which Brooklyn can best compete. Strengthening industrial clusters will help Brooklyn attract private sector investment and create higher-skill, higher-wage job opportunities for local citizens.”

Dr. Sampson praised the private sector for matching the EDA grant with private funds. The project has received contributions or pledges from Fleet Bank, JP Morgan Chase, Deutsche Bank, Independence Community Foundation, Citibank, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Local Initiative Support Corporation (LISC), and HSBC Bank.

The afternoon reception was highlighted by Dr. Sampson presenting an enlarged $275,000 check to Joan Bartolomeo, president of BEDC, Andrew Alper, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, and local elected officials or their representatives including State Sen. Carl Andrews, Assemblyman Clarence Norman, Assemblyman William F. Boyland, Jr., City Council Member Tracy Boyland, Una Clarke representing Gov. George Pataki, and representatives from the offices of the Brooklyn Borough President, U.S. Representatives Jerry Nadler, Nydia M. Velazquez, and Major Owens. Earlier in the day at the Inner City Economic Forum, a conference held in Manhattan, the check was presented to Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Rob Walsh, Commissioner of the Department of Small Business Services, Ms. Bartolomeo, and Dr. Michael Porter, founder of ICIC.

Dr. Sampson’s stop at the SUNY Downstate Advanced Biotechnology Incubator was part of a tour of Brooklyn economic development sites that have benefited from EDA funding. Other stops on the tour included the Greenpoint Manufacturing & Design Center, Brooklyn Navy Yard, and Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project.

Borough President Markowitz will chair the Initiative for a Competitive Brooklyn, and Stanley Brezenoff, President and CEO of Continuum Health Partners, Inc., will serve as the project’s president.

“I am thrilled to announce the Initiative for a Competitive Brooklyn,” Borough President Markowitz said. “Everyone knows Brooklyn is the place for arts, culture, ideas and people. But with the help of ICIC, we will show the world that Brooklyn is also the place to do business. By analyzing our strengths and focusing our efforts on them, we will create more jobs for Brooklynites and make more money for investors smart enough to put their money in Brooklyn.”

“The Initiative for a Competitive Brooklyn will provide an in-depth analysis of market and labor force trends in the borough and of the regional, national, and international forces that drive them,” Ms. Bartolomeo said. “The goal of this project is to create a plan for the future that identifies ways to increase the productivity and competitiveness of the Brooklyn business base so that firms in the borough can offer better, higher paying jobs.”

Using various data sources, the project will identify the dominant clusters in Brooklyn by using cluster models developed by Dr. Porter, a Harvard Business School Professor who founded ICIC, a national, non-partisan, nonprofit organization, in 1994. An example of an economic cluster for a bakery would include the suppliers of flour, pans, and ovens, the trucks that transport the baked goods, and stores that sell them.

BEDC, a private, nonprofit organization, was established in 1979 to stimulate Brooklyn's economy and create job opportunities for the borough and its residents. BEDC has evolved into a multi-service, business-consulting agency, serving more than 1,000 clients annually and offering comprehensive economic development services. More information is available at www.bedc.org.

ICIC's mission is to spark new thinking about the business potential of inner cities, thereby creating jobs and wealth for inner-city residents. ICIC believes that a sustainable inner city economic base will depend on private, for-profit business development and investments based on economic self-interest and genuine competitive advantage. ICIC leverages private-sector resources through a new concept of corporate philanthropy that emphasizes business-to-business relationships. More information about ICIC is available at www.icic.org.

EDA serves as a venture capital resource to meet the economic development needs of distressed communities throughout the United States. EDA partners with states, units of local government and community nonprofit organizations in economically distressed areas, regions and communities in order to alleviate conditions of poverty and substantial and persistent unemployment and underemployment. Additional information on how EDA investments are helping distressed communities create a positive and sustainable economic future is available at http://www.doc.gov/eda.

Photo caption: U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development David A. Sampson presents an enlarged $275,000 check to Joan Bartolomeo, president of BEDC, which was selected with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) to help develop a comprehensive, cluster-based economic development plan for Brooklyn. Also pictured: Andrew Alper, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Dr. John C. LaRosa, president of SUNY Downstate, and local elected officials or their representatives including State Sen. Carl Andrews, Assemblyman Clarence Norman, Assemblyman William F. Boyland, Jr., City Council Member Tracy Boyland, Una Clarke representing Gov. George Pataki, and representatives from the offices of the Brooklyn Borough President, U.S. Representatives Jerry Nadler, Nydia M. Velazquez, and Major Owens.