Brooklyn Means Business
PicturePhoto credits: Eva Bronzini May is Small Business Month, a time to celebrate and support the entrepreneurs who power our local economy. Brooklyn is home to over 70,000 small businesses, and its entrepreneurs have weathered crisis after crisis over the last 25 years—from the panic of 9/11, transit strikes, blackouts, the Great Recession, Hurricane Sandy, the COVID-19 pandemic, and, always, the unrelenting reality that the rent is too damn high.Now, new challenges are adding to the weight: federal tariffs, threats to CDFI (Community Development Financial Institution) funding,…
PowerUP! to the People
In 2003, the PowerUP! Business Plan Competition launched to support and grow Brooklyn's entrepreneurial spirit and small businesses. Since then, PowerUP! has nurtured 9,000+individuals with 1,200+business plans and awarded more than $500,000 to Brooklyn entrepreneurs. Some of our most notable success stories are the Bogota Latin Bistro, Greenlight Bookstore and Island Pops. Although the pandemic brought many challenges to Brooklyn neighborhoods, and to our city as a whole, PowerUP! continues to be an exciting presence and program supporting local business startups. …