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Brooklyn Officials Try To Lure Tech Firms
by Liza Porteus
Brooklyn is trying to boost its image as an area high-tech companies can call home.
New York Democrat Edolphus Towns, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and ranking Democrat on its Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee, will mingle with members of the New York Software Industry Association and Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce June 4 to discuss several issues his committees have been addressing, according to a Town spokesman.
The topics for the meeting will include the research and development tax credit, high-speed Internet access, intellectual property, privacy and the "digital divide," among others. Towns also will address questions from tech businessmen "testing the water" of Brooklyn as a potential home. "I think he would love to bring more technology firms to Brooklyn, and specifically to his district," Towns' spokesman said.
The meeting is part of the "Digital NYC: Wired to the World" campaign, a city initiative sponsored by the New York City Economic Development Corporation. The initiatives that encourages nonprofit groups to partner with property owners to build and market pre-built, pre-wired buildings as potential homes for tech businesses.
"We're doing this initiative largely to attract companies out of Silicon Alley ... but also to attract companies emerging from their living rooms and bedrooms to their own office space," said Joe Chan, director of the Broadband Brooklyn initiative. The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce runs the initiative, which markets five boroughs in Brooklyn as potential tech hotbeds at cheaper rents than pricey districts in Manhattan. Silicon Alley is the moniker for the dot-com community in New York City.
Broadband Brooklyn focuses on: the Atlantic Telecom Center, a 750,000 square-foot Web-hosting hotel; the Brooklyn Information Technology Center in Sunset Park, which houses 66,000 square feet of office and loft space on the waterfront and already boasts companies like Winstar and Nextel; Downtown Brooklyn Connected, which encompasses the Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass and metro districts; Brooklyn Navy Yard, which is home to an industrial and office park; and Silicon Harbor in Redhook, a waterfront property built on old Civil War grounds.
"We're really looking to market the boroughs of Brooklyn as a viable place for people to do business ... so a whole range of technological firms may find a home in New York City," Chan said.
The initiatives involves hosting trade shows, networking events such as the Towns cocktail, and an education campaign on what Brooklyn can offer companies in terms of small-business expansion, Chan said. "They don't have the political wherewithal or the full knowledge of what's available to them through the public sector," he said. "It's kind of our job to help educate them."
Having Towns as a contact on Capitol Hill may be the link some of the companies need at the federal level, Chan said. "Obviously the congressman ... does sit on [key] committees and does have the ability to assist these emerging companies."
Glendening Vetoes Worker Tax Credit
Maryland Gov. Parris Glendening, D, last week vetoed a bill that would have provided a tax credit of up to $1,500 for people seeking training in areas deemed critical to Maryland's economic future. Bill supporters said the bill's demise harms not only Maryland residents who need critical skills training but also the state's economy, which has grown dependent on a dwindling supply of skilled workers.
"Glendening wants it both ways," said Grant Mydland, director of the Technology Workforce Coalition. "He says Maryland needs access to a skilled and trained workforce, but then he vetoes a popular measure [that] would have helped individuals get that training. In the new economy, everyone needs access to critical skills training."
The bill, S.B. 455, had sailed through both legislative chambers. It also had the support of the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA), the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, the Maryland Hospital Association, the Greater Baltimore Committee, the Technology Council of Maryland and other business groups.
Coalition Seeks To Spread Technology
A coalition sponsored by members of the tech industry this week announced a campaign designed to promote policies to spread technology and its benefits to youth in low-income and other underserved communities.
The coalition is supported by the David and Lucile Packard, AT&T and AOL Time Warner foundations, the Children's Partnership, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, the Center for Policy Alternatives, the National Urban League and the Fight Crime Invest in Kids initiative. The groups work to help governors and other officials move to the forefront of technology policy issues at the state level.
The campaign provides a toolkit that includes: state-by-state fact sheets on youth and the "digital divide"; model state policies; a national fact sheet on the latest data about U.S. kids and families online; a national policy agenda and program examples; and an online resource that offers informative organizations and Web sites.
AOL Is @School In Pennsylvania
Last week, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker and Mark Nixon, executive director of education for America Online, announced a new program that would make the AOL@School service available, free of charge, to any Pennsylvania school.
AOL@School is a free learning portal designed to make it easy to find online content. Additional portals are available for teachers and administrators with content tailored to their needs. Additional features and services available to students and educators include: built-in filtering; a customized toolbar with tools such as a dictionary, encyclopedia, thesaurus and calculator; a state channel with links to state education resources; professional development resources; a lesson-plan finder; and free SAT preparation material for high-school students.
Dialing South Dakota
The South Dakota state government has switched from using a printed phone directory of state offices and staff to one that is available on the Internet.
Republican Gov. Bill Janklow, who assigned the state's Bureau of Information and Telecommunications to replace the print version with an electronic version, said the move was one of convenience and cost. Last year, the state printed 6,000 copies of the 116-page phone directory at a cost of $1.70 per copy.
The new Internet directory is available on the state's Web site and can be searched by name, phone number or state agency. Having the directory on the Internet allows state agencies to update information on a daily basis.
Utah Leaders Strike Deal On Tech College
Utah House Republican leaders have struck a deal with Republican Gov. Michael Leavitt to combine applied technology centers in the state into a new college, reports The Deseret News. It would be Utah's 10th state college. The state Senate also backs the deal, which was finalized Wednesday.
The Utah Board of Regents, an appointed board that oversees Utah's nine colleges, will appoint the new president of the college. But the legislature and a new "super board" -- the sticking point between Leavitt and House Speaker Marty Stephens -- will have direct control of the new college's budget. The budget will not go through the Utah Board of Regents, as do the budgets of the other state universities. The existing centers that will comprise the college teach skills such as computer programming, plumbing and other trades.
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