Huff Post New York: NYC Leads With Incubators for Green and Tech Startups

by John Tepper Marlin, @CityEconomist

The country is stuck in a liquidity paralysis. The Tea Party's debt exorcisers are pushing their case too hard at the wrong time. President Obama continues to have a big challenge to get the country moving again.

Yet there may be hope at the state and local level. The stimulus was not as effective as hoped, in part because state and local officials were expected to move faster than they were able. However, state and local officials and local entrepreneurs are now responding to the need for new jobs in interesting ways.

For example, last week New York City Mayor Bloomberg visited the Entrepreneur Space in Queens, New York. With him were and Rep. Carolyn Maloney (former Chair of the Joint Economic Committee of Congress) and other locally elected officials. The main stories were in the Queens Gazette or on the Mayor's website.

This visit deserves national attention at a time when job creation is Job 1. Bloomberg knows a thing or two about how to create jobs. Back in 1981, when incubators were few and the Fed had whipped up a severe inflation-fighting recession, Michael Bloomberg started to parlay his $10 million Salamon Brothers severance and shares into a giant company. Last I checked, Bloomberg L.P., still headquartered in New York, as of April 2011 employs more than 13,000 people in 166 locations around the world. Also, by bringing more transparency to capital markets, the company argues with some basis that it has contributed to growth of jobs outside of New York (though more transparency did not offset the meltdown in the nation's financial regulatory system).

Mr. Bloomberg's skill at building a business empire from scratch inspired scared New Yorkers to vote for him after 9/11. NYC elected an entrepreneur as mayor with the expectation that a successful business leader would surely would help the city hold on to its jobs and create new ones.

What the mayor is doing now, ten years after 9/11, is recognizing the importance of entrepreneurs and the fact that few of them have the capital and training he began with 30 years ago. To assist NYC's new entrepreneurs, in 2009 Mayor Bloomberg launched nine business incubators thoughout NYC, hosting more than 500 start-up businesses and more than 800 jobs. The incubatees have raised $39 million in private capital so far. Many are graduating from their incubators...

Green startups are also popping up all over the city, in the areas of organic produce, provenance-tracking food vendors, energy-efficiency programs and alternative-energy options. Green Spaces, a green incubator that started in Brooklyn, has cloned itself in Manhattan. It is now exporting its incubator skills, backing the Green Route Festival this Saturday in Denver...

Excerpts from comments by the Mayor and Rep. Maloney follow:

Mayor Bloomberg:

When we launched the first business incubator in 2009 to make it easier for entrepreneurs to turn their ideas into local businesses and jobs, we pledged to open more if it was successful. Now, we're identifying opportunities to expand the program even further. We want New York City to be the most welcoming city in the country for people who want to start a business.

Rep. Maloney:

I agree wholeheartedly with President Obama that Congress needs to get moving to support job creation: We need to reauthorize the cut in payroll taxes we approved in the last Congress. I'd like to commend Mayor Bloomberg on the success of New York's business incubators. This kind of innovation is one of the reasons New York is doing better than the national average.

Congratulations to the mayor and the other officials working on the incubators. Local efforts do not replace an effective and timely national jobs program. However, whatever NYC can do to encourage entrepreneurship in tech development, sustainable living and any other promising industry is a valuable contribution towards solving the job shortage and an example for other cities and states!

Full story: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/john-tepper-marlin/nyc-startups_b_937230.html

amNY "The Office 2.0: Havens for solo workers - Co-working spaces take off in NYC as economy explodes 9-to-5 careers"

Call it the home office away from home.

No longer satisfied with lugging a laptop to Starbucks, independent workers in New York are increasingly embracing so-called co-working spaces that offer the comforts and benefits of an office setting.

The phenomenon - an outgrowth of the Great Recession - began as a happy marriage between landlords suddenly left with lots of space to rent out, and workers caught up in job turmoil looking for a shared professional environment to reinvent their careers as freelancers or consultants.

"It forced a new bubble of entrepreneurship that caused everyone to think outside the box. This unprecedented shift created an opportunity for a new way of working," said Marissa Feinberg, co-founder of Green Spaces NYC... amNewYork visited five co-working spaces that are leading the way.

Green Spaces NYC

Where: 394 Broadway

The Angle: For the eco-friendly set

The Deal: A full-time desk is $550 a month; open space is $250 a month...

Green Spaces NYC provides a home to 80 members who embody a lifestyle of health and sustainability, environmentalist companies, non-profits and a diverse mix of independents.

You don't need a green focus to join, but you do have to share their environmental philosophy.

The facility uses Con Ed Wind Energy, kitchen utensils are made from fallen leaves, compost is turned into biofuel, and furniture is recycled and refurbished.

Joe Miller, 24, the founder of Print a Forest, a PC software company that funds reforestation efforts, said Green Spaces was the reason he moved his start-up from Detroit to New York City. 

He is also a fan of Green Spaces' weekly Idea Bounce Lunches.

"It's fantastic to be around like-minded individuals coming together to make a change," he said.

(See the image above for the rest of the article).

NEW YORK POST

"Space Odyssey - NYC Coworking Spaces, from Cool to Corporate"

By ANNA LEAH JACOBSON

Posted: 11:27 PM, May 15, 2011

As the numbers of laptop-toting city freelancers has boomed in recent years, so has the number of communal workspaces offering them an alternative to coffee shops and cramped studio apartments. They come in all stripes — from scruffy spaces where workers gather around communal tables to corporate-style concerns with luxurious workstations and receptionists.

That means there’s a desk-away-from-home to suit every taste, with a wide variety of amenities and socializing opportunities. More interested in branding workshops or showers in the bathroom? A color printer or weekly happy hours? This guide will help you navigate the waters.

Green Spaces

Best for: carbon footprint minders

This TriBeCa space is split 60/40 between dedicated desks and communal tables, but everyone here is committed to sustainability, either as a lifestyle or professionally. There are recycling bins and mismatched mugs, floods of natural light and green plants everywhere. Although the sparse, eclectic loft space is furnished with reclaimed furniture and raw wood pallets, it still feels professional, with glassed-in conference rooms. Casual and drop-in members use communal tables in the back, while regulars — whose pursuits range from supplying sustainable fish to promoting rickshaw transport — have dedicated desks. The atmosphere is calm and friendly, and there are “Idea Bounce” lunches, where members offer one another advice.

Cost: $35 a day, $250-$495 a month

Features: Fair trade coffee and tea, printer, 24/7 access

Social scene: Communal lunches, workshops, film screenings

Click here for the rest of the story.

DAILY NEWS "Green Spaces New York Connects Eco-minded Entrepreneurs"

citybiz list NY: Green Spaces, Among Others, Offers Green Pastures for Clean Tech Startups

Posted April 14, 2011 By Richard Rabicoff

Mark Birch is one of our favorite bloggers, whether he is writing about Chinese dumplings or NYC startups. The local entrepreneur and investor recently updated his list of New York City Tech Incubators and Accelerators, and we were intrigued to see, along with such categories as Technology, Food and Fashion, a heading for Urban Tech & Clean Tech.

Clean tech has been cleaning up these days. A recent report from the San Francisco-based Cleantech Group showed that companies in this sector swept up $2.57 billion in venture capital funding in the first quarter of 2011, up 31 per cent from a year ago. Solar companies accounted for about 25 percent of the haul and electric vehicles a bit more than 10 percent.

Here's a glance at the incubators and accelerators on Birch's clean tech list.

Green Spaces - http://www.greenspaceshome.com/

Jennie Nevin and Marissa Feinberg created Green Spaces to provide entrepreneurs with green tools like reclaimed furniture, efficient energy providers, a newsletter and website. Housed in TriBeCa, the center offers full-time (at $550 a month) and drop-in options, conference rooms, an intern program, newsletter advertising, and recommended vendors and services.

The organization also has a branch in Colorado, and plans another in Los Angeles. More than 70 companies use the facility on a full-time or part-time basis.

Co-founder Marissa Feinberg previously worked in partnership development for Felissimo's sustainable design initiatives, and for the General Electric Foundation.

For the full story:

http://newyork.citybizlist.com/18/2011/4/14/Editors-Eye-on-New-York-UTIC-NYC-ACRE-and-Green-Spaces-Offer-Green-Pastures-for-Clean-Tech-Startups.aspx

Green Spaces Listed in Top 5 "Breeding Better Business - How incubators are providing more to local entrepreneurs than just a space to work"

An article for The New York Enterprise Report features Green Spaces

By: Lindsay Tigar

March 1, 2011

Amidst the 2009 economic meltdown, New York City Mayor Bloomberg announced his plan to promote business innovation and entrepreneurship to help stimulate the market. One item on this agenda was to support business incubators.

Across the area, incubators—whether they are city-funded or not—serve as money- savers for entrepreneurs, as well as a melting pot of different ideas and innovations. The incubators offer everything a typical shared office does—desks, conference rooms, receptionist areas, kitchens, and more—but the tenants are grouped together with the intention of supporting each other and sparking growth.

Green Spaces

Office Rent: $550/month for full-time companies.

Two business owners, Jennie Nevin and Marissa Feinberg, created Green Spaces for social- and sustainability-minded entrepreneurs. With office alternatives in New York and Colorado, and one soon to open in Los Angeles, Green Spaces offers part-time, fulltime, and drop-in options, as well as conference rooms, an intern program, newsletter advertising, and recommended vendors and services. 

Since 2009, when the incubator moved from Brooklyn to Manhattan, Green Spaces has offered hundreds of entrepreneurs green tools, like reclaimed furniture, efficient energy providers, and an Ecopreneurs Clubhouse program, which features each business nationwide through its newsletter and website. In its 5,300 square-foot space in TriBeCa, Green Spaces houses a range of businesses, including the Gotham Greens, which now has a sustainable rooftop greenhouse in Queens because of a $400,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and $1 million from private investors.

Resources

• Businesses Staying Put, But Time is Ripe for Renegotiation
• Calm New Office Jitters
• How to Renegotiate Your Lease

Click here to read the full story:

http://www.nyreport.com/articles/79228/Breeding%20Better%20Business

VIA MASHABLE - How to: Get the Most Out of a Coworking Space

by Sarah Kessler 

If you’ve decided that it’s time to leave your bathrobe at home, let your favorite coffee shop have its corner table back, and join a coworking space, you’re only halfway there. Though coworking can have a lot of perks, how you take advantage of them and shape your experience is up to you.

“We’ve had people who within the first week they’ve kind of immersed themselves [in]to events and socializing with other people here, or they’re just here, they do their work, and then they take off,” says Jeff Park, who manages the Ravenswood Coworking Group in Chicago. “We know that they come in, but I think for them that’s enough for them. They just want to be around other people in a productive environment.”

Whether you’re aiming to be as productive as possible without a lot of socializing or trying to build a strong professional community that you can turn to for resources and support, these five tips can help you get the most out of your coworking experience.

Scope Out Your Options

Green Spaces in New York is a coworking space for environmentally driven businesses.

Green Spaces, a coworking space in Tribeca, specializes in environmentally focused businesses. Mountain View-based Cubes & Crayons combines childcare and coworking. WorkBar in Boston is hosted in a 2,500-square-foot space and has separate areas for cafe-like and quieter working styles. Coworking Brooklyn uses a small room that functions as an art gallery by night.

The coworking experience varies drastically depending on which space you’re using. Different spaces have different levels of interaction with other workers, formality and general vibe. While some spaces, like Green Spaces and Cubes & Crayons, state their niche upfront, you’ll only be able to gauge what the environment is like by dropping in. Most spaces have daily drop-in rates. Try a couple of different spaces to see what works best for you before you commit. You can find a list of space around the world on the Coworking Wiki.

“See if the people in the space are people who you could go and see every day…if it’s not, then go to the next space,” says Jay Catalan, the co-founder of a coworking space in Vancouver called The Network Hub.

Go Green by Coworking: 10 Cafe-Plus-Office Hybrids

For full article, click here.

By Steph in Food & Health, Technology & Gadgets on WebEcoist

At home you’re isolated, working for days or weeks without human contact. At the coffee shop, you’re jostled by screaming kids, glared at by other customers waiting for a table and obligated to buy drinks in return for your long stay. What’s a mobile worker to do? Head to one of the many green coworking spaces that are popping up across the world, especially office/cafe hybrids that not only provide a welcoming workspace, shared equipment and pooled resources but drinks and snacks to boot. Green coworking spaces save both energy and cash and put you in touch with like-minded professionals.

Green Spaces, New York, New York

(images via: greenspacesny.com)

Green Spaces in New York – which has another location in Colorado – is an eco-friendly office, clubhouse and event venue that has also expanded to include full-service support for green businesses and social entrepreneurship. The offices use 100% wind power, compost all food scraps, a passive heating and cooling system and an eco-friendly Xerox Colorcube printer. All companies wishing to use Green Spaces must sign a pledge promising to work as green as possible while at Green Spaces, including using minimal paper products.

The Age of Coworking: Collaborative Consumption for the Creative Community

The Design Observer Group, Change Observer, News About Design and Social Innovation

New environments take the drudgery out of 9-to-5.

By Maria Popova 1.24.11

Many coworking spaces are housed in meticulously designed lofts. Photo from Green Spaces, NYC.

The shift from an ownership economy to an economy of sharing has been one of the most important movements of the past few years – a concept most eloquently captured inRachel Botsman's notion of collaborative consumption. From car- and bike-sharing to bookcycling reading clubs, the decentralization of resources is enabling us to have more by owning less — because, as Kevin Kelly puts it, "access trumps possession." So far, however, the majority of this resource-sharing has been experienced on the individual level: though enabled by a community of car-sharers, your ride in a ZipCar is no different and no less solitary than a ride in any other car. But an emerging groundswell is bridging shared resources and shared experience by taking collaborative consumption to a promising new frontier: The workplace. 

A rapidly proliferating number of coworking spaces worldwide is attracting creative entrepreneurs and freelancers across the entire spectrum of vocations, from startup founders to professional proofreaders. Designers, developers, writers, photographers, lawyers, hackers and other independent doers are coming together in shared spaces that offer all of the practical benefits of a traditional office and none of its cubicle-clinging, 9-to-5-abiding confines. Far from the merely utilitarian consideration of lower costs — everything from rent to printing to coffee is cheaper when it's shared — these hubs offer a unique environment for what I like to call "creative restlessness": that distinct itch to contribute to the world typical of those who have chosen to make a living from their life's calling. 

In New York City alone, dozens such coworking spaces exist. New Work City in Little Italy, a self-enforcing community open to all, aims to make it easier for like-minded independent workers to live happier, more productive lives. The Makery in Williamsburg brings together writers, early-stage startups and other freelancers. Green Spaces, with locations in both New York and Colorado, offers a coworking space for sustainability-oriented small business and also serves as a green business incubator. In Good Company is a community for women entrepreneurs co-founded by Artists & Fleas founder Amy Abrams. New York Nightowls is a late-night coworking club for bloggers, meeting between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. 

Coworking spaces fused with incubators are even popping up under the wings of existing funds. Betaworks, whose claims to fame include the popular URL shortener bit.ly and leading Twitter desktop client TweetDeck, serves as a coworking space for tech entrepreneurs. Dogpatch Labs, a self-described "frat house for geeks" with locations in Cambridge, New York and San Francisco, offers desk space, bandwidth, coffee and lunch to aspiring entrepreneurs and connects them with one another as well as potential investors in a spirit of "open-source entrepreneurship." 

I've recently had the pleasure and privilege of joining studiomates — a stunning all-white loft in DUMBO with a magnificent view of the East River and Lower East Side. Studiomates is the brainchild of design tastemaker Tina Roth Eisenberg, better-known as Swiss Miss, who operates it in tandem with socially responsible design outfit Workshop. Tina articulates the unique energy and draw of coworking:

I started studiomates out of the belief that surrounding yourself with smart, entrepreneurial spirited people is the key to a successful and happy small business career. The studio has given birth to many fantastic new business ideas. Given the doer nature of our studiomates, many of the ideas were launched: Several websites, iPhone apps and a conference came out of our inspiring environment. The studio is my happy place.

Mine, too. 

Besides the clear allure of beautiful lofts with meticulously designed interiors, none of which individual freelancers would be able to afford on their own, many coworking hubs offer a range of experiential perks. In Good Company hosts various events that supply members with everything from search engine optimization strategies to health and wellness tips. Green Spaces offers free coffee and tea, a full range of sustainable options like recycling, composting and eco-printing, and even interns for project work. At studiomates, we regularly invite interesting people – from successful creative entrepreneurs to prominent designers – for an informal lunch and chat. And New Work City recently launched NWCU — a community-powered educational program featuring a curated menu of classes, hackathons, meetups and other events by NWC members. 

Not sure how to find one? Coworking, a free iPhone app, locates coworking hubs around the world. WorkSnug takes it one step further, using augmented reality to geolocate a coworking space in your immediate surroundings, alongside reviews of each space's offerings. The comprehensive Coworking Wiki crowdsources coworking hub locations globally and organizes them in a directory. LooseCubes offers an ambitious visual directory of 475 hubs in 170 cities across the U.S., complete with pricing and amenities details for each. Says founder Campbell McKellar:

I started LooseCubes because I realized that working in an inspiring environment with interesting people makes me happier and more productive. And I knew I wasn’t alone. Coworking is about more than access to a desk — it leads to serendipitous conversations, new partnerships, and lasting connections. Magic happens when you work around great people.

With more than 150,000 creative professionals registered with Freelancers Union in the U.S. alone, a number no doubt representing only a small fraction of these sole creative warriors stateside and worldwide, today's coworking landscape is only the tip of a staggering iceberg. The movement mixes collaborative consumption and collaborative creation in a bouquet of benefits over the age-old centralized workspace model — offering a more creative and flexible environment than the traditional office, relieving the financial burdens of running your own private studio, and providing the creative and intellectual simulation that working from home doesn't. 

And, perhaps most important, how many people get to call their office their happy place? 

How to: Green Your Workplace Without Driving Your Coworkers Nuts

by Ben Jervey

The typical office is a battleground of personal tastes and habits. So what, then, is the environmentally-conscious worker to do? How could you possible work to “green” your workspace without becoming the the office nuisance? We talked to Roberto Rhett, the director of Green Spaces NY, an eco-friendly co-working office share, about how to lower the impact of your workplace without driving all your co-workers nuts. Here are 6 easy tips:

1) Switch your energy provider to 100% alternative power sources. Green Spaces NY uses Community Energy Inc. through ConEdison Solutions. Its only a few cents more expensive but you are voting with your dollars and this is something that will not affect staff in any way! [For renewable energy anywhere, check out Green-e.

2) Change the light bulbs in the office. If you find good quality, high efficiency bulbs, there’s no negative impact on your co-workers, but the energy savings are significant.

3) Work on sourcing more sustainable supplies–from 100% recycled paper to cleaning products to fair trade coffee. The Green Office has great selection, and the price premium generally isn’t prohibitive. (At Green Spaces NY, they also use a sodastream machine so that workers can make bubbly bevs without having to buy cans of soda from a vending machine.

4) Recycling and composting can quickly cut down up to 2/3 of your waste stream. Recycling is relatively easy: put big, well-labeled bins everywhere there’s a trash can. Composting is tougher, and messier. But if you do work with a gung-ho bunch, why not go ahead and buy a planter for the window and you can grow tomatoes or other veggies using the compost as nutrient rich soil.

5) Use timers. For the thermostat, so that the office isn’t unnecessarily heated or cooled when nobody’s in there. For the computers when they’re not in use. For lights when nobody’s in a room. Nobody is effected because nobody’s there!

6) For new furniture–desks, couches, tables–vintage and refurbished items are generally popular, since it creates a bit of character for a workspace. It also obviously prevents them from ending up in the landfill, and cuts down demand for new goods to be produced.

For good measure, as Ambassador, I’d like to add one:

• Plants! Everyone loves plants. Nobody does not like plants. Plants keep office air fresher and cleaner, make workers feel better, and plenty of studies have shown that they actually increase workplace productivity. So get some greenery up in there.

Photo (cc) by Flickr user Office Now

About the author

GOOD is the integrated media platform for people who want to live well and do good. We are a company and community for the people, businesses, and NGOs moving the world forward. GOOD’s mission is to provide content, experiences, and utilities to serve this community.GOOD currently produces a website, videos, live events, and a print magazine. Launched in September 2006, the company has garnered praise for its unique editorial perspective and fresh visual aesthetic and is quickly positioning itself as a significant new voice in our culture.

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