The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce's Vice President of Economic Development and Strategic Partnherships Rick Russo testified before the New York City Council's Committee on Small Business on Apr. 18, about strengthening the local economy through the purchasing of locally manufactured goods. The following is his testimony:

Good afternoon.  My name is Rick Russo and I serve as Vice President for Economic Development and Strategic Partnerships at the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.

On behalf of Carl Hum, President and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, I extend a “thank you” to the Committee on Small Business for providing us with an opportunity to speak about the Brooklyn Chamber’s work in assisting businesses boroughwide with respect to locally manufactured goods.

Among the Brooklyn Chamber’s business support programs is Brooklyn Goes Global – a marketing program for Brooklyn manufacturers competing in a crowded and challenging marketplace.  The program works extensively with ethnic foods and beverages, a leading industry cluster.  Brooklyn Goes Global has a tri-level strategy that helps to identify, evaluate and connect Brooklyn manufacturers and export/import companies with domestic and international buyers through marketing and promotion, education and training, and technical assistance.

REAL BROOKLYN™ is a targeted marketing initiative featuring items that are manufactured locally and employs local residents.  This initiative, the result of Brooklyn Goes Global, celebrates and promotes Brooklyn-made products and helps to foster trade, commerce and interest in our local products.  Participating companies have numerous opportunities throughout the year to connect to local, national and international markets.

Shopping local is a popular theme for consumers, and companies like Whole Foods and Fresh Direct are successful in part because people can choose to purchase goods from local vendors.  While this movement began to some extent as a civically appealing initiative to support neighborhood businesses, the rising cost of fuel has made purchasing local products good business sense.  It is financially appealing because it minimizes transportation charges.

Some of our most successful campaigns have been based on the call to shop locally. Local restaurants, fashion designers and retail members approached the Brooklyn Chamber for assistance in marketing to new area residents.  In response, the Brooklyn Chamber created, “Keep it Local” – a campaign which involved American Express, Downtown Brooklyn merchants and the Heart of Brooklyn cultural institutions – to increase spending throughout Brooklyn.  The Brooklyn Chamber partnered with American Express to conduct a campaign to cardholders in the area to shop local, adding an incentive that each sale would generate money for local cultural institutions.  The campaign increased local business sales by 33%, which can be attributed to the success of a call-to-action to support these establishments.

Initially, many local residents and small businesses see corporate retailers – “big box” retailers – as “bad” for the neighborhood.  The Chamber has been working to strike a balance between the three groups by encouraging large retailers to sell local products on their shelf or to use locally manufactured items.  A national health club is using light fixtures created by a manufacturer from our BKLYN DESIGNS™ furniture show while Whole Foods features several Brooklyn manufacturer Members on their shelves such as Wine Cellar Sorbets and Robbie Dawg, producers of gourmet dog food.

The REAL BROOKLYN™ initiative also serves as a platform to familiarize local consumers with neighborhood brands.  The “local” theme is so popular that two major real estate companies and a major mortgage company have agreed to purchase REAL BROOKLYN™ baskets to give as closing gifts to all people buying homes in Brooklyn.  These baskets, part of the REAL BROOKLYN™ umbrella marketing campaign (http://www.buyrealbrooklyn.com/), continues to be a successful branding tool for participating companies.

We also have found that promoting local has a global appeal – the Brooklyn brand is known worldwide and has a certain cache, just like New York City.  We assist Brooklyn manufacturers in reaching beyond the borough’s borders and many manufacturers were successful in expanding into global markets under the Brooklyn banner.  The Chamber attends the Fancy Food, All Organic, Kosherfest, and All Asia trade shows and buyers find it valuable to have items located regionally so they can accommodate their local markets and reduce costs.  Brooklyn manufacturers who participate in national and international trade shows under the highly visible Brooklyn Goes Global Pavilion receive access to tens of thousands of buyers, importers and exporters, and companies realize the positive results – actual orders and new business customers and partners immediately.

Additionally, through BGG Buyers Mission Events, the Brooklyn Chamber invites potential visiting buyers from other countries to local venues where BGG clients can market their goods and services in an informal setting.  BGG Trade Mission Events also provides opportunities for manufacturers to expose their products, goods and services through partnerships with international trade associations, government agencies and nonprofits.

Finally, the businesses we work with also benefit from other support services provided by the Brooklyn Chamber, including staffing and employment services, real estate space search, procurement services, human resources assistance and health insurance – in addition to helping them meet government regulations and buyers’ standards for various technical issues, including facility and equipment, product evaluation, shipping requirements, and more. 

Thank you for allowing us an opportunity to speak about these issues.  I am happy to take any questions the Committee may have.