Brooklyn's Progress
November 2002

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Brooklyn members of the Assembly recently announced a $4 million investment for the creation of a SUNY Downstate Advanced Biotechnology Incubator project aimed at spurring the development of a new cluster of biotechnology and medical technology companies in Brooklyn.

Noting the tremendous economic development potential of incubators, Silver said the project will provide affordable space, services and access to resources essential to start-up companies engaged in the commercialization of technologies developed at SUNY Downstate, as well as to other biotechnology and medical start-ups and early stage companies. The project is similar to a $5 million initiative announced by the Assembly last week to create the Lower Manhattan Bioscience Project.

Citing the need for innovative approaches to jumpstart the state's economy, Silver said the Advanced Biotechnology Incubator would build on SUNY Downstate's existing strengths as an economic engine for Central Brooklyn."This project will create new high wage jobs, provide local residents with opportunities to train for those jobs, attract private investment to the community and help seed the growth of the biotechnology and medical industries in Brooklyn," said Silver.

"I want to express my gratitude to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and the entire Brooklyn delegation for this tremendous vote of confidence in our Advanced Biotechnology Incubator. This funding will greatly enhance our efforts to develop biotechnology as an engine for economic growth in Brooklyn," said SUNY Downstate Medical Center President John LaRosa, M.D.For the past three years, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce has included the SUNY Downstate Bio-Tech Incubator Project in its Agenda for Growth issues books.  During lobbying trips to Albany and Washington, D.C., the Chamber has sought support for the advanced biotechnology park.  "Local universities and hospitals make New York City a major biotech and high-tech research center, but as new ideas are developed into commercial ventures, these companies find they must go outside the city to find available, appropriate and affordable work spaces," Silver said. "Now these start-up ventures will be able to stay in the city and help support the revitalization of Brooklyn by bringing new jobs and fostering economic activity."

Once completed, the Advanced Biotechnology Incubator will accommodate approximately 32 new start-up companies which are expected to create an initial 200 jobs, with an estimated 400 new jobs within five years.