Brooklyn's Progress
February/March 2008

Morton’s Restaurant Coming to Downtown Brooklyn
Chamber Member Muss Development LLC announced last month that Morton’s Restaurant Group, Inc. will open a new Morton’s The Steakhouse in the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge, located at 333 Adams Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The 14,500-square-foot lease comes on the heels of a $77 million addition to the Marriott. 

In addition, Muss Development has entered into a contract to purchase the first two floors of 345 Adams Street from the City of New York in a highly unique transaction, and will convert the space from offices into 40,000 square feet of retail.  The new shops will be adjacent to Morton’s at the base of the new tower of the 667-room Marriott.  Morton’s will serve as an anchor to the luxury destination retailers who are currently exploring lease opportunities at 345 Adams Street. Often referred to as the “Crossroads of Downtown Brooklyn,” an estimated 200,000 shoppers visit the area daily.

Morton’s is a fine-dining restaurant specializing in classic, hearty American fare.  The space will be built out to reflect a comfortable feeling, with elegant decor, reflected in dark rich woods, leather-covered booths, subdued lighting and white linen table cloths. It expects to open at the Marriott in late 2008. 

The restaurant will have a seating capacity of nearly 300, with approximately 125 guests in the main dining room, 100 in Morton’s exclusive private boardrooms and 70 in Bar 12*21, Morton’s new bar dining concept, which will feature specialty cocktails and Morton’s appetizing Bar Bites menu. 

Ridgewood Savings Bank Celebrates 20 Years in Bay Ridge
Ridgewood Savings Bank announced today the grand re-opening of its Bay Ridge branch in honor of 20 years serving the community.   The bank recently completed a total reconstruction of the branch – located at 8522 Third Avenue – to better serve its growing customer base.
The Bay Ridge grand re-opening ribbon-cutting ceremony, held on December 10, 2007, was attended by local residents, business owners and dignitaries, as well as senior executives of Ridgewood Savings Bank.  

According to Ridgewood Savings Bank, customers of the Bay Ridge branch will now benefit from a more spacious – and completely modern – banking office.   Some specific renovations include the redesign of teller counters and customer service platforms which allowed for more spacious seating areas and improved the flow of customer floor traffic, the removal of interior structural columns to accommodate heightened ceilings which improved lighting and created a more open and spacious appearance and the relocation of the exterior ATM machine to an indoor vestibule which will allow for increased security, better lighting, and shelter from inclement weather.

Chamber Member Campaigns Snag Media Awards
Elser & Aucone announced it has won 13 awards from two leading industry competitions – The Davey Awards and the W3 Awards. Elser & Aucone was recognized for the creativity, originality, and quality of their advertising campaigns for a variety of prominent clients in industries ranging from banking and education to healthcare during 2007.

In total, both competitions included more than 6,000 international entries from advertising and public relations agencies, production firms, graphic designers, and interactive agencies of all sizes.

Sanctioned and judged by the International Academy of the Visual Arts, the Davey Awards focus exclusively on outstanding creative work from the best creative professionals and small- and mid-sized agencies worldwide. E&A won silver Davey's for its creative work in campaigns for Chamber Members Ridgewood Savings Bank (radio spot series and radio spot copywriting) and Lutheran Medical Center (print media).

Uncommon Goods gets SBS Training Grants
The New York City Department of Small Business Services recently announced the awarding of nearly $1 million in NYC Business Solutions Training Funds to help seven local employers across all five boroughs train their employees. The awards of $995,125 will be matched by record employer contributions of $1.43 million in order to train 877 New Yorkers for work, creating 135 new jobs and resulting in wage increases for 872 New Yorkers. The awards are funded by the Mayor's Center for Economic Opportunity and federal Workforce Investment Act monies.

Chamber Members Uncommon Goods, a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn-based catalog retailer, will use a $79,662 Training Funds award, matched by an employer contribution of $60,000, to train 41 employees in supervisory skills, computer skills, literacy, time management, project management and financial analysis.

The program will result in the creation of 12 jobs and wage increases which average 19 percent for all trainees.
To date, New York City has awarded more than $4.2 million to 42 companies to train nearly 3,000 New Yorkers, matched by nearly $6.5 million in employer contributions.

Kingsborough Community College hosts Leadership
Breakfast with Congressman Anthony Weiner
Kingsborough Community College will host a President’s Leadership Breakfast on Feb. 25 at 9:30 a.m. featuring Errol Louis, New York Daily News columnist, in conversation with Congressman Anthony D. Weiner. The event is part of a series of conversations with noted business leaders and elected officials to be held over the course of a year. Mr. Louis will interview the congressman, followed by a Q&A session. The series was launched last year by KCC President Regina S. Peruggi as a forum to discuss business issues, economic development and other vital concerns for the future of our borough. For more information, or to reserve a spot at the breakfast, please call 718-368-5109.

House Approves Legislation to Aid Veteran and
Reservist Small Business Owners
In response to the over 20 percent of all U.S. service members that have either purchased or started new businesses, the House of Representatives recently approved H.R. 4253 - The Military Reservist and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act of 2007. Determining that these veterans provide significant contributions to job growth and local economies, the legislation aims to expand their small business opportunities and helps military reservists keep their businesses afloat during and after deployment.

The bill increases funding for the Small Business Administration’s Office of Veterans Business Development, makes available additional capital for veterans through the SBA’s 7(a) and disaster loan programs and increases the number of Veterans Business Outreach Centers across the country. The bill also establishes an interagency taskforce to improve coordination and outreach to veteran and reservist entrepreneurs by federal agencies. It awaits further passage in congress.