Small Business - Crain's New York Business News Feed

Wanted: Companies that are beating the economy

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:19:59 EST

Elaine Pofeldt - In our annual Top Entrepreneurs competition—where past winners have included Etsy's Rob Kalin, Squarespace founder Anthony Casalena, fashion designer Gaby Basora and J. Darius Bikoff, founder of Glaceau beverage maker Energy Brands—we are looking for six fast-growing companies based in the five boroughs of New York City that have exciting stories of innovation to tell. The winners will be featured in the May 29, 2012, issue. Companies must have revenues under $100 million. You must enter by March 23 to be eligible. The nomination form is available online.

Models feel faint as Fashion Week kicks off

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 15:14:23 EST

New York Fashion Week officially kicked off Thursday at Lincoln Center with runway shows from Nicholas K and BCBG Max Azria. But while visitors flocked to the shows, some retail buyers were lining up for the morning presentation of Kaelen Haworth, a New York-based womenswear line, where the models stole the show—and not in a good way.

Early in the event, one model felt so faint that she stepped off the stage, in front of both the buyers and fashion editors. While presentations have become a more buyer friendly and a cheaper way to showcase a collection, they do have their share of obstacles. One challenge involves keeping the models hydrated and comfortable for presentations that can last about 90 minutes, compared with the 15 minutes of a runway show.

Despite the drawbacks, the benefits to retail buyers cannot be ignored. "It's a more intimate setting for buyers," said brand consultant Matt Hogan, “though it does lack the life force of a booming, five-miles-an-hour runway show."

He noted that the Kaelen Haworth event even grouped outfits by color— pairing a gold skirt-wearing model next to one wearing a gold blouse—in an effort to be more categorized for buyers.

Over the last two years, since Fashion Week moved to the larger venue of Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center, many designers have opted to showcase their collections via the more informal and less costly presentation setting. In fact, Mercedes Benz Fashion Week even reserves one of its four tents, the Box, just for presentations, where models stand on pedestals and attendees can get up close and personal with the garments—a must for buyers keen on making an early decision about carrying a collection. Typically a runway show—complete with music, special lights and glamour—can cost as much as $500,000. A Box presentation runs closer to $30,000.

The shows of Nicholas K and BCBG, held before the Kaelen Haworth presentation, were costly by comparison, though no models were incapacitated—at least not visibly.

Nicholas K, a design-house run by brother and sister team Christopher and Nicholas Kunz, made a surprising choice when it came to footwear. In past shows, the company has featured its own shoe designs for men and women. But on Thursday, only womenswear was paired with the design house's own shoes. Male models wore footwear from Vintage Shoe Co. USA, a 145-year-old, mid-tier priced company that recreates classic styles from the past.

"I was suprised, because (Nicholas K's) boots and shoes are pretty darn good," said Wade-Hahn Chan, who covers fashion for Meniscus Magazine, an arts-focused online newsletter.

The rest of show was more in keeping with the company's previous layered looks that included a mix of fabrics such as leather and fur, along with wool and heavy knits. Models all wore cowboy hats.

At BCBG, which took place in Lincoln Center's priciest tent, the Theatre, colorblocking was a big theme. This trend has shown in previous seasons, and time will tell if it will be on view in other collections as Fashion Week shows continue.

Christine Quinn lays out ambitious agenda

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 15:47:12 EST

Council Speaker Christine Quinn promised a lifeline to struggling New Yorkers Thursday, unveiling a sweeping package of proposals her City Council will seek in the next year to boost job creation, access to health care and affordable housing and education opportunities.

In perhaps her most ambitious “state of the city” address to date, Ms. Quinn, a likely candidate for mayor in 2013, emphasized the city's obligation to explore every opportunity to improve people's lives.

“We need to restore the promise that everyone can succeed in New York,” she said, “no matter how humble their origins, with a bit of help and a lot of hard work.”

Ms. Quinn announced a host of economic initiatives soon to be under way, many of them targeting small businesses and high-unemployment neighborhoods. A city-sponsored program called New Jobs, New Skills will place people in paid training programs at businesses planning to hire. A first-of-its-kind $10 million small business loan fund backed by federal tax credits will provide low-interest financing to companies willing to expand in low-income neighborhoods.

Emulating the success of Fashion Week, which pumps $800 million a year into New York, the speaker said the city will launch a like-minded New York City Design Week to give a powerful boost to the 40,000-person design industry. A shared manufacturing center coming to the Brooklyn Navy Yard this year will provide studios and office space for up to 200 small manufacturers.

“We don't need to create brand new industries,” Ms. Quinn said. “We just need to take the strengths we already have—what New Yorkers have created—and make them go even further.”

Jobs weren't all the speaker had her sights on during her speech in the newly-refurbished council chambers. Ms. Quinn said the city would launch an experimental health care center catering to freelance workers, who struggle to find affordable insurance. She also announced initiatives to extend the duration that city-subsidized apartments remain affordable and a proposal that will require multiple-dwelling owners to replace major building systems.

She also proposed making kindergarten mandatory for 5-year-olds in the city, which would require state legislation. Eight states have such a mandate.

NASDAQ partners with NY Tech Meetup

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 15:46:06 EST

Emily Laermer - NASDAQ OMX is cozying up to New York City's tech community.

The global exchange group that has traditionally served as home for technology stock listings is launching a media collaboration with New York Tech Meetup, a trade organization representing the city's thriving tech sector.

The two said Thursday they will jointly film a video series about the sector, host monthly events and create a public service announcement about Silicon Alley in hopes of further engaging and educating the community.

“NASDAQ represents the kind of level that a lot of tech companies are striving for,” said Jessica Lawrence, the managing director at New York Tech Meetup. “They also have resources and assets that are important to us in terms of being able to fulfill our mission.”

One such asset is its MarketSite in Times Square, where the two will collaboratively host a monthly series of workshops. Geared toward women in the industry, the events will be hosted by Ms. Lawrence. The first event, which will be in April, will focus on difficulties that organizations like New York Tech Meetup have had in finding women to present their ideas.

“We are excited to partner with New York Tech Meetup to offer the tech community relevant resources, networking opportunities and visibility platforms as they progress,” said a spokesman for NASDAQ, in a statement. “We believe we have a unique understanding of the needs of companies at all stages, as well as a deep-rooted appreciation for innovation in all of its forms.”

NASDAQ will be providing these services in exchange for in-kind services. For example, both groups will share the video content, and Ms. Lawrence will contribute monthly posts to NASDAQ's recently launched Tumblr page.

New York Tech Meetup also announced its newest Annual Sustaining Sponsor, financial trading systems and media conglomerate, Bloomberg LP. It joins Microsoft and Google, which signed up as sponsors in 2011, and Tumblr, which inked a deal in January. Ms. Lawrence would not disclose financial details of the sponsorship, but says it is “at the same level” as the other sponsors.

The deals calls for New York Tech Meetup to tap into some of Bloomberg's engineering savvy, and also its content and media resources.

As the startup grows—it current has over 21,000 members, double its size in 2009—more sponsors are needed in order to keep tickets prices to its hallmark meetings at its current $10, said Ms. Lawrence. During its most recent meetup, on Wednesday evening, all 850 tickets were sold and New York Tech Meetup live-streamed the presentation in two locations.

Steve Jobs's FBI file notes drug use

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 15:28:34 EST

(Bloomberg) - The Federal Bureau of Investigation released a decades-old file it kept on Apple Inc. Co-founder Steve Jobs that noted his past drug use and cites interviews with people who say he had a penchant to “distort reality.”

The 191 pages of FBI records are part of a 1991 background check of Jobs, who died in October 2011, for an appointment by former President George H.W. Bush to the President's Export Council.

The file includes the results of interviews with Mr. Jobs and those who knew him. The records reinforce the picture of Mr. Jobs that has been known to many followers of his career and Apple. Biographer Walter Isaacson's best-selling book about Mr. Jobs, released last year, outlines his use of drugs and mercurial personality. While many people interviewed by the FBI described Mr. Jobs favorably, some said he wasn't always truthful.

“Several individuals questioned Mr. Jobs's honesty stating that Mr. Jobs will twist the truth and distort reality in order to achieve his goals,” according to the materials released by the FBI.

Mr. Jobs was also the victim of an extortion attempt, according to the FBI's report. The agency investigated a 1985 bomb threat against Mr. Jobs, in which an unidentified male made a series of calls and said that “devices” had been placed in homes of certain individuals and “one million dollars must be paid.”

The caller left instructions that one of the victims should go to the San Francisco Hilton hotel in order to pick up a note left under a table near a candy machine. The call-back number left by the would-be extortionist was traced to a public telephone in a parking garage at San Francisco International Airport.

FBI records can be made public after a person's death. Mr. Jobs's files were released by the law enforcement agency following a Freedom of Information Act request by Bloomberg News and others. Mr. Jobs died after a long battle with a rare form of cancer. Apple, the maker of the iPhone, iPad, iPod and Mac, is now the world's most valuable company by market value.

Representatives of the FBI in Washington didn't immediately respond to requests for comment. Steve Dowling, a spokesman for Apple, declined to comment.
Even those who disagreed with Jobs recommended him to the FBI. One person interviewed, who said Mr. Jobs was “deceptive,” ended the interview by recommending him for the government job, saying Jobs “possesses the qualities to assume a high level political position,” the FBI records say.

“Honesty and integrity are not required qualities to hold such a position,” in the opinion of the person, the records say.

Mr. Bush appointed Jobs to the President's Export Council on May 24, 1990, where he served until the end of the of the Republican president's term in January 1993, according to Robert Holzweiss, a researcher at the George Bush Presidential Library in College Station, Texas.

Mr. Jobs was ousted from Apple in 1985 following a leadership dispute with then-CEO John Sculley. In a section of the 1991 background check on employment history, the FBI asked Jobs to select from several reasons that his employment at Apple ended. He chose the option that said “under unfavorable circumstances.”

The FBI said interviews were conducted with former colleagues, neighbors, professional associates and social acquaintances.

The interviews show conflicting views of Mr. Jobs. One former Apple colleague whom the FBI described as bitter toward Mr. Jobs questioned his “moral character” after not being awarded stock in Apple. Another person said Mr. Jobs possessed “high moral character and integrity.”

Two other unnamed individuals the FBI interviewed said Mr. Jobs was “strong-willed, stubborn, hardworking and driven, which they believe is why he is successful.” The two people said Mr. Jobs “possesses integrity as long as he gets his way,” without elaborating.

One woman said she was reluctant to discuss Mr. Jobs with the FBI because she had “questions concerning his ethics and his morality.” She said Mr. Jobs's personal life was “lacking” because of his “narcissism and shallowness.” Even so, the woman recommended Jobs for the appointment, calling him “a visionary and charismatic individual.”

Some of those interviewed talked about Mr. Jobs's fathering a daughter out of wedlock with Chrisann Brennan, a former girlfriend. According to earlier accounts of Mr. Jobs's life, he had at first denied being the father, though he later reconciled with his daughter, Lisa Brennan-Jobs.

Mr. Jobs's use of drugs was mentioned throughout the report. In an interview with the FBI for the 1991 background check, Mr. Jobs said he hadn't used any illegal drugs in the prior five years, according to the agency's records. From 1970 to 1974 he experimented with marijuana, hashish and LSD, according to the report on the Mr. Jobs interview. “This was during high school and college and he mostly used these substances by himself,” the report said.

The report also notes he had no close relatives living in communist-controlled countries.

Union carpenters get a new tool: Voting rights

Thu, 9 Feb 2012 14:57:47 EST

Daniel Massey - Rank-and-file carpenters will get to vote on their contracts for the first time in their union's history, just one month after new leaders took over the organization promising to make it more transparent.

The delegate body of the 25,000-member New York City District Council of Carpenters voted unanimously Wednesday night to allow the union's members to have final say on a series of five contracts negotiated with contractor associations last year.

“We decided that the best way to go forward was for rank-and-file ratification of the contract,” said Mike Bilelo, the union's new executive secretary-treasurer. “It's something I campaigned on. It's part of the transparency of the new district council, the desire for us to put control of the organization back in the hands of the membership.”

A clerical gaffe by leaders of the national carpenters union, which ran the District Council until earlier this year, forced them to table a delegates' vote on the five contracts, which leaders had hoped to push through before the new brain trust was installed.

“We've been in limbo,” said John DeLollis, executive director of the Association of Wall-Ceiling and Carpentry Industries. “At least we're coming to a vote and we'll know where we are. It's very difficult to run a business when you don't know what it's going to cost the next year or the year after.”

Mr. DeLollis said he believed there was a 50-50 chance the contracts would pass. He said contractors would step up efforts to educate employees on the deals and why they should be approved.

The contracts contain a so-called market-recovery rate, which would give contractors a 20% discount on hotel and certain residential work. And they include a controversial “full mobility” provision that would to enable contractors to select any member of the union to work for them; the current system compels them to hire at least one-third of their workers via union referrals.

Mr. Bilelo would not indicate whether he was in favor of the contract, saying he did not want to “taint the process.” He campaigned vigorously against full mobility, but it might be to his benefit to have the contracts pass. He would not be blamed for deals that he did not negotiate and would not face the prospect of messy, complicated negotiations for new deals so early in his tenure.

Simply allowing the votes helps Mr. Bilelo's standing with his members because it involves them in the process.

The deals were agreed to by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, which assumed stewardship of the historically-troubled union after its chief was jailed following a 2009 racketeering scandal.

“It's a good move,” said Dennis Walsh, a monitor appointed by the federal government to oversee the operations of the scandal-plagued union. “I think it's the most direct way to see what the rank and file feel about all of these provisions in these contracts. It's a positive step and it will get the rank and file involved in determining the course that's best for their future.”

Protestors target Apple factories

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 15:56:58 EST

Emily Laermer - If you see somebody dressed as an iPod Thursday during your morning commute to Grand Central, you've stumbled upon a protest.

Protestors are planning to deliver 250,000 signed letters to Apple stores in six cities around the world to petition the company to fix poor working conditions in Chinese factories. The protest has been organized by Change.org and SumOfUs.org, two websites that have collected signatures online. New York protestors will visit the new Apple store in Grand Central Terminal. Other cities include Washington, San Francisco, London, Sydney and Bangalore.

“We are asking Apple to clean up its supply chains and practices in time for the iPhone 5 to be the first ethically produced product,” said Taren Stinebrickner Kauffman, the executive director of SumOfUs.org.

The petition on the 2-month-old website has received about 57,000 signatures since it was posted less than two weeks ago.

“We mean that workers throughout the supply chain are paid living wages, treated humanely and had health working conditions. It doesn't seen like we are asking that much,” Ms. Stinebrickner added.

Around a dozen organizers from Change.org are leading the protest in New York and will be joined by local protestors.

“Apple is a leader in the tech industry now, and all other tech companies should follow their lead,” said Sarah Ryan, the human rights organizer of Change.org.

The organization has received some 194,000 signatures on its petition in less than two weeks.

“It's their opportunity to lead the industry, not just in technology, but in how they treat their worker,” Ms. Ryan said.

Last month, The New York Times and NPR published reports about Apple's supply chains, including details on use of child labor, low minimum wages and long working hours.

Apple released a supply-chain audit, which showed that, of its 156 suppliers, 93 had records indicating that more than 50% of their employees exceeded the company's weekly working hour limit of 60 hours per week. It also showed that 42 had payment practice violations, and 108 did not pay proper minimum wage, according to the audit. Apple says it will take measures to reduce these numbers.

The tech company last year conducted more audits of suppliers than ever before: 229, compared with 127 in 2010 and just 39 in 2007, according to the audit. One of the protestors' largest targets is Foxconn, which employs nearly 1 million workers.

“Every year we inspect more factories, raising the bar for our partners and going deeper into the supply chain,” CEO Tim Cook wrote in an internal note to Apple employees, published by 9to5mac.com on Jan. 26, just a day after the New York Times article was published. “We've made a great deal of progress and improved conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers.”

Also last month, Apple for the first time released a list of its suppliers.

Fashion models organize to fend off abuses

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 14:53:17 EST

Associated Press - Models are more than just pretty faces. They're often overworked, underfed and underage independent contractors with little say when things go bad behind the scenes.

Many are just teenagers far from home, in some cases earning as much in a day as their poor families back in Russia and Eastern Europe do in a month. As a result, many fear speaking out about sexual harassment, unscrupulous booking agencies, demands to alter their bodies, lack of backstage privacy and punishing stretches with little sleep.

"Modeling is precarious freelance labor," said model Sara Ziff, who was discovered at 14 walking home from her New York City high school. "We have very little job security. It's also a winner-takes-all market. There's only one Gisele. Basically, it's a labor force of children who are working in a very grown-up business."

In hopes of changing things, Ms. Ziff has founded The Model Alliance, dedicated to improving the working conditions of models and persuading the industry to take better care of its young.

Among other things, Ms. Ziff has set up a confidential system for models to report inappropriate conduct or other abuses during New York Fashion Week, which opens Thursday. She is also working on a Models' Bill of Rights.

Backed for now by anonymous donors, the Alliance was launched Monday and has a board of directors and an advisory board drawn from the worlds of law, labor and entertainment.

Ms. Ziff, who has more than a decade on the runway and has served as the face of Tommy Hilfiger, Banana Republic and Stella McCartney, has enlisted some of her famous model friends, including Shalom Harlow, Doutzen Kroes and Coco Rocha, one of the first to speak frankly about eating disorders in the trade.

Ms. Ziff, 29, also has the support of the powerful Council of Fashion Designers of America. The trade group gave her fledgling nonprofit a boost when it issued its annual pre-Fashion Week plea to designers and model wranglers to keep photographers at bay when models are changing backstage and to keep girls under 16 off the runways by checking IDs.

It's not the first attempt to improve the working conditions of models. A union, The Models Guild, was founded in 1995 along the lines of the Screen Actors Guild, but it faltered a few years later for lack of members.

Ms. Ziff's alliance isn't a union but an effort to persuade models to take control in an industry where they're often treated as a commodity—"like choosing a gallon of milk at the deli," she said.

"One beautiful 13 year old can be substituted for another beautiful 13 year old," added Susan Scafidi, who heads the Fashion Law Institute at Fordham University and is on the Alliance's board of directors.

A draft of the Models' Bill of Rights includes demands that all jobs and castings involving nudity be subject to informed consent, and that no model under 17 be asked to pose nude or semi-nude. It also calls for booking agents not to lie about the ages of the models they represent and for agents to work with parents of high school-age models to draw up an on-the-job education plan.

The Alliance also wants changing areas that are off-limits to photographers and is asking for more transparency in the way money is handled.

Elettra Wiedemann, the 28-year-old daughter of actress and model Isabella Rossellini, recalled her own start in the business at age 14. She took part in a panel discussion Tuesday hosted by the CFDA's health initiative, begun in 2007 to address unhealthy eating and the debate over how thin is too thin for models.

"I did experience when I first started modeling a lot of pressure from my agency in Italy. They asked me to get a breast reduction. They asked me to get a nose job. They constantly critiqued my weight," she said. "You go through a period of sadness and anger and self-loathing, and then I just decided, 'You know what, I'm much more than just a number on a scale.' I chose to have a boundary for myself."

In 2006, at least two models died of complications linked to eating disorders, which prompted some in Europe to try to ban ultra-skinny models from the runway.

Efforts have been more passive in the U.S. The CFDA held workshops on eating disorders and recommended that designers offer healthier snacks backstage and require those with eating disorders to seek professional help if they want to continue modeling. In the past few years, sunken-eyed, skeletal "heroin chic" has given way to a sportier, healthier look among some designers and labels.

The majority of models never hit it big, never starve themselves to hospitalization or death and never fall prey to sexual predators with cameras or a casting couch.

But some end up working for clothes instead of cash, spend years in debt to their booking agencies for travel and living expenses as they jet around the world, and struggle with depression and other fallout from little sleep and poor eating habits.

What will it take to achieve widespread reform?

"Part of it is educating the public to see things differently," Ms. Ziff said.

Small firm seizes control of supply chain

Wed, 8 Feb 2012 10:11:33 EST

Jeremy Quittner - Mention supply-chain management to most people, and their eyes glaze over. But it's not the journey to Wonkville you'd expect.

Supply-chain management is critical to the way most small businesses operate. Keep too much inventory on hand, and you could be driven out of business for tying up too much cash in products you fail to sell. Keep too little, and you could doom your business because you can't supply your own customers with product.

And if you produce for a large retailer, it'll demand you have a supply-chain management system so it can create its own forecasts.

It's a balancing act, and it's vastly complicated to manage, because there are a lot of moving parts, and it can cost thousands to tens of thousands of dollars annually.

Fortunately, most software providers—some of the big names are Manugistics and JDA Software Group Inc., as well as SAS and Oracle—offer dedicated software packages or software as a service to help. Over the past couple of years, the products have become more sophisticated, enabling small business owners to communicate, and even collaborate, in real time with suppliers and their own customers on such tasks as locating raw materials, shipping and creating replenishment forecasts.

“In 30 years, I have not run across an industry that does not have a dimension of supply-chain complexity, where they are not trying to manage the imbalance of demand and supply,” said Rich Bergmann, global lead for management consultancy Accenture's manufacturing practice in Chicago.

Crain's New York Business contributor Jeremy Quittner spoke with David Shin, owner and founder of Brooklyn-based Sound Beginnings Inc., about his use of supply-chain management software.

Sound Beginnings, founded in 2009, has two full-time employees and less than $1 million in annual revenues. The company, which manufactures in China and has a warehouse in Ohio, produces a prenatal device that lets expectant parents play sounds to their children in utero.

Since 2010, Mr. Shin has used a service from GS1 US, an arm of the international nonprofit GS1, which has helped set up global standards around supply-chain management. Following is an edited transcript of their conversation.

Have you always used a supply-chain management system?

I knew it was important from the beginning, but I kind of ignored that and tried to manage it myself, which cost me a lot more money than if I had started with software or a company that specialized in this.

What was the issue in terms of managing demand?

I tried to do it on my own spreadsheet, but I could not manage it efficiently enough, where I understood how much inventory I needed to hold, and how much supply was available to me, and at what price. It cost me a lot of time and money by holding too much or too little of the supplies, raw materials or inventory.

Supply-chain management is pretty complicated. How did you set about solving the problem?

Mostly by luck. I found GS1 US. They are the ones who helped set up and standardize UPC bar codes. They also provide other services, like tracking of raw materials through the UPC codes online.

What are some examples of raw materials in your supply chain?

There are about 55 different components to my product, including textiles and rubber materials for speakers and electronic components. I had the factories I use in China sign up for this, and they track the UPC codes on these components, which helps me locate them there. I am looking for the best-quality product at the least possible price.

How much do you pay to use the GS1 US service?

It's a yearly fee—about $1,000.

What kind of benefit are you getting for that?

It is not a lot of money, and it helps me locate and find out exactly how much the raw materials are going to cost me. And it saves a lot of time and headache and effort.

How do you access it? How hard was it to learn?

It is a website. You have a user name and password, and you log in. The most complicated thing was understanding how everything worked. You need to use separate codes for shipping and then different codes for individual products, cases and palettes. And understanding how all this works with the freight companies and customs and all the other companies involved in getting that product from China to the U.S. took me about a month to learn because there were so many moving parts.

But it was pretty fast, and it was very intuitive, and it is explained very well on the website with tutorials. And they have customer service that is extremely helpful.

Any limitations or problems?

Well, GS1 US is not completely comprehensive, and I have had to build my own spreadsheet to track some suppliers not listed in the database, to track them myself. Also, the pricing is tiered. For more money, you get more codes at your disposal. At my tier, I can only produce 999 unique product codes annually. Grocery stores, on the other hand, use thousands of different UPC codes. But I had many more problems not using GS1 US.

Do you use anything else for supply-chain management—say, with the retailers you sell to?

The bigger retailers each have their own proprietary software that I use downstream. I tap into this online. Their systems tell me the demand they are forecasting for my specific product. The big retailers are about the same: They will tell you week by week how much they forecast the demand for the next week. This is how I track my inventory levels, and then I can source my raw materials depending on that forecast.

I was a math major and have created my own algorithms, but I keep a certain number of units in my Wooster, Ohio, warehouse and ship it out depending on how much more is forecast.

Has this saved you time or money?

It has saved me tons of time—perhaps as much 99% of my time. Before this, I was searching on websites for products and textiles and other raw materials and then calling suppliers or emailing them individually to see if they had it on hand and how much they were charging.

How much less inventory do you need now?

At least 50% less.

What can you do with the money you are saving on inventory?

Advertising is a huge part. The demand forecast from retailers, which is very specific to cities, helps us because we can purchase advertising that is specific to regions instead of randomly advertising massively. We can also bring on more part-time employees.

Would you recommend this to other small business owners?

It is invaluable for a small company like mine. I could not survive without it. It helps me compete with big companies, like many of the baby-product manufacturers. And it means I can get into the bigger retailers, because they demand you use supply-chain management tools, and they ask you to have a UPC code so they can keep track of their own supply chains.

FreshDirect picks the Bronx

Tue, 7 Feb 2012 11:51:29 EST

Later, New Jersey. FreshDirect is sticking with New York.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday morning that they reached a deal with the online grocer, which will build its new headquarters in the Bronx. The company plans to move into the new space in 2015.

The deal ends an effort by New Jersey officials, who had hoped to lure the Long Island City, Queens-based company to a location in Jersey City by offering about $100 million worth of incentives.

New York's package of incentives totals $127.8 million, including $89.4 million from the city. The state is kicking in $33.9 million in tax credits, grants and loans. FreshDirect will invest $112.6 million to build its headquarters at the Harlem River Yards. At 500,000-square-feet, the new facility on a 16-acre parcel, will be more than twice the size of FreshDirect's current operation and allow the company to further expand into new territories, including deeper penetration into New Jersey and Connecticut and into Philadelphia.

Over the next five years FreshDirect expects to add another 1,000 jobs to its current 1,963 workforce.

“Making sure that companies like FreshDirect can grow and invest in the New York City is a key part of our strategy to rebuild and diversify our economy,” Mr. Bloomberg said in a statement.

Gov. Cuomo said in a statement, “Creating almost a thousand new jobs is a real victory for the Bronx and a clear sign that leading New York companies see this state as the place to start, stay and strengthen their businesses.”

Part of the financial package FreshDirect secured includes credits for building an environmentally friendly facility. In addition, the company is purchasing electric refrigerated trucks.

According to the city, the construction of the new facility will result in the creation of 684 construction jobs here and an overall economic impact to the city of nearly $255 million.

Not everyone is applauding the move, however. At least one community group, Friends of Brook Park, is opposing FreshDirect's relocation. In an e-mail blast it is asking the public to attend a meeting on Thursday in lower Manhattan to discuss how FreshDirect's trucks will compound an already bad pollution problem in the area known for its high rates of asthma. The group, which advocates for waterfront access and green space development, is also concerned that FreshDirect's move will derail the Randall's Island Connector, a pedestrian and bicycle bridge that is supposed to connect the South Bronx to Randall's Island using land at the Harlem River Yards.