Coalition for Queens releases its Year in Review for 2012, great accomplishments for LIC's tech community

The Coalition for Queens, the non-profit organization that promotes and fosters the budding tech industry in Queens through advocacy, education and partnerships – whose efforts and partners are no stranger to QueensNYC – just released its 2012 Year in Review. The summary of the year’s accomplishments includes the launching of the very successful Queens Tech Meetup series, a forum for sharing products and ideas; the offering of entrepreneurship classes in partnership with the online community, Skillshare; and gaining the support of significant elected officials on federal, state and municipal levels, including Governor Cuomo, Speaker Christine Quinn and Representative Joseph Crowley. The Coalition also responded to the devastation of Superstorm Sandy by providing timely pop-up locations for tech entrepreneurs.

Image source: Songza

Whether or not you work in – or are otherwise connected to – the tech sector, you may not know that more than 50 tech-related companies are now based in the borough of Queens, many of which are attracting significant venture capital and subsequently growing rapidly, creating jobs for the Tri-State Area. Songza, the site that provides curated musical experiences centered around a specific activity, such as hosting a party or falling asleep, is headquartered in Long Island City.

Image source: BetaBeat – ribbon cutting at Shapeways in late 2012

Shapeways, a company that takes your designs and “prints” them in a 3-D format, shipping the output directly to you, expanded to include a site here. LIC-based Digital Natives Group develops flexible mobile applications for school districts and colleges to provide instantaneous 360° communications for these special communities. Other local tech businesses include Aereo, which provides live, on-air television through antennas on your mobile device, and Rukkus, the user-friendly event ticket aggregator.

Image source: Jukay

The Coalition for Queens was founded by Jukay Hsu, a Flushing native with an impressive background. A graduate of Harvard, he served in the Army in Iraq, charged with community and economic development projects, and helped Iraqis to establish the first private radio station in that country. He was interested in the tech industry – especially in the borough where he was raised – and saw a gap between this community, local residents and elected officials. So, he decided start an initiative promoting tech business expansion and innovation in Queens.

In 2012, two new stars joined the Coalition – David Yang, an accomplished architect and designer from Rego Park, and Ben Wei, who grew up in Forest Hills, has worked for Cory Booker and launched a tech company with Eduardo Saverin in Singapore.

The crowds at the Queens Tech Meetups

The Queens Tech Meetups have proved instrumental in establishing community, becoming the events at which to meet colleagues, share and gain feedback on products, and discuss issues and concerns. Hosting over 1,000 attendees this year, the Meetups were structured to be project-based or thematically focused and have featured luminaries from the industry such as Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit, Charlie O’Donnell of Brooklyn Bridge Ventures, and Rachel Haot, Chief Digital Officer for New York City.

Response from elected officials has been extraordinary. The Coalition is especially grateful for the support and mentorship of U. S. Representative Joseph Crowley, cites important support from New York City Councilwoman Karen Koslowitz, who chairs the Committee on Economic Development, and looks forward to continuing work the new Congresswoman from Flushing, Grace Meng. Hsu was able to successfully integrate the budding Queens tech community into New York State’s long-term planning in the work of Governor Cuomo’s Regional Economic Development Council for New York City.

Additionally, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has taken note of the Coalition for Queens with some real backing. Since career development and skill acquisition is a big priority for the Coalition – did you know that only one in four programming jobs in New York City is filled? a role that doesn’t necessarily require a degree from MIT – they are launching an intensive course in programming, to be implemented in 2013, with support from the Speaker.

This year the local tech industry got a shot in the arm with the announcement of the development of a new outpost of Cornell University that will be constructed on the South half of Roosevelt Island. The Cornell NYC Tech campus, home to the future graduate school for technology, is being designed by architect Thom Mayne of Morphosis Architects, and will include “co-location” buildings – spaces where the industry can work collaboratively with students. The first phase is scheduled to be operational by 2017.

Image source: NYC EDC – logo for the ConnectNYC Fiber Challenge

What else is on the horizon for 2013? Making sure local tech initiatives gain access to the best high-speed broadband wiring. In its role as a conduit between the economic development efforts of the City and the tech community, the Coalition is urging entrepreneurs to apply to the ConnectNYC Fiber Challenge, an initiative that provides free fiber wiring build-out for approved small and mid-sized businesses.

Simon Constable, a host on WSJ Live, suggested that Long Island City might remain no more than a starting point for new businesses that will eventually move to Manhattan. Well, so what if they do? Providing a nurturing  environment through financial incentives, skill-building opportunities and platforms for the sharing of new ideas is ultimately good for the tech industry worldwide, with positive economic reverberations not just for Queens.

Previous articles on the Coalition for Queens from QueensNYC:

Queens: NYC’s New Tech Hub? Certainly Looks Like It
Coalition for Queens Founder Jukay Hsu in the New  York Times
Coalition for Queens partners with Skillshare and LaGuardia CC to bring classes to LIC