“START-UP NY” A TAX FREE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ZONE

If you are looking to establish or grow a business somewhere in the New York area — the kind of enterprise that would align with a college’s academic mission and support training in specialized fields such as automotive technology, biotechnology, web design — Bronx Community College is now a very tempting location. The CUNY institution has just been selected as the Bronx participant in “START-UP NY”, a ground-breaking initiative from Governor Andrew Cuomo that will create tax free zones on or around college and university campuses across the state. This will provide a major economic incentive for corporate-academic partnerships in BCC’s University Heights neighborhood. Intrepid entrepreneurs who launch or expand their enterprises under START-UP NY will pay no state or local taxes for 10 years — that includes no income tax for employees, and no sales, property or business tax.

State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein announces Start Up New York at BCC.

State Senator Jeffrey D. Klein formally made the announcement on Thursday, November 14, under the emerald-green marble columns of Bronx Community College’s historic Gould Memorial Library. It was delivered during day one of BCC’s two-day  Sustainable Energy and Design Conference, which drew a fair share of potential entrepreneurial partners from the fields of solar energy, architecture and design.

“You don’t very often have ‘tax’ and ‘free’ in the same sentence,” said the senator.  “That’s the message we need to be sending to prospective employers around the United States — really around the world — that you can come to New York and you can help our economy and help us grow jobs and you don’t pay any taxes. And I am very excited that it is going to start right here in Bronx Community College.”

“I know the potential of people who live in this great borough,” the senator continued. “We owe them and future generations a great education and a great job upon graduation.”

Bronx Community College President Carole M. Berotte Joseph called on the private sector to take advantage of START-UP NY. “If you have any ideas, new companies or businesses, any way that Bronx Community College can educate and train and prepare your workforce, we’re there for you. This is the time to be creative, to take chances, to do things that will help stimulate the economy.”

START-UP NY will officially begin on January 1, 2014. The College plans to hold a Start-Up New York business conference soon afterwards. Those who wish to find out more about the program should contact startupny@esd.ny.gov.

Published by CUNY Newswire