The Brooklyn Navy Yard is hoping to make things easier for Black and brown entrepreneurs through an "Equity Incubator," and it is currently looking for a partner in the project.
Staff says the statistics are alarming with single-digit numbers when it comes to venture capital invested in African American, Latinx and women-owned firms.
"A number of years ago, we looked at the tenant base of the yard and honestly said to ourselves this does not represent the full diversity of New York,” said President David Ehrenberg.
Over the years, the Brooklyn Navy Yard has worked on various diversity initiatives and outreach. Executives started drafting the request for a proposal before the pandemic and then it was put on hold.
They say they realized it couldn’t wait any longer.
"We want to make sure that we're not just talking about it, but we're putting it into action and putting our money where our mouth is,” said Ehrenberg.
It’s a task that the industrial park knew it couldn’t handle on its own.
"We want a partner because we recognize that these are services that you know somebody else has expertise in and works at a scale, one on one with entrepreneurs that we really don't do as an institution. But we want to make sure that that operator again has diversity inclusion as its core,” said Ehrenberg.
The yard hopes the venture will launch and grow minority-owned businesses through stable rent, programming and networking events.
The deadline to apply is Dec. 4.