Manufacture New York (MNY), a hybrid fashion incubator and factory for independent designers, has been named as one of 50 national winners of a U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) award. MNY will receive a $50,000 grant as part of an Obama administration Growth Accelerator Fund competition looking to invest in job creators.
Said MNY CEO Bob Bland, “This is a tremendous honor. We’re very pleased that a sustainable business model emphasizing local design and production is now being recognized as pointing the way toward future job creation and a Made in America resurgence.”
MNY is one of only 50 winners out of 800 applications nationwide. A panel of experts in entrepreneurship, investing, and business plans reviewed finalists from both within the government and the private sector. MNY is the only New York City-based incubator to win an SBA award.
Said Bland, “We’re hopeful that this recognition of our hard work will help to inspire other domestic manufacturers to move forward. Local apparel production is indeed beginning a renaissance in New York City, and we’re grateful that the SBA is willing to contribute to our incubator’s ability to help local startups and entrepreneurs.”
SBA launched the 1st annual Growth Accelerator Fund competition in May 2014 to award “supplemental and critical capital to the operating budgets of entrepreneurial ecosystems across the United States.” Special consideration was given to “any accelerator models which support manufacturing.” Founded in 2012, MNY recently celebrated its 2nd anniversary during New York Fashion Week (NYFW), and has already been recognized for its innovative Garment Center Pilot Program in midtown Manhattan. The SBA award will also aid MNY’s efforts to launch an innovative 160,000-square-foot manufacturing innovation center for apparel, textiles, and wearable technology in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Said SBA Administrator Maria Contreras-Sweet, "The SBA is empowering accelerators and startups that are on the cutting edge of successful, innovative new endeavors. We’ve seen the enormous success of the accelerator model in communities like Silicon Valley. We believe we can export this type of sophisticated support structure across the country to help start-ups become commercially viable and create jobs more quickly. I want SBA to stand for 'Smart, Bold and Accessible' and these accelerators encompass all three of these goals.”
For press inquiries, contact Steven Capozzola at or .
For more information on the Growth Accelerator Fund, visit: http://www.sba.gov/blogs/sba-launches-growth-accelerator-fund
For more information on Manufacture New York, visit: https://manufactureny.org
