Opening Delayed For Crucial Job Training And Entrepreneurship Lab At Industry City
Last September, Industry City announced the creation of the Innovation Lab, a jobs center that plans to provide job training as well as education and assistance to the community in entrepreneurship.
Cristal Rivera, Chief of Staff and Director of Community Engagement told us construction of the 7,700-square-foot space for the lab had just begun. The grand opening was to take place at the end of 2015.
The planned opening date has passed, and we reached out to Industry City once again to check in on the status — and whether there had been a change of plans.
“We expect to open the Innovation Lab in February, following the completion of construction,” Rivera tells us. “Once fully activated, the Lab will provide a direct conduit between local residents and area businesses located both here at Industry City and elsewhere in Sunset Park.”
Considering the $1 billion redevelopment being invested into the mammoth Industry City, the Innovation Lab serves — not only as an opportunity for excellent business education — but a concrete commitment to the Sunset Park community.
The public-private collaboration for the lab includes Industry City, CUNY’s City Tech (New York City College of Technology) and local non-profits: Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development Corporation (SBIDC), Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow (OBT), and the Center for Family Life (CFL).
Both Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and Council Member Carlos Menchaca have been heavily involved and have provided funds to non-profit organizations working on the lab.
“Nothing can transform one’s future like a good-paying job, and the innovation economy which has blossomed in Brooklyn is making new, good-paying jobs possible every day,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.
The Lab’s specific services and programs will include:
- Pre-screening and job placement services with the more than 400 businesses at Industry City, as well as businesses at other developments along the waterfront, including Bush Terminal, Liberty View, Sims Recycling Facility, and the Brooklyn Army Terminal.
- Technology and vocational training programs targeted to business growth needs.
- Entrepreneurship and cooperative training programs.
- Continuing education programs.
The lab is a crucial way to integrate and assist many struggling individuals within the Sunset Park community. Avoiding community disenfranchisement should be as a high priority as the tremendous commercial growth happening at I.C.