Start-up companies and hi-tech businesses looking to launch on Long Island can find a home in the Village of Great Neck Plaza.
LaunchPad, a co-working space with more than 30 offices that aims to provide services for early-stage companies, held a ribbon cutting at its new 3 Grace Ave. location.
“It’s really a resource or platform so whether you need a lawyer, a marketer, an accountant, you come to LaunchPad,” LaunchPad owner Andrew Hazen said. “And any of those things you need, we help you get to the next level.”
Hazen said LaunchPad Great Neck’s opening was the company’s fifth location on Long Island in the last three years, with other locations in Mineola, Old Westbury, Stony Brook and Huntington.
The 10,000-square-foot space, he said, offers young entrepreneurs 24/7 access to their offices, wi-fi and other professional support services.
“Our mission is to help entrepreneurs and start-ups build a viable product, launch fast and prepare for growth,” Hazen said.
He also said last year the company was designated by New York State as an “Innovation Hot Spot.”
“It means that any company or business, of five years or less, that is a resident or affiliated with LaunchPad, they qualify for five years of no state income tax and other benefits,” Hazen said.
Three companies affiliated with LaunchPad had been granted those benefits, he said.
Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano, who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony, praised LaunchPad’s efforts in growing business in the county.
“We’re thrilled to have a third LaunchPad in Nassau County,” Mangano said. “These facilities are creating jobs and opportunities.”
He added that company’s like LaunchPad contributed to the county’s unemployment dropping to the lowest in the state at 4.2 percent.
Village of Great Neck Plaza Mayor Jean Celender, who was also at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, said she was approached in the spring of 2014 by the Town of North Hempstead’s Business and Tourism Development Corporation Executive Director Kim Kaiman, who was looking for a vacant space for a new Launchpad location.
After seeing the operation at its Mineola location, Celender said, she went searching for vacant spaces in the village and found the Grace Avenue building’s owner, Effie Namdar.
“He’s community-oriented and he wanted to do something to give back to the community by bringing in new businesses and having hi-tech and entrepreneurial businesses,” she said.
Offices at LaunchPad start at $100 per month for a working space, with bigger offices going for anywhere from $500 to $1,200 per month.
Hazen said he was offering the first month of rent free for new businesses.
He also said LaunchPad was awarded $375,000 from Empire State Development’s Regional Economic Development Council, which the company would be spending over the next three years.
Hazen said he was excited to open in Great Neck because of its close proximity to the Long Island Rail Road station and New York City.
“It’s connected to a municipal parking garage, which is fantastic because everyone always needs somewhere to park,” he said.
The ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by local officials including Mangano, Celender, Village of Great Neck Plaza Deputy Mayor Ted Rosen, Village of Great Neck Plaza Trustees Lawrence Katz, Pamela Marksheid and Gerry Schneiderman, North Hempstead Town Supervisor Judi Bosworth, North Hempstead Councilwoman Anna Kaplan, Nassau County Legislator Ellen Birnbaum, Village of Great Neck Village Justice Mark Birnbaum, Great Neck Chamber of Commerce President Scott Zimmerman and Village of Great Neck Zoning Board of Appeals Chairperson Dennis Grossman.
