QUEENS, N.Y. (PIX11) -- The Queens business community gathered at Citi Field Tuesday for the Queens Chamber of Commerce’s annual business expo.
About 140 groups, primarily based in Queens, attended. The event aimed to help businesses, large and small, network with the community.
“It’s the vibe, it’s the crowd. Queens has got $40 billion of projects. They want to be a part of that,” said the President and CEO of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, Thomas Grech
The expo takes place every year and highlights the opportunities in the borough.
“For a hundred years, queens was the place you traveled through. Now it’s the place you travel to," Grech said. “It’s all about jobs, jobs, jobs, and I don’t want the smart kids of queens that live here in Queens to go anywhere else. I want them to live, work, and play right here.”
The Chamber of Commerce announced the Queens Innovation Foundation at the event, which will raise 40 million dollars for local tech startups.
One of them is Mesh, a Bluetooth tracking system for caregivers. The founder, Kiyeon Nam, is from Bayside.
She said seeing so much innovation and investment in the borough is inspiring.
“I always believe that Queens is the future tech hub. So much resources, especially people. People are so smart in queens and I believe in people in queens. And we have the land,” Nam said.
Celeste Sassine was also there. The Queens Village mom opened Sassy Sweet Vegan Treats in 2018.
Sassine largely runs her business online, so she said it is important for her to attend events like this one.
“There are bankers here, investments here, possibility for grants here. There are other businesses I can connect with that I don’t know. I need to know because you don’t know what your future holds,” Sassine said.
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