OUR PURPOSE
The Entrepreneur Space is an incubator that provides a home to emerging businesses. The nurturing ambience and business counseling support we offer enables the budding entrepreneur to grow their business at the pace that is best for them. Ultimately, our goal is to provide the spring board which allows the start-up entrepreneur to outgrow our facility and move to the next phase of their operation. “Businesses launched thru a period of nurturing in business incubators fare much better; with an 80% rate of success” (National Business Incubation Association). “Businesses launched by entrepreneurs acting on their own have only a 20% chance of surviving five or more years”. (US Small Business Administration).
“Climbing a ladder is an exercise that requires careful concentration.
Before we even begin climbing, we must identify what we want to reach,
choose a sturdy ladder of the right height; find a stable foundation, ask someone to help steady us.
As we start on our ascent, we place each foot carefully, focusing on keeping our balance.
We may get wobbly on the highest rungs; just before we reach the top.”
COMMERCIAL KITCHEN
The heart of our facility is the kitchen which provides a fully equipped production space for food business started from home; based on a family recipe/heritage or personal life experiences. Working from a home kitchen limits the scale of what can be efficiently produced and is also illegal. We nurture start-up foodpreneurs by offering them a professionally run kitchen with the necessary commercial equipment needed to manufacture in volume. Working from a home kitchen limits the scale of what can be efficiently produced and is also illegal. Since most start-up foodpreneurs begin a business on a part-time basis, The Entrepreneur Space allows for flexible production time based on need. While foodpreneurs build their clientele and revenue we supply the equipment they need without them having to lay out additional funds for equipment they may not need in the future.
To learn more about the kitchen space click here. Also check out the Apply tab for instructions on how to take the next steps to becoming a profitable business.
OFFICE SPACE
We also have classroom space and private/semi-private office areas for those who need to expand their business having outgrown their living room desk. Having a service business requires a quiet and professional space to meet potential clients.
Starting an instructional business means one has to find affordable space for your students. Our classroom is simply furnished but available for short shifts. To understand more about our classroom and office options click here.
HISTORY
Our building began its life as a manufacturing site for high end yacht furniture, then changed to a radio station and subsequently morphed into a car showroom. In 2000, the space reemerged as a workforce development training facility. The facility hosted intensive baking lessons, catering classes, construction courses etc., to teach new skills to the Queens population looking for career opportunity. Included were seminars on starting a building a business.
QEDC took over the facility in 2010 and created a complete incubator concept which encompasses not only the physical space (offices/workstations/classrooms and a commercial kitchen manufacturing space), but offers the special one-on-one counseling required for start-up entrepreneurs of all types. The Entrepreneur Space is a program of the Queens Economic Development Corporation (QEDC). QEDC has been in operation for over 45 years as a vehicle to assist in growing businesses in the borough of Queens. Previous to The Entrepreneur Space being created, their focus was one-to-one business counseling; specialized courses, seminars, and other efforts to revitalize neighborhoods and to support the entrepreneurs in Queens.
We are located near the Kaufman Astoria Studio, the Museum of the Moving Image and adjacent to the Astoria Arts District, The Entrepreneur Space is part of a dynamic and growing community.