Colmena66, NY Fed to host ‘Connect to Grow’ to support local businesses
Denisse Rodríguez, director of Colmena66 the one-stop shop event aims to assist small business owners and entrepreneurs. (Credit: José R. Madera)
Colmena66 and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York will host “Connect to Grow” an event where small business owners, merchants and entrepreneurs will find in one location information and tools necessary to develop, strengthen or establish a business on the island post-Hurricane María.
The free event will take place May 10, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., at the Haydee Piñero Buck Auditorium of the Jesús T. Piñero Library and Social Research Center at the Universidad del Este in Carolina.
Some of the services available to attendees are: business support, individual assistance appointments, information about assistance with recovering from natural disasters, legal assistance, how to access federal contracts, access to financing, as well as information on how to export.
“We’re excited to collaborate with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and Kingbird Innovation Center of Universidad del Este to connect business owners and entrepreneurs with organizations that provide business support all in one place, this is precisely what we do every day in Colmena66,” said Denisse Rodríguez, director of Colmena66, a program of the Puerto Rico Science, Technology and Research Trust.
Tony Davis, Director of Community Engagement of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, reiterated the New York Fed’s commitment to supporting the business environment in Puerto Rico by providing the necessary tools, as well as information about financing and credit for development and growth of small and medium sized businesses.
“Looking toward the future, the forum strengthens the business sector to create a stronger and more dynamic economy,” Davis said.
Participating organizations include the Small Business Administration, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Insurance and Mitigation Administration, Federal Contracting Center, Kingbird Innovation Center, among others.
Are you able to finance in PR a number of small vertical farms starting-up to enable production of small fruit, vegetables for export and domestic sale, on towers that do not need power to run?