Gotham Greens wins NY Green Business Competition
Contact: Stefanie Rogers, stefanierogers@gmail.com, 917-309-5881
Gotham Greens Wins The First Annual NY Green Business Competition
Brooklyn, NY (May 15, 2009) – The New York Green Business Competition is proud to announce the winners of the first annual competition at an awards ceremony that took place on May 14th at the Brooklyn Borough Hall. Gotham Greens, a company creating NYC’s first commercial scale, rooftop hydroponic farm, took the grand prize while e.c.o. Incorporated and DBA took second and third places respectively.
Over 300 invite-only green business leaders, city officials, sponsors, and media watched the five competition finalists present their business plans to an esteemed panel of judges and guests. Judges decided the winning companies shortly after the presentations.
Rohit Aggarwala, NYC’s Director of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability and the mastermind behind Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC, spoke at the ceremony, and Graham Hill, Founder of Treehugger.com, announced the winners of the 2009 NY Green Business Competition.
The Green Business Competition attracted over 70 New York state green start-ups to compete for prize packages worth over $30,000 in investment capital, office space at Green Spaces, and other business support.
The first place winner received a package valued at $25,000, which includes $8,000 in investment capital, one rent-free year at Green Spaces, and marketing, legal and financial services. The second place winners received $1,000 and a similar prize package valued at $5,000. The third place winner received a prize package valued at $1,000.
About the winners
1st Place - Gotham Greens is creating NYC’s first commercial scale, rooftop hydroponic farm. The 12,000 ft2 facility will grow over 30 tons of premium quality, pesticide-free vegetables each year for the NYC retail and restaurant market. The farm will combine technically sophisticated Controlled Environment Agriculture techniques with unique energy saving innovations. Gotham Greens addresses ecological and public health concerns surrounding conventional agriculture, including long distance food transport and food safety, while bringing New Yorkers delicious, local produce year round.
2nd Place – Environmentally Conscious Organization (e.c.o Inc.) is a design, licensing, manufacturing and subcontract management firm, dedicated to improving outmoded, outdated and wasteful food packaging. e.c.o. is marketing its first product, the ‘Green Box’ (U.S. Patent 7051919), a pizza box manufactured from 100% recycled and recyclable material. The top of the “Green Box” breaks down into convenient serving plates and the bottom of the box converts easily into a handy storage unit, thus eliminating the need for disposable plates, aluminum foil, plastic wrap and plastic bags. The perforations and scores that create this functionality allow for easy disposal into a standard-sized recycling bin.
3rd Place – DBA is a New York based product development company founded in 2008 with the goal of developing unique products that combine aesthetic strength, technical innovation, and ecologically effective principles. DBA’s wares are distinguished by an honest simplicity and a heightened sensitivity to user needs. Furthermore, DBA is committed to the awareness and application of responsible materials, efficient construction, and intelligent packaging.
About the NY Green Business Competition
The New York Green Business Competition presented by Green Spaces is a groundbreaking platform to promote and support emerging green businesses in the state of New York. Our mission is to reward companies that have the potential to revolutionize their industry by creating green jobs while preserving our ecological resources.
The competition was presented byGreen Spaces, a leader in providing green entrepreneurswith workspace, business services, workshops, and anetwork of over 4,500 people in New York City.
Con Edison served as the Prize Sponsor and The Nature Conservancy served as the Non-Profit Sponsor of the competition. Other sponsors included SquareSpace, Design and Source Productions, Inc., EcoFusion, The Park Avenue Bank, Core Industries, Impact International, Citrin Cooperman & Company LLP, Plenty Magazine, Grist.org, 92Y Tribeca, NYU Stern School of Business, Treehugger, Tishman Speyer, Mintz Levin, Greenopia, Solar Energy Systems, The Soap Group, Honest Tea, VeeV, Net Impact, Kinetix, Marc Alt + Partners, Method, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP, The Sustainable Business Network of New York City, the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and Group SJR.
About Green Spaces
Green Spaces brings together leading green entrepreneurs by offering affordable work space, shared resources and a community to launch businesses. With real estate locations in downtown Brooklyn and Manhattan, Green Spaces is home to local, national and international businesses seeking to break into the New York economy. Green Spaces offers the following services to emerging green entrepreneurs:
- Work space with wireless internet, conference rooms and lounge space
- Rotational intern program for client projects
- In-house client networking and business services
- Monthly entrepreneur workshops
- Quarterly newsletters featuring clients and events that reaches over 4,000 people
Since opening its doors in May 2008, Green Spaces has seen tremendous growth, a sign that New York's green economy is alive and well.
Tuesday, May 19, 2009 at 12:26PM 