In Progress: Yonkers' Y-Enterprise gets makeover
- Yonkers%27 Y-Enterprise Business Center moving to historic Gazette building at the end of April
- Shared workspace company W@tercooler in Tarrytown may occupy Y-Enterprise%27s vacated space
History:Y-Enterprise is a small-business incubator launched in 2011 at 28 Wells Ave. by Yonkers' office of economic development to help biotech and tech companies establish themselves in Yonkers. The idea was to give companies a year of rent-free office space and other support in the hope that the companies would grow, hire more people and eventually settle in the city. The 7,000-square-foot incubator didn't attract the desired tech companies, and when Mayor Mike Spano took office in 2012 the incubator was essentially empty. So, city officials reconfigured the concept to allow non-tech, fledgling ventures to move in.
Changes: City officials will move Y-Enterprise to 55 Main St., the historic Gazette building, at the end of April. The shared workspace company W@tercooler in Tarrytown is negotiating with the landlord of 28 Wells Ave. to occupy Y-Enterprise's vacated space. W@tercooler's founder Jenifer Ross said she would like to expand into Yonkers into the Yonkers space by the end of the summer.
Who's there: There is space for five tenants and four tenants are moving into Y-Enterprise's 1,500-square-foot location at the Gazette building. They include Market Grub Media, a web development company; the New York State Small Business Development Center; Big Indie Pictures, a film and television production company; and Numeric Pictures, a film and television production company, whose director Dave Steck produced the last year's YoFi Fest, a three-day film festival.
Twitter: @Ernie_G_journo
