An ad in the subway for the “Made in NY” campaign. (Credit: Alison Bowen)
Tech company employees are joining the ranks of film and television projects courted by New York City.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today that Made in New York, a city program previously highlighting only television and film projects, will expand to cultivate tech businesses.
Bloombergsaid the “We are Made in NY” program will feature a list of tech jobs and available grants in hopes of convincing tech companies to plant themselves in New York.
“The city offers the ideal location for talented people with ground-breaking ideas to start their companies,” Bloomberg said today.
Between 2007 and 2011, the number of employees at digital media companies grew by 80 percent, according to the mayor’s office.
Among the companies based in New York are Etsy, an online shop where people sell their homemade and vintage goods like jewelry, and Kickstarter, a platform for people to raise money for projects.
“Etsy’s headquarters have always been in Brooklyn, and we are proud to call this city home,” Etsy CEO Chad Dickerson said.
The city will create a map of tech jobs, pulling from more than 900 local companies, which boast 3,000 available jobs now, Bloomberg said.
The Made in NY website will also tell tech companies about subsidized office space, and the ad campaign will adorn subway stations and buses.
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