NEW YORK — Over the past two decades, a Brooklyn Public Library program has helped create dozens of businesses.
Library leaders say the PowerUP program was created in 2003 in response to the fear and uncertainty felt in the aftermath of September 11. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that more than 100,000 jobs were lost in New York in the weeks following the attacks. The library wanted to do something to boost the local economy in Brooklyn.
The free program requires an application process and includes seminars and lectures from business leaders throughout the year.
“By the end of these core lessons, you should have at least the format and framework for a business plan,” says Winnie Siclait, program manager at BPL’s Business and Career Center.
The program culminates in a competition with a grand prize of $20,000, and smaller cash rewards are given to the runners-up. Most of the financing comes from Dime Community Bank.
Library executives say the program has mentored more than 10,000 people and helped launch more than 100 businesses over the past two decades.
This year’s PowerUP awards ceremony will take place on November 13, with CBS News New York reporter Hannah Kliger hosting the event.
Past winners of the PowerUP competition share success stories
George Constantinou is co-owner of Bogota Latin Bistro in Park Slope and winner of the first PowerUP competition 21 years ago.
“I was just a hungry student, and there was really a lot of manual labor. There were classes, there were seminars, there were a lot of professionals who got involved,” he said.
Now he and his partner are expanding to their sixth location through their catering business.
“We saw it as an opportunity to open something that was true to our hearts,” he said.
David and Esther Betten opened the doors of Argyle Yarn Shop in Prospect Heights 13 years ago.
Skis of every color line the shelves, and a rich forest green fiber is wound into a ball at the checkout, ready for a new craft project.
“It was a passion of mine about a decade earlier, and my husband decided it would make a great little business,” says Esther Betten.
In 2010, the couple took part in the PowerUP business competition.
“They gave free lectures on finding financing, writing a business plan and negotiating a lease,” said David Betton.
More than a decade later, their store attracts a steady stream of craft enthusiasts. They have expanded to owning their own line of yarn products, dyed in a colorful array of shades, in their store.
Alumni of the program say, in retrospect, the big reward isn’t the actual money.
“If you have your own small business at the end of the process, that’s the big prize,” says David Betten.
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Hannah Kliger
