Focus on Digital Skills Training and Entrepreneurship Will Build Inclusive Talent Pipeline for City’s Tech Sector
Part of Mayor Adams’ “Working People’s Tour,” After City Set All-Time Total Jobs Record and Recovered All of Nearly 1 Million Jobs Lost During Pandemic
NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today was joined by New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President and CEO Andrew Kimball, The Fedcap Group, and elected and community partners to celebrate the opening of Civic Hall at Union Square, a tech and digital hub training New Yorkers and creating an inclusive talent pipeline for family-sustaining jobs in the city’s tech sector. Civic Hall at Union Square will help drive the growth of New York City’s tech ecosystem by combining accessible entrepreneurial space with digital skills training for diverse and traditionally underserved communities to allow all New Yorkers to participate in the opportunities this sector offers. It is expected to serve approximately 750 people in the first year.
The opening of Civic Hall at Union Square marks a key stop on Mayor Adams’ “Working People’s Tour,” continuing to create jobs and power New York City’s economic recovery after the city set an all-time job high record with 4.7 million total jobs, recovering the nearly 1 million private sector jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“With over 355,000 people working in the tech sector, New York City is the second largest technology hub in the world,” said Mayor Adams. “And with tech and digital training hubs like Civic Hall providing skill-building and world-class educational training to New Yorkers in diverse and traditionally underserved communities, we are aiming for number one. Today’s announcement marks another stop on our Working People’s Tour, and it proves we did not recover nearly 1 million jobs by accident.”
“This is an exciting stop on the Mayor's Working People's Tour. I am thrilled by the opening of Civic Hall and energized by what's in store in the new world-class space,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “In one of Manhattan's most transit-dense neighborhoods, Civic Hall will become the model for talent development and career advancement, offering industry-informed instruction and skill building, networking and career coaching, and pathways to well-paid careers in New York City's tech ecosystem for all New Yorkers.”
Civic Hall at Union Square occupies 85,000 square feet across seven floors in RAL Development’s Zero Irving Building, with flexible classrooms and workspaces, convening spaces for the nation’s leading skills and training organizations, and a customizable conference and events center. It will be supported and operated by Fedcap, an international leader in educational services, vocational training, and job attainment. It will also serve as a central space for tech innovators and entrepreneurs to develop new, cutting-edge applications and advancements, while driving dialogue around advancements in key areas like artificial intelligence.
In collaboration with high-impact tenants and leading training providers — including LaGuardia Community College, part of the City University of New York system, and London-based The Data School New York — this cutting-edge facility will offer an array of best-in-class tech training programs and courses on topics ranging from cybersecurity to data analytics. Many of these opportunities will be offered at no cost or at low, affordable rates to ensure that New Yorkers can pursue their educational and professional goals without financial strain. Civic Hall’s partners include Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Google, Amazon, Booth Ferris Foundation, Bread Financial, and the Ford Foundation.
Its opening builds on the Adams administration’s ambitious efforts to position New York City as the national leader in technology jobs. The city is ranked as the number two global tech ecosystem in the United States and is home to over 25,000 tech-enabled startups supported by a robust ecosystem of over 200 co-working spaces and 100 accelerators and incubators. The tech ecosystem employs over 300,000 people, having grown by over 30 percent in the last decade. Despite the city’s robust growth in tech, the industry still presents barriers to entry for entrepreneurs and workers from historically disadvantaged groups. Earlier this month, NYCEDC launched the Venture Access Alliance, a coalition of more than 70 New York City startup investors with the goal of continuing to increase diversity in the city’s tech and venture ecosystem. The alliance will work to develop diverse workforces; source deals from Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) and female founders; rethink due diligence practices; track improvement in diversity data each year; and directly mentor founders.
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