Our Services:

The Smart Business Center connects local entrepreneurs to a full complement of business assistance services. Our Business Counselors guide the client through the process of starting and developing a business. They then follow-up with the client as they progress and grow their businesses.

Our experienced Business Counselors will assist you with:

• Business start up or expansion
• Business plan development
• Market research
• Licensing and permit information
• Procurement assistance
• Identifying loan opportunities
• Import/Export information

The Smart Business Center is the administrator for the Trickle Up Program on Staten Island. The Trickle Up Program is a small grant that is available to low income entrepreneurs.

BOC Women’s Business Center

WBCLDC hosts a satellite office of the BOC Women’s Business Center.  Through the BOC WBC, we offer one-on-one counseling, long-term training and short-term seminars targeting women entrepreneurs in Staten Island. The WBC is sponsored by the US Small Business Administration.

This U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) Cooperative Agreement OWBO-2004-021 is partially funded by the SBA. SBA’s funding is not an endorsement of any products, opinions, or services. All SBA funded programs are extended to the public on a nondiscriminatory basis. Arrangements for persons with disabilities will be made at all times in accordance with the American With Disabilities Act of 1990 and associated amendments. Arrangements for persons with special needs will be made if requested at least at least two weeks in advance. The Business Outreach Center Women’s is also partially funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Women’s Business Ownership (OWBO). The Office of Women’s Business Ownership is established to help women become full partners in economic development through small business ownership. The Women’s Business Ownership Homepage address is www.sba.gov/womeninbusiness. SBA’s cooperation does not constitute or imply its endorsement of any opinions, products and/or services

Experience the Certified Advantage: Become a City-certified Minority and Women-owned Business!

If you’ve ever thought about selling to the government, now’s the time! Thanks to a local law signed by Mayor Bloomberg in 2005, City agencies are now buying more goods and services from companies who are certified in the City’s Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprise (M/WBE) Program. The Program, run by the New York City Department of Small Business Services, connects agencies to companies that are ready to do business with the City. If your company is at least fifty-one percent owned, operated, and controlled by a woman or a member of an ethnic minority group, has been in business for at least one year, and is headquartered or has a substantial business presence in the New York City metro area, you may be eligible to certify as an M/WBE!

The Certified Advantage

Beyond gaining valuable access to City contracting opportunities, certified M/WBEs are provided with the tools and training to advance their potential:

- Invitations to exclusive networking events

- Free advertising in a searchable online directory

- Free one-on-one guidance on selling to the government

- Access to business classes taught by industry professionals

Interested in certification? We can help. The West Brighton Local Development Corporation has been named a member of the City Council supported New York City Department of Small Business Services M/WBE Leadership Association. The West Brighton Local Development Corporation located at 1207 Castleton Avenue, has the tools, knowledge, and experience to get you started. For more information on getting certified, call us today at 718-816-4775, email info@wbcldc.org  or visit www.nyc.gov/getcertified.

Business Seminars

The Smart Business Center offers seminars and workshops on timely business topics. An example of one of the SBC initiatives is " Business New York Style" a seminar series that addresses the needs of starting a business in NYC. Experienced speakers, professionals in their field, address the essential elements of accounting and taxes, government regulations, insurance and legal issues, as well marketing. Other workshops address business issues such as financial planning, marketing, access to capital, import/export and the Internet.

The Internet Networking Club was founded in 2001 to provide an opportunity for web-based businesspersons who felt isolated from the mainstream business community to come together. The Club was formed with the mission to help on-line businesses meet and discuss ideas, concerns, problems and solutions they encountered conducting business on-line. The members share information and practical knowledge. The Club meets monthly at the WBCLDC office. The Internet Networking Club has become a meeting place for Internet business professionals.  The Internet Networking Club's web site is http://siwebgroup.org/

West Brighton Red Carpet Gallery

The West Brighton Red Carpet Gallery will be hosting  a Grand Opening reception on Wednesday, March 10th with a showing of some of Staten Island’s artists and fine crafters.  The "Spring Awakening" show will offer beautiful art, photography and jewelry just in thime for the  gift giving season.   The Red Carpet Gallery is an artists’ cooperative gallery at the West Brighton LDC’s Castleton Avenue office.  The Gallery is a venue to highlight and expose businesses and residents to the talented artists of Staten Island.  The collection features an assortment of various types of media including watercolor, oils, etchings, photography and jewelry.  The gallery includes the works of   Anthony Butera,  Anita Cimino, Mafalda Cento, Antonio De Santis, Larry Featherstone,  Barbara Kramer, Susan Ledwith, Annette Marten, Mildred Piccinnini, Len Rachlin, Barbara Sekulski, Joan Sinclair, Richard Xuereb  and  Victor Zucconi. The Gallery is located at 1207 Castleton Avenue, West Brighton, Staten Island.  The Red Carpet Gallery is funded in part by Northfield Bank.  

Anti-Graffiti and Litter Removal Initiative

These ongoing projects combine the efforts of the WBCLDC and other volunteers to remove unsightly graffiti from storefronts and litter from vacant lots. The WBCLDC is working with the West Brighton merchants to participate in the NYC Sanitation Department’s "Adopt-A-Basket" program.

The WBCLDC assists local businesses by keeping them informed of current government regulations that affect their businesses.

We maintain a database on all properties in the area. Through surveys and focus groups, the WBCLDC maintains current marketing statistics about the West Brighton area.

The WBCLDC coordinates events designed to bring merchants and residents together promoting community spirit. Events include holiday lighting on Forest and Castleton Avenues, parades, poster and essay contests advertised through cooperative advertisements.

The West Brighton Waterfront Project

Richmond Terrace winds along the Kill van Kull a major shipping channel connecting New York Harbor with Howland Hook (Staten Island container port) and New Jersey piers. The Terrace is zoned manufacturing and even has several sites zoned M-3. Along Richmond Terrace in West Brighton you find marinas, oil delivery, automotive repair, cabinet-makers and furniture refinishing businesses. Because past and current uses produce toxic by-products many if not all of the properties are designated as "brownfields". Therefore before any "responsible" redevelopment can be attempted there must be remediation of the property and that can be costly both in dollars and in time. The cost factor or the perception of the high cost may be the reason so much of this acreage is vacant or underutilized. We studied the history of the properties to give us a base line from which to determine the availability and costs associated with their remediation and redevelopment for environmentally friendly manufacturing uses. The findings of that study are available in our publication "Reinventing Richmond Terrace: A Blueprint for Economic and Environmental Revitalization".

This project is funded by the New York Community Trust and the Richmond County Savings Foundation.

Business Improvement District (BID)

A Business Improvement District is a program designed and paid for by area property owners and merchants to improve their businesses. Business and property owners along Forest Avenue, together with the West Brighton LDC,  created a BID from Hart Blvd. to Broadway.  A District Management Board is planning and overseeing the project.  Starting with a clean street, the program also offers holiday lighting, additional security, promotional programs, banners, capital improvements and other amenities that attract customers and new business. Business Improvement Districts provide the funds to purchase additional improvements and services specific to the needs of the neighborhood.  Check out the BID's web site http://www.forestavenuebid.com for additional information and events. 

Borough Wide Program 

The West Brighton LDC is helping community business owners throughout all of Staten Island organize to create a better local economy.  We are working with New York City agencies, local business assciations and individual businesses to bring the community back to town centers across Staten Island.  Be a part of the effort to bring new economic growth to your business community. 

Our newsletter is distributed to 2,500 merchants and residents quarterly. Program announcements, upcoming events, and articles on business related issues are examples of information found in the Gazette.

The Directory gives the name, address and phone number of all shops and services located in West Brighton. The Restaurant & Food Guide lets the reader know the type of food served, reservation policy, credit cards, alcohol served, take out, delivery, disabled accessible in addition to the address and phone number.

A historical perspective of the waterfront properties along Richmond Terrace in West Brighton. This is the foundation piece for our "Waterfront Project".

To request a copy of any of the above publications fill out the form on the Contact Page.

Please visit often to learn about new services