Chamber holds business expo

On Thursday, May 18, hundreds of representatives from large and small businesses from throughout Queens flocked to Terrace on the Park for the Queens Chamber of Commerce’s Queens Business Day Expo and Luncheon.
New York State Attorney General and Democratic front-runner for Governor Eliot Spitzer was the featured speaker at the luncheon emphasizing his plan for economic revitalization throughout the state.
“It’s a little different here in Queens, because it’s not a matter of bringing back our economy, it’s a matter of continuing a boom,” Spitzer said. He talked about a number of ‘mega-projects’ already underway in Queens including the redevelopment of the Willets Point area.
“One of the overarching frustrations I have with state government is that year after year we talk about projects, but they don’t go anywhere,” Spitzer said, citing the loss of capital and delay of completion dates as two of the biggest shortcomings from the complicated bureaucracy.
During the expo, more than 100 companies displayed tables at Terrace on the Park and hundreds more attended the expo throughout the day in order to network with other companies and promote their own business.
More than 600 people attended the luncheon, and listened to presentations from Spitzer and Stephen Galvan, Chief Operating Officer and Chief of Staff at the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). In addition, Borough President Helen Marshall presented the Queens Chamber of Commerce with a special award in commemoration of the Chamber’s 95th Anniversary and prominence in the Queens business community.
“The Queens Chamber’s Expo was, by all accounts, a stunning success, and was a metaphor for the current vigorous growth and vivacity of Queens business, commerce and industry,” said Chamber President Raymond Irrera. “It reflected perhaps even more so the energies and resources expended by the Chamber and its staff in providing extraordinary venues for the promotion of business in general, and for the promotion of the goods and services offered by its members in particular.”
If elected governor, Spitzer vowed to pay more attention to Queens, because he feels the borough is vital to the city and state economy.
“If you want to see the beauty and wonder of New York City’s economy, you do not see it by walking down 5th Avenue or Park Avenue or Madison Avenue and looking up at the skyscrapers,” Spitzer said. “You see the wonder of our economy by coming to Queens and seeing every ethnicity in the world working together, growing, and building small businesses.”