Queens College business forum kicks off

With school back in session, Queens College continued its business forum with special guest speaker Daniel Zausner, Managing Director of the United States Tennis Association (U.S.T.A.) Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, delivering the keynote address highlighting the importance of the U.S. Open to Queens.
“It’s really amazing the power the U.S. Open has for business in general here,” Zausner said.
Zausner, who is responsible for overseeing all operational aspects of the U.S.T.A. National Tennis Center, including day-to-day management, design and development of the facility’s courts as well as the U.S. Open, said that this year’s tournament saw record-breaking crowds of more than 700,000 come to Queens for the two-week event.
“We couldn’t do it without Queens and without New York City,” Zausner said.
In addition to driving revenue into the city and borough’s economy from tourists who attend the Open, Zausner talked about the nearly 16,000 employees the U.S.T.A. hires to work the Open. He also touted the organization’s ability to draw sponsors, many of whom have been with the U.S. Open for more than 20 years.
“We’ve done whatever we needed to do to make this not only New York City’s best sporting event, but the world’s best,” he said.
While the U.S. Open is the center of attention at Flushing for two weeks beginning in late August and continuing into September, Zausner also stressed that the U.S.T.A. is a year-round operation with many of the courts being used by high school teams and open to the public.
“Our goal is to continue to grow the sport, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Zausner said.
Zausner was the first speaker in this year’s installment of Queens College’s business series, which began back in 2005.
The Queens Chamber of Commerce, Chase, Con Edison, Farrell Fritz, the Queens Borough President’s Office and PricewaterhouseCoopers sponsor the forum with its purpose is to serve as a catalyst for business within the borough.
Queens Assemblymember Mark Weprin and City Councilmember Melinda Katz praised the U.S.T.A. and Queens College for hosting the forum.
“The Business community in Queens is clearly a driving force for the entire city of New York,” Katz said.