WILL AMAZON BRING TECH JOBS TO THE CITY?

Join us for first Tech 2025 Think Tank of 2019, sponsored by The Williamsburg Hotel! Our think tanks are interactive, open discussions, and an exchange of information and ideas between our expert guest speaker(s) and the audience — everyone gets the opportunity to share their opinions and ideas.

We encourage and facilitate thought-provoking, respectful discourse as we all struggle to understand sweeping changes that are coming to our city and lives, and explore how to prepare for the coming challenges and opportunities.

About This Discussion  

Discussions about Amazon announcing New York City as its new HQ2 location are complicated, often emotional and yields more questions than answers. It is projected that Amazon HQ2 will bring an estimated 25,000 jobs to New York City.

In this 2-hour event, we will focus on how Amazon’s HQ2 and Amazon Go cashier-less stores opening soon in NYC and across the country, combined with Amazon’s recent announcement to expand Whole Foods, will impact jobs and small businesses in NY. Presentations will include:

• The Proposals Pitched to Amazon by New York City (the backstory, the specifics, and the conflicts)
  Presented by Justin Kramer, Vice President of New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), who worked with all stakeholders to submit New York’s proposals to Amazon. This will be a detailed overview of all four official proposals submitted to Amazon by New York City. Justin will also discuss the challenges the City faces in defining how Amazon will make its move here and where the opportunities are for people, organizations and businesses to participate in defining the process and shaping the outcome;
• The Survival of Brick-and Mortar Local Supermarkets, Grocery and Convenient Stores : a rare glimpse at how local supermarkets and grocery stores across the country are adjusting to (or are struggling to adjust to) Amazon’s move into their domain and how New York grocers can restructure and innovate to survive — presented by Nick Nickitas, Founder and CEO of Rosie (a platform that partners with leading local supermarkets and mid-sized to small grocery stores, and their wholesalers, to provide eCommerce, delivery opportunities, omni-channel marketing and deep data services, based in Ithaca, NY).
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• The Small Business Landscape in Queens and How Queens Business Owners Thinking about HQ2:   more than any other borough, Queens will be impacted by HQ2 the most (LIC is already seeing real estate values jump). Thomas Grech, President & Chief Executive Officer of Queens Chamber of Commerce, will share how small businesses in Queens are adjusting to (and preparing for) whats to come and how Queens Chamber of Commerce works with small businesses.
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• How Can Students Who Don’t Take Traditional College Pathways Be Included In Amazon’s Jobs Initiatives for Students?:  A conversation with Toby Moskovits, Heritage Equity Partners and Assistant Principal Giovanni D’Amato on an innovative collaboration between the neighborhood developer and a local public high school.

Lite bites, beverages and wine included.

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