The Business Journals - Week of March 29

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AWARD WINNING EDITORIAL

TR US TE D J O U R NALI S M AT YO U R FI N G E RTI P S

MARCH 29, 2021 VOL. 57, No. 13

westfaironline.com

$2 BILLION BLOCKBUSTER Small businesses (finally) seeing sunny skies ahead

Kaufman Astoria Studios shoots with BedRock, Silverstein Properties to remake five city blocks BY PETER KATZ pkatz@westfairinc.com

M

ention blockbusters that have come from Hollywood’s studios and “Gone with the Wind,” “Star Wars,” “E.T.,” “Avatar” and “Titanic” immediately come to mind. However, for a significant motion picture and

television production facility in the New York City metropolitan area, it’s a massive real estate project that could fit the blockbuster category in terms of cost, scope and impact in revitalizing an entire community. Kaufman Astoria Studios, the motion picture and TV production facility rejuvenated by real

estate developer George S. Kaufman in the 1980s, has joined with Silverstein Properties and BedRock Real Estate Partners to create Innovation QNS, a real estate development proposed for five blocks centered at the intersection of Steinway Street and 35th Avenue in Astoria,

» ASTORIA STUDIOS

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kzimmerman@westfairinc.com

T

o say that small businesses have rebounded from the pandemic wouldn’t be precisely accurate — not only is Covid-19 still with us, but many small businesses didn’t go anywhere. But they are taking a

Evan R. Corsello

Frank J. Gaudio President & CEO

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BY KEVIN ZIMMERMAN

Chief Lending Officer

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more optimistic view, as warm weather means more outdoor dining for struggling restaurants, Connecticut’s March 19 easing of Covid-related restrictions has allowed for greater capacity at many facilities, and getting vaccines into arms continues to increase. “A lot of our clients are eager and ready to go back, full swing,” Joe Ercolano, state director of the Connecticut Small Business Development Center. Backed by the U.S. Small Business Administration, the center’s mission is to enhance economic development through management and technical advice

for small businesses. Since March 6, 2020, the development center has helped small businesses receive more than $137 million in emergency and nonemergency funding, supported 34,451 jobs and helped 174 businesses launch, Ercolano said. Between that date and Feb. 28, 2021, counseling and training was provided to 4,960 clients — more than double what it had been doing. The organization helped 1,420 businesses with emergency financing, totaling 700 emergency loans approved and $60.1 million in capital.

» SMALL BUSINESSES

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