On April 1, local elected and community leaders joined representatives from Columbia to tour and learn more about the Columbia-Harlem SBDC.

By Kelly Moffitt

April 05, 2022

See the full article here: https://neighbors.columbia.edu/news/local-leaders-visit-new-columbia-harlem-small-business-development-center-manhattanville

It’s no secret that some of the most exciting aspects of the Columbia Business School’s new home on the Manhattanville campus are the working and learning spaces in David Geffen Hall and Henry Kravis Hall. To christen the new spaces, which routinely welcome community entrepreneurs onto campus, local elected and community leaders were invited to take part in a tour on April 1, and to learn more about the Columbia-Harlem Small Business Development Center, which now calls Geffen Hall its home.

Kaaryn Nailor Simmons, Assistant Dean, Community Partnerships and Managing Director at the Columbia-Harlem SBDC, Pat Lilly, Senior Program Manager at the Columbia Business School, Gwen Shufro, Director of the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise, and Ken Hochhauser, Executive Vice President of the Winick Realty Group, were among the representatives from Columbia who gave the tour, which included Geffen Hall, the Innovation Lab (I-Lab), the SBDC offices, the Café in Geffen Hall, which features local products from the Harlem Local Vendor Program (open to the public), and Kravis Hall’s 10th Floor Dining Room and commercial space.

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Learn more about the Manhattanville campus.

Joining the tour were elected and community leaders:

  • Senator Robert Jackson  
  • Assembly Member Al Taylor
  • City Council Member Shaun Abreu
  • Curtis Archer, President, Harlem Community Development Corp.
  • Blair Duncan, President and CEO, Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone
  • E. Hamil Douglas, President and CEO, Harlem Commonwealth Council
  • Irene Dominguez, Director of Business Services, NY Women Chamber of Commerce
  • Esteban Escalona, Senior Business and Finance Specialist
  • Radhy Miranda, VP Government and Community Relations at NYC Economic Development Corporation

Below, find snapshots from the visit and explanations of the different ways the Columbia University community is helping local entrepreneurship flourish in Upper Manhattan.