July 2017 Newsletter: Now's the Time to Get Involved with Local Government
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Every week there’s some crazy new thing happening in D.C.—and sometimes we feel like there’s little we can do. But that’s wrong. Individual cities and states still have a lot of say in policy and have tools to push back on federal overreach. Here in New York, we’re no strangers to taking action when we disagree.
This past month alone, we had discussions with NYS Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, NYS Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle, and other elected officials about the impact the tech community can have at the local level. So much of what affects us day-to-day is determined by city and state action, and it’s not hard to get involved with the process, whether that is going to community board meetings, calling City Council Members, and getting in touch with NYS Assembly Members.
Check out more of what we’ve been up to in July below.
What We’re Up To
Last week, the Department of Justice filed a brief in a New York case arguing that the law should not protect LGBTQ individuals from workplace discrimination. We disagree and proudly stand with the LGBTQ community. While the DOJ has chosen to disregard the benefits of a diverse workforce, Tech:NYC and our members will continue fighting to create inclusive and supportive working environments that make our companies better.
We recently met with New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to discuss how the tech community can get involved more with state and local government. AG Schneiderman discussed how, in the past several months, his office has coordinated closely with other state Attorneys General to ensure state governments are working together to maintain diverse workplaces, make sure citizens can vote, and generally provide a check on the federal government. New York’s companies could all learn a lesson from this strategy as we organize around issues we care about. We look forward to working with AG Schneiderman’s office on expanding access to voter registration and more.
Tech:NYC Executive Director Julie Samuels testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee on patent reform and the impact of bad patents on American businesses.
We and our members Handy, Kickstarter, Starry Internet, and Warby Parker met with New York State Assembly Majority Leader Joe Morelle to discuss strategies for working with the State Assembly and Albany lawmakers. Want to get involved in our outreach to state and local government? Get in touch.
On July 12th, we worked alongside members including Etsy, Facebook, Google, Kickstarter, Shapeways, and Twitter to support a free and open internet on the Net Neutrality Day of Action. A record-breaking more than 9 million comments were submitted to the FCC by the July 17th deadline.
Policy Developments
The Freelance Isn’t Free Act, which protects freelancers against nonpayment, had new rules that went into effect on July 24th. Let us know if you’re interested in learning more.
What We’re Reading
Dell recently released its 2017 Women Entrepreneur Cities Index and New York City ranked No. 1 overall among 50 global cities for its ability to attract and support high-potential women entrepreneurs.
To grow technology further in New York, companies and public institutions must invest in a new generation of skilled students, writes Infor CEO Charles Phillips in Crain’s New York.
Technology companies have radically transformed Manhattan's Midtown neighborhoods including Flatiron District, Chelsea and SoHo, reports The Wall Street Journal.
NYC plans to become a major cybersecurity hub as part of Mayor de Blasio’s 10-year jobs plan, reports the SD Times.
New York City just made it easier for people to apply for food stamps with a new smartphone app, writes the New York Times.
What Our Members Are Up To
Etsy, Justworks, Kargo, Yext, and Zocdoc were featured on Fortune’s list of the 25 Best Small and Medium Workplaces in New York.
AppNexus, MongoDB, Squarespace, and Sprinklr were included in this year’s Forbes Cloud 100 list of top private cloud companies.
Citi announced that it is leasing space at the new Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island so it can work alongside entrepreneurs and contribute to an innovative culture.
WayUp created the first-ever National Intern Day, which was celebrated by tons of companies including Citi, IBM, and Tech:NYC on July 27th. Thank you to our summer intern Madi for being part of the team and to all the great interns in our community.
theSkimm turned five years old this month. Congrats to co-founders Carly Zakin and Danielle Weisberg!
Accenture CTO Paul Daugherty was interviewed by SiliconANGLE about Accenture Labs celebrating 30 years of cloud innovation.
Justworks and WeWork hosted a great new NYC event called Decades on July 25th that focused on addressing agism in the workplace.
MetaProp NYC has partnered with global real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield. It has also opened up applications for its 2017 Accelerator, which are due August 15th.
Shapeways CEO Pete Weijmarshausen will be participating in a Reddit AMAon August 2 at 2 p.m. EST.
Welcome to Tech:NYC
Let’s say hello to some of our newest members!
- Alluvium - Human-centered AI for industrial operations
- Better - Focused on making mortgages simple, transparent, and hassle-free for all American
- Citizen - An app that notifies you in real-time when a crime or other major incident near your location is reported to 911
- Code Interactive - Partners with schools and organizations to build and scale inclusive computer science programs
- Concourse Markets - Community-based loan syndication platform based in the Bronx
- Daily Harvest - Delivers frozen ready-to-blend smoothies and ready-to-heat soups made of whole ingredients
- Move This World - Helps schools with a video-based curriculum of daily tools designed to help students and teachers manage stress and express emotions
- Octane Lending - A point-of-sales financing and insurance platform for niche consumer markets
- Quesnay - Accelerating innovation through crowdsourcing competitions
- Upswell - Business servicer provider that helps with data science, technology, and startup solutions
- YipitData - Practical web data intelligence for institutional investors
Join Us
If you’ve been thinking about having your company join Tech:NYC, now’s the time! Check out our membership page, and let's start the conversation.