The Pratt Center for Community Development’s Made in NYC (MINYC) initiative, which helps New York City manufacturers thrive and inspire job growth, has launched its first-ever consumer advertising campaign and a new fellowship program this spring to promote and support the city’s vibrant and varied manufacturing sector.
Launched in 2001 to help companies that were struggling after 9/11, MINYC encourages New Yorkers to buy locally made products and provides sourcing assistance for designers and manufacturers to purchase goods and fabricate designs locally. Close to 1,300 companies representing all major industrial and manufacturing sectors in the city have joined the MINYC community and are listed on its website.
MINYC is generating additional momentum through its new advertising campaign and fellowship program, which were made possible by a grant from the New York City Council and involve the participation and expertise of Pratt, faculty, students, and alumni from a range of disciplines.
“People don’t know what’s made here in New York City. With the support of the New York City Council, Made in NYC’s Fellowship Program will provide intensive, one-to-one access to experts who can make their image, branding, and marketing as smart as their products,” said Adam Friedman, executive director for the Pratt Center for Community Development and MINYC.
Pratt’s Made in NYC Fellowship Program began in spring 2016, tapping the expertise and creativity of Pratt faculty in design, management, interactive arts, communications design, and photography to assist the city’s 5,700 mostly small and mid-sized manufacturers to better brand, market, and grow their business.
The fellowship program’s services include marketing workshops, pop-up design clinics, website design, and one-on-one strategic marketing plan development, and are provided by Pratt faculty members as well as teams made up of faculty and communications design and interactive design students. Participating faculty include Gonzalo Carbajo, visiting professor of undergraduate architecture; David Frisco, adjunct professor of graduate communications design; and Basem Aly, visiting professor of interactive services.
Meanwhile, the city’s local manufacturing is gaining new visibility through eye-catching advertising. Created by eyeball, an award-winning advertising agency founded by Pratt alumnus Limore Shur, the MINYC advertising campaign launched in April 2016 and is rolling out across print, digital, and social media as well as billboard, phone kiosk, and transit advertising throughout the city. Designed to showcase the diversity of products and entrepreneurs that drive manufacturing in New York City, the campaign also encourages a “buy local” ethos to support job growth at both long-running and startup manufacturers in the five boroughs.
“The Council provided this funding because the City’s economic development strategies need to focus on good jobs with decent wages and career paths,” said Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “By better linking manufacturers with design, marketing, and management expertise through Made in NYC, we can help these companies continue to grow and thrive here in New York City.”
MINYC and its new advertising campaign and fellowship program have garnered media coverage in major outlets, including The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal as well as upcoming articles in Crain’s New York Business and New York magazine.
For more information about MINYC and its mission, members services, and programs, visit the MINYC website at madeinnyc.org.