Broadway headed Uptown
Michaels' production facility relocates to Harlem
Michaels' production and post-production company, Broadway Video, is opening a state-of-the-art duplication facility in Harlem in March, and this week the company made its first new hires.
The move allows Broadway Video to take advantage of "empowerment zone" tax breaks in its effort to triple its duplication capacities -- and to play a significant role in the revitalization of the community, according to CEO Stephen Shippee.
The Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ) and Citibank are providing a loan of $877,880 to finance the $1.1 million project. The company expects to hire 20 employees in the first year, and average salaries will run from $19,000 to $23,000 with benefits.
"New York is the media capital of the world, so it is fitting that new and expanding media ventures choose to conduct their business here. Broadway Video's decision is all the more gratifying because it sends a clear signal that the time is right to do business in Upper Manhattan," said Time Warner prexy Richard Parsons, chairman of the UMEZ board of directors.
Broadway Video has also partnered with Strive, a nonprofit job training and placement organization, to fill the current and future job openings.
"If more companies partnered with Strive in this way, it would be another step in the direction of dealing with the Welfare-to-Work program," said the org's employment manager, Saritha Clements. "It's a win-win for everybody."
