Seeking We Source NYC Operator to Support Offshore Wind Suppliers

Program Aims to Eliminate Barriers by Offering Crucial Support and Resources to Local Small-and-Medium Businesses to Access Contract Opportunities in the Offshore Wind Industry

We Source NYC Advances the City’s Green Economy Action Plan and Supports New York’s Renewable Energy Generation Goals

Effort Comes After the Start of Construction to Transform South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in Sunset Park, Brooklyn into Nation’s Largest Offshore Wind Port

New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) today announced a Request for Proposal (RFP) that seeks a consultant to operate We Source NYC, a comprehensive technical assistance and communications program that will support local small- and medium-sized manufacturers, construction service providers, and industrial equipment suppliers (local suppliers) to capture contract opportunities in the growing offshore wind (OSW) supply chain. Programming will include critical technical assistance services, education regarding procurement pathways in the OSW industry, and strategic networking and partnership events to local suppliers interested in entering the emerging green economy.

Earlier this month, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, New York Governor Kathy Hochul, NYCEDC President and CEO Andrew Kimball, Equinor Wind US President Molly Morris, and the Sustainable South Brooklyn Marine Terminal, L.P. (SSBMT) announced the start of construction of what will be the nation’s largest dedicated offshore wind port at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The initiative also builds on Mayor Adams’ efforts to develop a “Harbor of the Future,” a multifaceted initiative, and the “Green Economy Action Plan”—both announced in his 2024 State of the City address to reimagine New York City’s waterfront and fuel 21st-century growth and innovation.

In September 2021, the city and NYCEDC unveiled a 15-year, $191 million Offshore Wind Vision Plan to make New York a leading destination for the industry. The industry in New York City is expected to create up to 8,000-13,000 jobs by 2035. Through 2040, New York State estimates that up to 23,000 new jobs will be created in the offshore wind industry, with six out of ten of those jobs generated in the manufacturing and construction phases of development.

The goals of the inaugural We Source NYC program include increasing the number of capable NYC-based local suppliers that successfully secure contracts in the regional OSW supply chain, as well as educating local suppliers about the offshore wind industry and increase awareness of consequential industry news and contracting opportunities. The awarded RFP consultant will be responsible for developing and implementing an individualized business technical assistance program to increase the number of local suppliers in the regional OSW supply chain and implementing an accessible business-facing communications initiative to increase awareness of industry news and contracting opportunities.

To ensure that the program responds to industry insights and supply chain demands, NYCEDC began forming the We Source NYC Industry Network in Fall 2023. The Industry Network will be comprised of major OSW supply chain firms that will provide supplier and product requirements in addition to procurement opportunities to program participants. In 2022, NYCEDC conducted an analysis to identify approximately 830 local industrial and manufacturing businesses across nine manufacturing subsectors that are well positioned to enter the emerging OSW manufacturing supply.

In Spring 2023, NYCEDC launched the We Source NYC campaign to identify and connect with these businesses. Through this campaign, NYCEDC contacted more than 1,000 business owners and collected nearly 200 surveys from local suppliers that expressed their interest in exploring OSW supply chain opportunities. Upon consent, the information from these surveyed businesses NYCEDC entered into the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) OSW Supply Chain Database, a public business directory that OSW developers must reference as they conduct procurement processes for their OSW developments.

New York City has made immense progress to prepare local workers and create opportunities for New Yorkers from all backgrounds and businesses to seize upon the economic opportunities that will be created by these infrastructure investments, including by supporting pathways to unionized jobs through pre-apprenticeship programs. Some of the initial investments from the city and its partners include:

• The city and Equinor are committed to a nation-leading goal of 30 percent minority- and women-owned business enterprises (M/WBE) utilization. To date, Equinor has awarded more than 25 percent of the project opportunities to M/WBEs. NYCEDC, Equinor, and Empire Wind 1 construction manager Skanska remain committed to implementing additional strategies to support and engage more M/WBEs in the coming phases.
• In 2023, NYCEDC launched the Waterfront Pathways Program to counter documented disparities in public procurement by increasing opportunities for minority-, women-, and disadvantaged-owned business enterprises in the offshore wind and waterfront industries.
• New York Harbor School graduates are now being trained by Edison Chouest, Equinor’s OSW Operations and Maintenance vessel operator that will be based at SBMT, giving those students skills and pathways to careers at SBMT.
• The Workforce1 Industrial Transportation Center at the Brooklyn Army Terminal will help New Yorkers enroll in an Apprentice Readiness Collective pre-apprenticeship program to put them on the path towards family sustaining union jobs so they can find work on future offshore wind and renewable energy infrastructure projects.
• In 2024, Kingsborough Brooklyn Community College began to offer workforce programs to students interested in entering the offshore wind industry, including maritime career and welding training.
• Mayor Adams previously pledged $10 million to The City University of New York for capital costs associated with workforce development programs across associated campuses, including $3 million invested in Kingsborough Brooklyn Community College for a maritime workforce training facility and upgrades to a hybrid maritime vessel.
• In April, NYCEDC hosted the fifth annual Offshore Wind and Maritime Career Awareness Fair, where 100 industry representatives and volunteers participated and over 500 high schoolers learned more about the developing maritime-oriented green energy sector.
• Investments also include increased funding for workforce and community development, with significant investments already underway in Sunset Park’s new Offshore Wind Learning Center, as well as supporting the launch of the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub and Offshore Wind Ecosystem Fund.

As the city reaches a new private-sector jobs high, with the lowest unemployment since August 2022 and the lowest Black unemployment since before the pandemic, Mayor Adams has kicked off a “Spring Jobs Sprint” to advance opportunities for thousands of new jobs over the coming weeks. To push this Spring Jobs Sprint forward and build the Harbor of the Future, last month, Mayor Adams was joined by Governor Hochul and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to announce an agreement to transform the Brooklyn Marine Terminal into a modern maritime port and vibrant mixed-use community hub, with the potential to create thousands of jobs. The project also builds on generational and forward-looking projects across all five boroughs that Mayor Adams has advanced over the past two years, including the Climate Innovation Hub in Brooklyn, which NYCEDC has launched an up to $100 million RFP, Willets Point in Queens, the New York Climate Exchange on Governors Island, Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx, the SPARC Kips Bay life sciences hub in Manhattan, the North Shore Action Plan, among others.

Click here to learn more about the We Source NYC Business Technical Assistance Program RFP.
 

About NYCEDC
New York City Economic Development Corporation is a mission-driven, nonprofit organization that works for a vibrant, inclusive, and globally competitive economy for all New Yorkers. We take a comprehensive approach, through four main strategies: strengthen confidence in NYC as a great place to do business; grow innovative sectors with a focus on equity; build neighborhoods as places to live, learn, work, and play; and deliver sustainable infrastructure for communities and the city’s future economy. To learn more about what we do, visit us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.