City Seeks Nominees for Businesses, Organizations That Have Fostered Economic Opportunity

The city’s Department of Small Business Services is accepting nominations for its 2012 Neighborhood Achievement Awards.

The agency will pick among the nominated groups to honor organizations, businesses, nonprofits, educational institutions, business improvement districts, local development corporations and merchants associations that have created economic opportunity.

The submission deadline is March 9. Winners will be announced during a reception at Manhattan’s Gracie Mansion in July.

The contest will award groups across 10 categories, including those that have increased the visibility of a neighborhood by highlighting its look and feel or transformed or preserved an underutilized space into a development.

One award will honor cultural institutions that have made major contributions to a community, while another will go to a start-up that has opened its doors in the past two years and provided a significant benefit to its neighborhood.

The city will also award a business improvement district that has surpassed its core mission.

To apply or for more information, visit www.nyc.gov/sbs.