Entrepreneurship Rising With Age In Queens, Study Finds

FLUSHING, QUEENS -- Entrepreneurship across Queens is rising with age, a new study found.

Queens residents over the age of 50 are starting businesses in record numbers, according to a recent report by the New York-based Center for an Urban Future, which found some of the city's highest numbers of self-employed Gen Xers are in Flushing and Bayside.

“Millennials aren’t the only ones starting businesses in New York,” said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the CUF.

“The boom in older entrepreneurs is just getting started, and it has enormous potential to boost the city’s economy.”

Queens now boasts the second highest number of self-employed seniors (we're talking about experience, not citizens) in New York City at nearly 58,600, according to the study. The borough's number of entrepreneurs ages 50 and up has increased by 11 percent in the last decade, and the self-employed population ages 60 and up has spiked by 45 percent in that time.

The CUF study found Queens is home to half of the 10 NYC neighborhoods with the most 50-plus entrepreneurs, including:

• Flushing/Whitestone: 7,154
• Bellerose/Rosedale: 4,872
• Hillcrest/Fresh Meadows: 4,580
• Bayside/Little Neck: 4,555
• Middle Village/Ridgewood: 4,437

Analysts also pointed to The Rockaways as a leader in the city's surge of encore entrepreneurship. The Queens neighborhood is home to the city's fifth fastest-growing population of older entrepreneurs, with its self-employed 50-plus population having more than doubled in the last decade.

The report, titled “Starting Later: Realizing the Promise of Older Entrepreneurs in New York City,” also noted the rapid growth of Queens 50-plus population, which spiked 20 percent from 2005 to 2016, as a reason for the borough leading the citywide entrepreneurship trend.

Analysts urged Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration to support older adult entrepreneurship with start-up competitions, public incubators and business-focused tech training specifically for their age group.

"[We] have put focus on supporting initiatives in the community that address their specific needs," said Mariadele Priest of Capital One, which co-sponsored the project.

"We see the huge opportunity with this population of entrepreneurs."

Lead image: A Flushing Business Improvement District stand sits on Main Street. Photo by Danielle Woodward/Patch