CHYE Starts New Year of Programming, Workspace

Recently some two dozen young professionals took part in the launch of Crown Heights Young Entrepreneurs’ (CHYE) new year of programing. The event, held in the newly titled CHYE Business Workspace & Lounge, surveyed the various legal intricacies of business and tax law. It was led by noted Crown Heights attorney, Yossel Balisok.

According to Balisok, his interest in CHYE’s programming stems from a desire to help the “amazingly capable” young entrepreneurs of the Crown Heights community. “It’s very easy to become bogged down and confused [by the intricacies of tax and business law],” Balisok says. “I want to make sure that members of our community are equipped with the necessary knowledge to better take advantage of the opportunities available in our legal system.”

Michoel Shapiro, who recently moved to Crown Heights and plans on starting a series of self-defense classes as the “Fighting Rabbi,” heard about the event from his brother.

“The evening helped me focus on some of the questions I had about starting my business,” Shapiro says. “It was a great way to find the tools I needed to expand.”

In addition to the 45 minute lecture and a Question-and-Answer period, guests were also given a sneak peek at the venue’s new design as CHYE’s business center.

The communal workspace offers a bevy of services, including high-speed Internet access and onsite proofreading and critiquing for business writing. According to Rabbi Yehoshua Werde, the director of CHYE, the new space will fill a much needed gap in the work experience of Crown Heights’s growing population of young businessmen and women.

“In the past, many young entrepreneurs were forced to scrounge for a workspace – moving around various coffee shops in search of the ideal venue,” Werde says. “It’s my hope that the new workspace will give members of our community not only the tools they need to thrive individually in their personal endeavors, but help uplift the entire community as a place of inspired and innovative business professionals.”