April 3, 2012 -- Westchester County's Office of Economic Development has launched an innovative new marketing campaign promoting Westchester as fertile ground for small to mid-sized businesses to grow.

The new campaign features a series of print ads focused on the success stories of fast-growing Westchester companies in key sectors in the county's economy – finance, healthcare, IT, biotech, green technology and food and beverage. Companies featured in the ad campaign include Regeneron Pharmaceuticals of Tarrytown, Compufit of White Plains, Candela Systems Corp. of Somers, The Westchester Bank of Yonkers, Hudson Valley Hospital Center of Cortlandt Manor, and Captain Lawrence Brewing Company of Elmsford.

The new campaign debuted in a special magazine supplement called Grow, which appears in the April issue of Westchester Magazine and will be included in the 2nd Quarter issue of 914 Inc. A print and digital campaign is planned for other regional media outlets along with a local radio campaign.

The launch was announced at a reception held April 2 at Captain Lawrence Brewing Company and attended by Westchester County Executive Robert P. Astorino; Westchester County Office of Economic Development Director Laurence Gottlieb; and Westchester County Industrial Development Agency Executive Director Eileen Mildenberger.

"As New York's Intellectual Capital, Westchester prides itself on being a place where smart people put ideas to work. Creative energy and entrepreneurial spirit are the hallmarks behind what makes so many Westchester businesses successful. From start-up to major firms, Westchester is the destination of choice to start or expand a business," said Astorino.

Many of the business leaders featured in the campaign and the Grow magazine were scheduled to attend as well including John C. Federspiel; President, Hudson Valley Hospital Center; George D. Yancopoulos, M.D., Ph.D, Chief Scientific Officer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals; Tara Meenan Lansen, President and CEO, Compufit; James Segura Bernardo, CEO and founder, Candela Systems; Scott Vaccaro of Captain Lawrence Brewing Company; John C. Tolomer, President and CEO, The Westchester Bank; Daniel Magnus of Elevation Burger, and Wiley Harrison, businessman and board member of the Westchester County IDA.

County Economic Development Director Gottlieb said the idea for the campaign focuses on the concept of "economic gardening," an entrepreneurial approach to economic development that seeks to grow the local economy from within.

"With business and employment opportunities blossoming in a multitude of fields — from finance to healthcare to life sciences — Westchester is seeding a stronger economic tomorrow by working with a multitude of business-centric, non-profit partners to provide assistance today to start-up, small and mid-size companies throughout the county," said Gottlieb. "We are celebrating entrepreneurism, so that by placing a powerful spotlight on great Westchester success stories, we will encourage other individuals to come forward and seek out opportunities to launch or expand their own businesses," he added.

Billed as "A Guide for Growing Your Business," the Grow magazine supplement includes the series of new ads along with profiles of the business leaders featured in the ads. Grow also has articles on the how regional cluster organizations are spurring business growth in Westchester; the growing importance of making Westchester an attractive place to live and work for young professionals, and how Westchester cultivates its "intellectual capital with its outstanding colleges and universities. There are also articles on how small businesses can utilize the resources of the County IDA and a host of other business assistance organizations.

The new marketing campaign builds on the success of the County Office of Economic Development's award-winning "Intellectual Capital" campaign which focused on Westchester's highly skilled and educated workforce. The new ad campaign was created by Thompson & Bender, Westchester's preeminent public relations/marketing/advertising firm, which also created the "Intellectual Capital" marketing campaign.

For more information about the County Office of Economic Development, visit www.thinkingwestchester.com.