’ ve helped bring small businesses together with lenders to help smooth access to credit. over the past year we have conducted ten access - to - credit events — workshops, clinics and conferences — for companies interested in learning about traditional and alternative sources of financing. we partnered with local and national government agencies, small business development centers and local nonprofit organizations to hold these events throughout the district. one such workshop was held recently in queens. the queens economic development corporation and the queens chamber of commerce, with support from the new york fed ’ s asian professional network alliance, co - sponsored a resource clinic for small businesses. the clinic offered an opportunity for attendees to receive one - on - one advice from several non - profit organizations on a wide range of topics, including which types of financing are most appropriate for their needs, what lenders look for in potential borrowers, alternatives to traditional bank loans and tips on improving their chances for success. these are just a few examples of the activities that reflect the bank ’ s commitment to the region. let me turn now to the subject matter of today ’ s briefing : the economic outlook for the regional economy. there is a lot of good news to share. many parts of the region have bounced back quite well from the great recession, and now have more jobs than before the downturn. new york city really stands out in this regard. while the great recession was the deepest and longest recession in modern history for the nation as a whole, new york city bucked that trend to a surprising degree, and did it with little help from wall street. as we will discuss later in the briefing, one of new york city ’ s strongest sectors has been technology. in this recovery, employment in the city ’ s tech sector has added nearly 50, 000 jobs, many of which pay well. the growth of the so - called silicon alley has not only helped the city bounce back from the recession, but, i believe, is a key for the city moving forward. when i visited brooklyn late last year, i saw firsthand how technology is spurring economic activity, directly and indirectly. for example, etsy, the popular e - commerce website, which in many ways resembles a retail company, relies on technology to underpin its business model. but it ’ s not just new york city that is growing nicely. employment levels on long island and in parts of upstate new york — most notably the albany, buffalo and rochester metro areas — have also climbed and are at or near

record highs. during my recent trip to upstate new york, i saw first - hand some of the positive developments in rochester and buffalo. after undergoing a prolonged period of economic transformation and reinvention, rochester ’ s economy is now more diverse and dynamic than ever before. meanwhile, the growth in buffalo was striking. the numbers show a dramatic uptick in construction bis central bankers ’ speeches employment, and the visual evidence of development was widespread. i was especially impressed with the downtown and waterfront areas, as well as the new solarcity factory — all of which looked dramatically different than when i visited the area less than two years ago. both of these places are well positioned for future success. on the other hand, the employment recovery has been slow to take hold in both northern new jersey and the lower hudson valley, where jobs are still not back to their pre - recession peak despite employment growing steadily. for northern new jersey, this lag is due, in part, to a stall in the growth of jobs in professional and business services. but the education and health sectors continue to add jobs, and construction employment is seeing a rebound. i also saw a number of bright spots on my visit to the area a few months ago. one was jersey city, which is leveraging its proximity to new york city to attract residents and jobs. another was newark, where i saw signs of downtown development, including teacher ’ s village, a mixeduse community of teachers with new schools, housing and retail businesses. but pockets of weakness remain. for example, in upstate new york, binghamton has had no meaningful rebound in employment. although the u. s. virgin islands and puerto rico remain in a deep economic slump, employment appears to have steadied in both places in recent months. however, puerto rico ’ s weak economy coupled with a fiscal crisis means its economic outlook remains uncertain as it struggles to address its unique set of problems. now, i ’ d like to turn things over to one of our regional economists, jim orr, who will provide a more detailed presentation of economic conditions across our region. bis central bankers ’ speeches