Evergreen: Your North Brooklyn Business Exchange is a membership organization that champions manufacturing, creative production, and industrial service businesses in North Brooklyn and beyond. They connect businesses with resources and opportunities to help create and maintain high-quality jobs at all skill levels. During the pandemic they have been a constant source of updates on business resources strategies to best navigate through the crisis. The demand for Evergreen’s business support services exploded during the 2020 pandemic. Their staff of five served 300 unique businesses, an increase of 46% over 2019.
LEERFORM Fabrication | Design is just one of the businesses Evergreen serves. They are a design and fabrication studio made up of artists, sculptors, and jewelers with vast experience as museum and gallery professionals, fine art service providers, art handlers, and wood/metal fabricators. Their focus is serving museums, galleries, and individual artists by providing logistical and fabrication services for exhibits, travel, and storage. LEERFORM delivers comprehensive design and crating services from their fully equipped woodworking and metal fabrication facility in Brooklyn, including crates, travel frames, casework, pedestals, plinths, mounts, and armature. Additionally, they work closely with contractors, architects, and designers to build custom cabinetry, exhibit furniture, and architectural elements.
Formed in 2019, each of the four members of LEERFORM is a veteran of the art and design world in their own right. The group had been working together on projects and in the same studio for years, so they decided to join forces to form a team, as one company. Evergreen first connected with LEERFORM when Doug Young, the managing partner, reached out for assistance with securing a line of credit for the new entity. During the first meeting, it also became apparent that the newly formed LEERFORM was looking for a larger facility in East Williamsburg. With the assistance of Evergreen and Torus CRE, LEERFORM was able to move into a 6,000 square foot workspace at 182 Stewart Avenue in the North Brooklyn Industrial Business Zone (IBZ).
In less than six months the members of LEERFORM had formed a new entity and moved to a new home base. To further help facilitate this transition, Evergreen was able to assist LEERFORM in getting approved for the Commercial Expansion Program (CEP), Con Edison’s lighting upgrade program, and State and Federal Sales Tax Exemptions, and a Small Business Administration (SBA) 7a Loan.
When asked about what Evergreen does, Doug Young said, “What don’t they do? LEERFORM’s relationship with Evergreen has evolved into a dependency. Anytime there is an issue or question we turn to Evergreen for advice and they never stop astounding. I honestly do not know where we would be without them.” Masters of a variety of materials including quartz, wood, steel, and brass, the members of LEERFORM are skilled specialists that have quickly established themselves in North Brooklyn’s growing design/ fabrication scene. Evergreen is excited to see their hard work and smart investments pay off in the years to come and look forward to their continued partnership as part of the Evergreen community!
The Greenline 