Largest NYC Woman-Owned Caterer is South Bronx Bound

Liz Neumark, founder and CEO of Great Performances

NEW YORK—City and state officials announced on March 18 that Great Performances, the city’s largest woman-owned catering and food services firm, will be relocating operations from Hudson Street in New York City to the South Bronx.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that as part of the relocation, Great Performances will create 181 new jobs and retain 451 jobs. The company will also invest $4.4 million in outfitting a more than 40,000-square-foot space to accommodate new kitchens, warehouse space, purchasing department, design studio, training space, support offices and The Sylvia Center, a non-profit dedicated to teaching nutrition and cooking to children and their families in high potential neighborhoods.

Great Performances is currently headquartered at 304 Hudson St. in Manhattan and will be relocating to the Bruckner Building at 2417 Third Ave in the Mott Haven section of the borough.

“New York couldn’t be prouder of our efforts to ensure women-owned businesses—especially creative, sustainable and forward-thinking ones like Great Performances—have the opportunity to grow and thrive in this state,” Gov. Cuomo said. “With its new headquarters, Great Performances will be able to expand operations, hire more staff and share its success with new neighbors in the South Bronx and beyond. That’s a recipe for success.”

Originally founded in 1980 as a waitress service for women in the arts who wanted a flexible way to supplement their income, Great Performances has grown into a leading catering and events company in New York. In addition to working with partners like the Plaza Hotel, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Museum, the Apollo Theater, and Wave Hill, Great Performances promotes sustainable food practices through its organic Katchkie Farm—in Kinderhook in Columbia County, educates children about healthy eating, and offers an emerging artist scholarship to service staff.

“The Bronx is a promising new home for us. We are thrilled about the talent and creativity in Mott Haven and beyond,” Liz Neumark, founder and CEO of Great Performances, said. “We look forward to being active community members and growing together with our new neighbors.”

To support Great Performances’ relocation to the South Bronx and their hiring 181 new positions, ESD will provide an $880,000 grant, awarded by the New York City Regional Economic Development Council. The grant is contingent on Great Performances investing in machinery and other equipment for their new location and creating new jobs in the South Bronx, state officials noted.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr said, “Companies such as Great Performances not only help produce jobs and stimulate economic development throughout The Bronx, but also prove that this is a prime location for entrepreneurs of every background to grow their business along with us, becoming a part of the transformative changes that our borough has seen over the past decade. We welcome Great Performances with open arms and look forward to them becoming a fabric of our community.”