Jan 25, 2022

Rendering of the Union Square tech hub The NY Tech Alliance, which oversees the largest and oldest regular meetup in the city's technology scene, has been acquired by Civic Hall, a nonprofit that provides tech skills training and collaborative workspaces. The terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. The deal comes as Civic Hall is planning to open an 85,000-square-foot workspace and learning center in Union Square later this year. Civic Hall itself was acquired last spring by the FedCap Group, an international nonprofit jobs training provider based in Midtown. The Tech Alliance and Civic Hall have long operated close to each other. Civic Hall's founder, Andrew Rasiej, is the chairman emeritus of the tech alliance. Rasiej said the groups share a mission to create a more diverse and equitable tech industry, which both in New York and nationally has a workforce that is disproportionately white and male . Related Articles Civic Hall will soon be training up to 3,000 New Yorkers each year on skills required to work in tech from its Union Square hub, focused on providing opportunities to people under-represented in the industry. The Tech Alliance, meanwhile, has an engaged network of 60,000 members who already work in the industry and meet monthly. "This makes it much easier to bring the entrepreneurs and leaders of the tech industry together with under-represented and under-served people, who these companies have indicated they want to hire," Rasiej said. Civic Hall reached a deal with the de Blasio administration in 2016 to serve as the anchor tenant in the 250,000-square-foot Union Square Tech Hub, a $250 million project constructed jointly by the city Economic Development Corp. and RAL Development Services. The Civic Hall space will include a learning center with 16 classrooms for technology and jobs skills training. The Tech Alliance will continue to operate independently, with an office in the new Civic Hall space. The Tech Alliance traces its roots to New York City Tech Meetup, a group founded in 2004 to schedule regular networking events through the Meetup.com online platform. The group grew as the city's tech scene recovered from the dot-com bust and then took off as New York became second only to California's Silicon Valley in overall tech employment. In 2016, the city Tech Meetup joined forces with the New York Technology Council, an industry group, to create the Tech Alliance. The alliance has continued to host monthly meetup events virtually throughout the pandemic—but figuring out how to best serve its members without in-person networking has been challenging, said Andy Saldaña, executive director of the NY Tech Alliance. The backing of Civic Hall and Fedcap now means "less uncertainty and more opportunity for the Tech Alliance," Saldaña said. Saldaña is leaving his role soon for another professional opportunity—a decision he said was made before and independent of the acquisition. He will remain a board member and said he is confident in the group's direction, as well as that of the local industry. "So many groups are having these important conversations around equity, accessibility, diversity and inclusion and pushing things forward," Saldaña said. "So I'm very excited for what the future holds."