By Zev Gotkin
Photos: Shneur Haviv/COLlive
Over 500 attendees participated in the second annual Chosen Business Conference, an expo celebrating Lubavitch-owned businesses and supporting community entrepreneurs this past Sunday.
Held at the Beis Rivkah Rose Hall in Crown Heights, the expo featured a trade show and a networking opportunity with some 70 vendors, innovators and investors from the community.
A resounding success, it was organized by the Crown Heights Young Entrepreneurs (CHYE) in partnership with COLlive.com. CHYE Director Rabbi Yehoshua Werde welcomed the broad spectrum represented at the expo.
Rabbi Eli Cohen, Director of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council (CHJCC), gave opening remarks. “Crown Heights, as the Rebbe taught, is a place of blessing,” he said. “There’s a tremendous amount of blessing in this community and we see a little piece of it in all the people who are here today.
The lead sponsor of this year’s expo was David “Duddy” Farkash, founder of RFK Financial in partnership with MassMutual Metro NY, a renowned life insurance agency.
Farkash explained why supporting Crown Heights business and CHYE is so important to him. “I am where I am today because when I was a yungerman working in a grocery store, someone came up to me and told me they saw I had the potential for far greater things,” he said.
“That’s why I feel it is so important to give back and help the next generation of entrepreneurs succeed. We all need to support one another. There’s more than enough [business] to go around.”
The keynote address was presented by the Florida-based serial entrepreneur and activist investor David Schottenstein entitled, “There is Only One CEO… Important Lessons I Learned the Hard Way.”
Schottenstein is the founder and former CEO of Privé Revaux sunglasses. He has started and sold multiple companies and has ownership interests in several successful ventures, including OneWheel, Mizzen & Main and his latest venture, 7th Heaven Chocolate Co.
He spoke about learning from his mistakes and the importance of doing business honestly and with integrity, adding that a key component in business and life should be bitachon. “Entrepreneurs must cultivate their trust in Hashem,” he said.
This Chosen Business conference was created to promote communal support for Crown Heights businesses. Many of the attendees expressed their surprise and admiration that there was so much business growth, opportunities, and innovation going on in the “shchuna.” “Who knew there was so much going on here in Crown Heights?!” more than one person commented as they made their way around the various booths.
By the end of the conference, the truth of Farkash’s words was abundantly clear to all. When it comes to the Crown Heights business scene, “there’s more than enough to go around.”
For more about Crown Heights Young Entrepreneurs and their events, programming, and resources, visit chye.info
VIDEO: Speeches
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VIDEO: Dudi Farkash interviews Business Owners and Attendees
Beautiful event.
Keep up the amazing work Rabbi Werde!!
wishing an abundance of parnassa to all these businesses and for every Yid as well, and to do good things with the monies that come in
!!
Go Menach Light and Levi Donin!!!