"In my first State of the City speech four years ago, I quotedPresident Kennedy's famous advice that 'the time to fix the roof iswhen the sun is shining,' " Quinn said Thursday. "Well, right nowthe sun isn't shining. But that doesn't mean that if the rain ispouring in, you just sit around getting wet. We can't afford towait for more sunny days to continue strengthening the foundationsof our economy."

Following the example of the successful CONNECT program in SanDiego, Quinn proposed New York City High Tech Connect, which shedescribed as "a one stop shop for entrepreneurs, and a catalyst forthe high-tech industry." The High-Tech Connect program is intendedto pair start-ups with experienced entrepreneurs, help them write abusiness plan and connect them to funding and workspace.

A second new program, Municipal Entrepreneur Testing Service, isintended to help new clean-tech companies get their start here,said Quinn. The METS program will allow tech startup companies totest products like solar panels and energy efficient light bulbs incity-owned buildings before bringing the products to market.