World-Wide Business Centres Celebrates 45 Years

World-Wide Business Centres’ New York facility is located in 63,000 square feet of prime office space on the 8th, 9th and 10th floors of 575 Madison Avenue. This prestigious building, located at Madison Avenue and 57th Street directly across the street from the IBM and Sony Towers, offers a modern marble entry lobby, high speed elevators and state-of-the-art air handling system.;xNLx;;xNLx;Located in the heart of New York City’s business district, our address is within easy walking distance of ten five-star hotels, the head offices of four major U.S. banks as well as a number of foreign banks and many corporate headquarters. Public and private transportation offers easy access to and from area airports, local transportation hubs and the downtown financial district.;xNLx;;xNLx;Three full floors provide a selection of 220 fully furnished, tastefully decorated offices and fully equipped conference rooms. Beautifully appointed reception areas decorated with original works of art are the focal point for the arrival of all visitors. Owner/operated since 1970, the facility boasts the highest staff-to-client ratio in the industry; the average tenure of all staff members exceeds three years, with supervisory and management personnel averaging over 20 years; all possess unparalleled experience meeting clients’ needs.;xNLx;;xNLx;Join such companies as Bloomberg LP, CDC, the U.S. subsidiary of France’s second largest bank, Sports Television Network, Westwood One and Yourdon Inc. that have developed enormously successful companies based on their start in New York at WWBC.;xNLx;

1970-07-01 14:40:05

World-Wide Business Centres opens at 445 Park Ave, NYC

Alan Bain opens WWBC, the first of its kind, at 445 Park Avenue. Located in 1500 square feet, the facility offered 3 offices, a conference room, reception/work area. an IBM typewriter, hand-cranked pencil sharpener, Roneo duplicating machine, telex and rotary phones. WWBC introduces the "Virtual Plan" to the business traveler through its "Identity Plan". The Plan allowed clients to use the address, phone and telex number, a conference room and have access to staff support while travelling.

1970-10-01 04:50:15

World Trade Center was close to completion

Construction begins on March 21,1966 at the WTC site with the demolition of 78 Dey Street. In Oct 1970, the North Tower of the WTC exceeds the height of Empire State Building, making it the tallest building in the world.

1970-11-12 14:40:05

WWBC Business Communication of the Day

Business Communication was either by mail, teletype/telex machine or a land line telephone call supplied uniquely by New York Telephone that had a monopoly on the market. Installations would take over a month or longer. or on a teletype/telex machine

1970-11-16 04:50:15

WWBC Services

Services are targeted at the Business Traveller. They are available as needed and paid for as used. These included access to phone and telex communications; office and conference rooms available by the hour; mail and delivery receipt; with staff support available charged in quarter hour increments.

1972-08-22 04:50:15

WWBC Opens London Office

WWBC opens a London office in response to British Overseas Airways Corporation's decision to promote WWBC to its Business Travelers.

1974-10-16 04:50:15

WWBC Moves to 575 Madison Ave in Response to a New Market Opportunity

WWBC occupied a portion of the 10th Floor with 28 offices and two conference rooms and a staff of six.

1974-11-16 04:50:15

WWBC Switchboard

Calls were answered (with a courtesy unknown to Lily Tomlin) using a plug board switchboard and all messages were written by hand.

1976-07-04 04:50:15

NYC Celebrates the Bicentennial

And Alan Bain celebrates his 40th Birthday thanks to a gift from his late wife and co-founder, Linda Miller Bain, of a yacht cruise among the Tall Ships that were visiting from around the world to commemorate New York's Harbor as the world's leading commercial port.

1976-12-22 04:50:15

WWBC continues to grow

As sections of the 10th Floor became available, having been vacated by a lawyer with whom Alan Bain had practiced in the City, WWBC added to its inventory more than 50 new offices, affectively tripling its size by the end of 1976.

1977-04-10 04:50:15

WWBC NY Times Article

WWBC is featured in a NY Times piece.

1977-07-16 04:50:15

NYC Blackout

First time WWBC is closed Lightning strikes a Consolidated Edison substation along the Hudson River, tripping two circuit breakers and setting off a chain of events that results in a massive power failure. The entire City of New York is blacked out, parts of it for more than 24 hours.

1979-03-15 04:50:15

WWBC Installs Wang WP System

WWBC installs a "State-of-the-Art" Wang Word Processing System. At the time, the Word Processing department, one of our more profitable services, with a full time staff working during the day as well as evenings and weekends, helped many clients with business proposals, merge letters and envelopes, resumes, and legal documents.

1980-04-01 04:50:15

NYC Transit Strike

On April 1, 1980, New York City experienced a Transit Strike. Many of our employees carpooled to work and many of the newspapers were filled with stories and pictures of thousands crossing the Brooklyn Bridge, with cheerleader Mayor Koch at the Manhattan end shouting "How'm I doin?". The strike was resolved on April 11, 1980.

1981-05-01 04:50:15

Michael Bloomberg rents an office at WWBC

"I started with one office at a reasonable price while maintaining the ability to be flexible...By the time I left World-Wide, I occupied over twenty offices. After I moved into my own space, the risks seemed to grow. I had to make long-term commitments which I previously didn't have to do at WWBC." Michael Bloomberg went on to build a very successful business as well as becoming Mayor of New York City for three (3) consecutive terms, a feat no other mayor has ever achieved. A testimonial can be found at www.wwbcn.com/testimonials/website .

1982-08-22 04:50:15

WWBC purchases Apple II's

WWBC Finance Department installs an Apple II Plus and an Apple IIe, to meet the heavy demands of the department. Using VisiCalc, a spreadsheet program, WWBC was able to produce financial documents to track the profitability of each service center.

1982-08-22 04:50:15

WWBC Expands to 9th Floor

In 1982 WWBC took on a major renovation project, remodeling its entrance and reception area on the 10th Floor, adding most of the 9th floor, the former headquarters of Marvel Comics, and installing an internal staircase for easy access to the 9th floor. This expansion added 6 more conference rooms; as well as introduced more contemporary office furniture.

1983-06-10 04:50:15

WWBC Installs a New Phone System

WWBC is the first business center in the country to install its own Private Branch Exchange, ("PBX") , The Nortel SL1. To achieve the transition from NY Telephone's switchboard system, WWBC pioneered the development of a computerized telephone answering system that revealed the recipient's name and details and allowed operators to type messages into a data base for easy retrieval. This system also captured and priced all outgoing calls by client extension. This move also dispensed with the need referred to above in Business Communications of the Day of dealing with NY Telephone, an innovation that represented a major competitive advantage and later became an industry standard.

1985-06-18 04:50:15

WWBC Expands Again

In mid 1986, WWBC increases its size by approximately 15%....it now had 41,000 square feet with 164 offices and 10 conferences rooms

1985-11-18 04:50:15

WWBC Celebrates 15th Anniversary

World-Wide celebrates its 15th Anniversary, with friends and family, cruising around Manhattan aboard the World Yatch.

1990-10-18 04:50:15

WWBC Celebrates 20th Anniversary

WWBC Staff

1993-10-18 04:50:15

WWBC replaces Wang WP System

The Wang Word Processing System is replaced with PC's using WordPerfect software, increasing both efficiency and productivity.

1995-10-18 04:50:15

WWBC's 25th Anniversary

A 25th Anniversary Party was held at the University Club celebrating with our Staff, Clients and Friends who helped us through the years.

1996-01-16 04:50:15

NYC Blizzard

NYC experiences its worst blizzard in 48 years with a record of 20.20 inches of snow. This is the second time WWBC is closed in its 26 years of business.

1997-10-16 04:50:15

AOL

AOL dial up is all the rage at 56K. "You Got Mail"

1998-02-01 04:50:15

WWBC Installs High Speed Internet

A "High Speed Internet" 3 mg pipe is installed giving clients access to the internet. Quis Communications provided two bonded T-1 lines. The fastest dial-up modem, at that time, was 56K.

2000-10-18 04:50:15

WWBC Celebrates its 30th Anniversary

The staff celebrated this occasion with an exciting basketball game and dinner at Chelsea Piers. As a "Thank You" to our clients, WWBC hosts a biweekly complementary breakfast which continues to this day.

2001-09-01 22:58:04

WWBC Expands to the 8th Floor

WWBC adds the 8th Floor, bringing the total offices and meeting rooms to 220 across three floors. Mr. Alan Bain, President of World-Wide Business Centres, Mr. Michael Steinberg, Managing Partner of Steinberg & Pokoik, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg (former client of World-Wide) cut the ribbon for the opening of the 8th Floor. For the first time WWBC was able ,to design the floor from scratch. office sizes were increased to accommodate the interest in team rooms. Ceiling heights were increased to give a feeling of airiness, and multi function meeting spaces and breakout rooms were built and a kitchen was added to accommodate the demand by larger groups.

2001-09-11 04:50:15

September 11, 2001

New York City, and the World, are forever changed. WWBC provides instant, temporary space for many displaced by the tragedy.

2002-12-12 16:48:54

The CONFERENCE CENTER At WWBC Opens

The new Conference Center at World-Wide Business Centres is opened to meet a growing need for a quality midtown Manhattan location that is fully equiped and available during the week and on weekends for Business Meetings, Seminars, Training Events, Receptions and the like. The size and versality of its largest room is unique in the industry.

2003-08-16 15:08:15

NYC Blackout

NYC experiences another blackout. With flashlights in hand, WWBC employees helped clients and staff exit darken stairwells.

2003-12-04 17:39:03

WWBC Rennovates both the 9th and 10th Floors

After many months of planning and implementing the renovations on both the 9th and 10th floors are completed. This project included updating the reception areas as well as all common areas.

2005-10-16 00:37:25

WWBC 's 35th Anniversary

2005-12-20 00:37:25

2005 Transit Strike

The 2005 transit strike, which took place during the busiest shopping week of the year, lasted only 2 days, but significantly affected the local economy since many people chose to avoid shopping in New York by either shopping online, or by postponing purchases.

2006-02-16 00:37:25

WWBC remains open during the NYC Blizzard

The city is frozen when a blizzard hits dumping 26.9 inches on NYC.

2007-05-01 00:37:25

WWBC Installs 100 Mb pipe

A 100 Mb pipe is installed to meet the high demand for internet access, increasing our bandwith 33X.

2009-04-01 00:37:25

WWBC installs a New Phone Answering and Conference Booking System

A new windows based phone answering and conference room booking system is installed which allows us to offer a more personalized service and enabled us to assign conference rooms more efficiently.

2010-10-16 00:37:25

40th Anniversary of WWBC

WWBC hosted a 40th Anniversary Party to celebrate yet another milestone. Alumni staff and clients, along with our current employees and clients enjoyed catching-up and reminiscing with one another.

2012-10-29 00:37:25

Hurricane Sandy hits NYC

WWBC was closed for three days during Hurricane Sandy. Several of our staff member were severely affected.

2014-08-22 00:40:34

WWBC renovations all 3 Floors

To add a fresh new look to WWBC...we painted all coridor ceilings on the 9th and 10th floors and all elevator lobby areas. New carpeting and flooring was installed in all common areas, corridors and elevator lobbies.

2014-10-01 00:37:25

World's Tallest Residential Buillding

Right Next door to WWBC, the tallest residential tower in New York—432 Park Avenue— stands at an astounding 1,396 ft. The building was officially topped out on October 10, 2014, making it the highest rooftop in the city. The building required the demolition of the 495-room Drake Hotel, which was built in 1926. In 2006, the hotel was sold for $440 million to developer Harry Macklowe, and the hotel was demolished the year afterward.

2015-10-30 00:37:25

WWBC's Senior Staff Represents 250 years of Cumulative Service. Bravo!!!!

The one enduring strength that distinguishes WWBC from its competition is the Extraordinary loyalty of its employees to the company and their dedication to its clients. As we celebrate our 45th Anniversary, I would like to recognize some key employees, Ed Bungert, 38 years; Ellen Donohoe, 36 years; Donald Radcliffe, 35 years ( Plus an additional 8 years as an invaluable colleague and consultant); Michele Piri, 31 years, Liliana Vinueza, 31 years; and Robert McCann, 28 years. Thank you for your extraordinary devotion to the company. Each of you has played a leading role in nurturing the staff and teaching them to provide the highest possible level of service. I will forever be grateful!

2015-11-01 00:00:00

45 Years and Counting.......

Thank you for making this possible!

World-Wide Business Centres Celebrates 45 Years

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