You can have your product certified 'Brooklyn Made' now

brooklyn made badge — Hint: You want to shoot for gold. Gold is the best. via Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Tumblr

Everyone wants in on the whole “slap Brooklyn on the name and everyone loves you” phenomenon, whether we’re talking about bars in foreign lands or children. There’s nothing like the real thing though, so in the tradition of “Made in the USA” stamps and “Kosher” symbols, the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce will now slap a fancy “Brooklyn Made” badge on your product. Well, they’ll do it as long as you actually make the thing in Brooklyn.

The Brooklyn Made program is meant to separate the people actually putting the time and effort and irritation into establishing their business in Brooklyn from the hucksters just looking to take advantage of the name. Starting with the requirement that you have to be a legal business (sorry meth makers!) making a physical product in Brooklyn, the Chamber will award badges in bronze, silver and gold levels to products made here.

The certification level your product will get depends on things like how much of your materials are sourced from Brooklyn, how many employees your company has stationed in Brooklyn and how many live here, how much design and assembly take place in Brooklyn and how long your company has been operating in Brooklyn. If you’ve got a company and want to take advantage of this fancy new badge, the application is here. It’ll run you a one-time cost of $25 if you’re a Chamber of Commerce member and $50 if you’re not, for a review from an independent panel determining the Brooklyn-ness of your business and product. It’s probably best to get the badge, lest you wind up tossed out with all the impostors like Brooklyn Water Bagels.