Campolo Middleton & McCormick

Bi-Partisan Public-Private Cooperation Propels Long Island’s Economic Growth

terrialessimiceliLeave a comment

2019 Leg Recep Collage

On October 29th the HIA-LI once again gathered for our Annual Board Legislative Breakfast with the goal of reviewing our current initiatives and asking for continued support from our officials.

“Long Island is not only a national treasure, but we’re also a national model for how business and government should partner.”

When HIA-LI Chair Joe Campolo said this to the gathering his words rang true for me – and I think for just about every business executive and government official in the room.

Yes, there’s always going to be some disagreement between public officials and businesspeople. We won’t always see eye-to-eye.

But in Nassau and Suffolk counties, the relationship has been supported by a spirit of cooperation. Indeed, our own Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge (LI-IPH) could never have become America’s second-largest innovation park – trailing only Silicon Valley itself – without the kind of cooperation we are talking about.

We were privileged to be joined by Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim and Councilman Tom Lohmann; Islip Town Supervisor Angie Carpenter; Suffolk County Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory; Suffolk County Legislators Robert Calarco, Sarah Anker, Bill Lindsay, Susan Berland and Rob Trotta; State Senator John Flanagan; State Assembly Members Michael Fitzpatrick and Steve Stern; and Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri. Their presence helped to reinforce the symbiosis shared by the private and public sectors on Long Island.

All of LI-IPH’s past milestones – the childcare center, extra police protection, the exit off the Northern State Parkway, sewage improvements, and increases in permissible building height – required bi-partisan public sector cooperation.

Joe Campolo – Managing Partner at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP – praised the Suffolk County IDA for helping scores of our members firms expand – and for underwriting the LI-IPH’s 160-page “Opportunity Analysis” that charts a long-term economic revitalization strategy by fostering the growth of competitive, tradeable industries.

Rita DiStefano, HR Consulting Director with Portnoy Messinger Pearl & Associates – who chairs HIA-LI’s Small Business Task Force – told attendees that she recognizes government’s role in supporting small firms, which constitute four-fifths of our membership. Public sector engagement is critical in such areas as financial assistance for business, and workforce training and development.

And Scott Maskin – the CEO of SUNation and Co-Chair of HIA-LI’s Hauppauge Industrial Power Project with HIA-LI Lifetime Board Member Jack Kulka told attendees about the goal of placing solar installations on park rooftops by the end of 2020, helping to meet the Governor’s NY-SUN target of 100 percent renewables by 2040.

HIA-LI proudly facilitates public-private cooperation at all levels with the help of HIA-LI Board Members carrying out our initiatives. It’s a partnership that’s essential to Long Island’s future.

Young Professionals Impart Wisdom

terrialessimiceliLeave a comment
There was a full-house at the June 18 HIA-LI Young Professionals and Entrepreneurs (H.Y.P.E.) Executive Breakfast and Scholarship Awards ceremony.

We all know the challenge of young people leaving Long Island to live and work in other regions. In fact, it is stated by the year 2025 seventy-five percent of the workforce will be millennials who, if they continue to exit Long Island, will create an even larger challenge. We also know the urgent need to create jobs and connect our educational partners. It is the very reason that several years ago the HIA-LI created a Young Professionals Committee (now H.Y.P.E.) that every year creates a young professionals panel to speak to our scholarship recipients.

There were some great takeaways this year from the June 18th HIA-LI Young Professionals Scholarship Awards and Executive Breakfast held at the WizdomOne Group of Companies in Islandia.  Here are a few that stand out:

  • Follow your passion because passion equals excellence. Now is not the time to “settle” or second-guess your dreams.
  • If you’re not sure of your career direction, use college to explore your options. Take classes that interest you . . . one of them might just ignite a ‘spark.’
  • There is no substitute for hard work. (You’ve heard the expression, “The harder I work, the luckier I get.  Well, it’s true.)
  • Look at failures as learning opportunities. You can’t learn to succeed unless you’ve learned to fail.  And when you do fail, fail hard, fail fast, and then get up and continue moving forward.
  • Be present in whatever you’re doing. Put down the cell phone.  Turn off the TV.  Focus on people.
  • It’s important to have a support system. It may your parents.  It may be friends.  It may be extended family.  Or it may be co-workers.  But no matter, surround yourself with people who are positive and supportive.
  • Find work-life balance that makes you happy. It may not look like your parents, friends, or colleagues, but that’s ok.  So long as it works for you.
  • Make your bed every morning! Yes, starting the day in an organized way sets a positive tone for the rest of your day.

Many thanks to the stellar panel of young professionals who helped to impart these insightful pieces of advice.  They were moderators Jason Hershkowitz, Account Manager and Executive Recruiter, Choice Long Island, and Gregg Pajak, Founder and Managing Partner, WizdomeOne Group of Companies. Panelists included Josiah Cheatham, Senior Business Development Representative, People’s Alliance Federal Credit Union; Adam Holtzer, Director of Business Development, Generations Beyond; Lauren Kanter-Lawrence, Director of Communications, Campolo Middleton & McCormick, LLP; and, David Whelan, Director of Development, Harvest Power.

Congratulations to the 12 scholarship recipients, all children of HIA-LI members who chose to continue their post-high school education right here on Long Island.

Want to find out more about HIA-LI’s Young Professionals & Entrepreneurs (H.Y.P.E.) Committee?  Call Connor Robertson at 631-543-5355 or email crobertson@hia-li.org.