SUNnation Solar

HIA-LI’s 2019 Agenda Aims to Boost Long Island’s Competitive Status

terrialessimiceliLeave a comment
Click the image above for a copy of our 40th Anniversary Report.

Coming off our 40th anniversary last year, the HIA-LI is looking to the future and carrying forward our momentum into 2019.

We’re working together to promote the interests of the Long Island business community – and of America’s second-largest industrial park. And we’re fueled by the knowledge that everyone benefits – our companies, our organizations, our employees, and our households – when we successfully strengthen Long Island’s regional competitiveness.

This year, HIA-LI will center much of our attention on three strategic initiatives:

First, we’ll build upon the groundbreaking work of the Hauppauge Industrial Park Task Force – chaired by Joe Campolo, Esq., of Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP – which focuses on elevating the park’s economic impact.

Initiated through the collaboration of our members, along with the Suffolk County IDA, the Regional Plan Association, and Stony Brook University, HIA-LI is now working with James Lima Planning + Development to pinpoint ways to maximize the Park’s growth and competitiveness.

One component of our Task Force work will be to fortify relationships with Long Island’s educational institutions to help better meet the workforce needs of the region. We’ll also be looking at re-branding the Hauppauge Industrial Park to better reflect the pride we have in this critical economic engine.

Our second area of concentration in 2019 is the HIA-LI Solar Initiative – co-chaired by Jack Kulka of Kulka Construction Corp. and Scott Maskin of SUNation Solar Systems – which will leverage our park’s 20 million square feet of unused rooftops. Solarizing this untapped resource will reduce electricity costs, generate jobs and revenues, and help preserve our environment.

And third comes our Small Business Task Force – chaired by Rita DiStefano of Portnoy, Messinger, Pearl & Associates – which is working to enhance HIA-LI’s ability to engage with Long Island’s small business community.

Our small and mid-sized business owners have asked us to concentrate on three critical needs: The first is to find, train and retain good talent. The second is to promote business development and generate fresh revenue streams. And the third is to secure financing that facilitates business growth.

While we’re always looking to recruit new board members, this year we’ll be specifically aiming to attract young entrepreneurs to our association, to our park, and to the Long Island region’s leadership ranks.

And it makes sense to mark your calendar now for one of our seminal annual events, the HIA-LI 31st Annual Trade Show, which this year will be held on Thursday, May 30.

In 2019, let’s keep working together to elevate Long Island as one of the country’s great and vibrant economic centers.

Working Closely with our Government Partners

terrialessimiceliLeave a comment
pic-with-politicians-and-jack-and-joe-2.jpg
From left: Hon. Phil Boyle, State Senator; Terri Alessi-Miceli, President & C.E.O., HIA-LI; Hon. Lee Zeldin, Congressman; Hon. Michael Fitzpatrick, State Assemblyman; Jack Kulka, Lifetime Board Member, HIA-LI; and, Joe Campolo, Board Chair, HIA-LI.

HIA-LI has always prided itself on having outstanding relationships with government officials. Many of our elected and appointed leaders have supported the HIA-LI throughout the years and at critical times have been just a phone call away.  That is something we, and our members, very much appreciate.

It has resulted in numerous projects and improvements such as:

  • A new highway exit off the Northern State Parkway.
  • Securing a COPE patrol vehicle dedicated to the Hauppauge Industrial Park through the Suffolk County Police Department.
  • Establishing the first childcare center in an industrial park on Long Island.
  • Obtaining a $600,000 transportation grant from former Congressman Steve Israel to look at egress and digress in the Park.
  • Establishment of an overlay district that allows for increased building height.
  • Expansion of the Park’s sewerage project.

All of this and more has happened because of our strong relationship with government officials.

On October 19, 2018, we took another important step in our advocacy and partnership with local and regional public officials by hosting a Board Legislative Breakfast where more than two dozen elected leaders and their representatives attended.  HIA-LI understands the importance of communicating our members’ concerns to governmental leaders and the benefits of working with them in a collaborative manner to find solutions.

At the October 19 breakfast, Joe Campolo, Board Chair and Managing Partner of Campolo, Middleton and McCormick LLP, reviewed the proactive work being done in the Hauppauge Industrial Park and the “Opportunity Analysis” that this is being conducted to help identify ways that the Park’s economic power can be channeled to maximize its contribution to Long Island’s long-term growth and competitiveness.

Scott Maskin, HIA-LI Board Member and Co-Founder of SUNation Solar spoke about the progressive work being done with our Solar Initiative.  There are 20 million square feet of unused rooftops that can be utilized as a solar asset, helping to lower energy costs for businesses while increasing the quality of our environment.

Rita DiStefano, HIA-LI Board Member and HR Consultant for Portnoy, Messinger, Pearl spoke about the urgency to continue helping small businesses via our Small Business Task Force. Since more than 80 percent of HIA-LI member companies are considered small to midsize businesses, this is another critical step for us. We realize that small business doesn’t have the bandwidth that larger companies have and the open forums this task force has created can help them lead and grow their organizations.

HIA-LI continues to be a catalyst for change, and I feel blessed to be leading an organization that has not only has its heart and footprint in the Hauppauge Industrial Park but across this bi-county region.