TRITEC Real Estate Co.

Growth, Grit, and the Policy Path Forward

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Pictured: Rob Calarco, Governor Hochul’s Long Island Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs, provided a State of the State summary at HIA-LI’s February 12, 2026 Economic Summit.

If this year’s HIA-LI Economic Summit made one thing clear, it is this: Long Island’s business community is not waiting for permission to grow.

Before some 250 business leaders gathered to “Survey the Pulse of Long Island,” the energy in the room was unmistakable. There was discipline. There was realism. And above all, there was readiness.

The data from our 2026 Business Climate Survey, conducted in partnership with Citrin Cooperman and Adelphi University, tells that story clearly. Fifty-eight percent of respondents plan to expand in 2026. More than two-thirds anticipate growth over the next five years. Nearly half are planning capital improvements this year alone.

Those are not defensive numbers. They are forward-looking numbers.

They reflect confidence in Long Island’s economic foundation and belief in what comes next. When challenged, this region does not retreat. It recalibrates and moves forward.

I remain deeply grateful to our survey partners. Citrin Cooperman’s analytical leadership and Adelphi University’s academic collaboration ensure that our conversations are grounded in measurable reality. We are not speculating about the pulse of Long Island. We are measuring it.

CAUTIOUS DOES NOT MEAN WEAK

While 45 percent of respondents forecast revenue growth in 2026, the tone of the morning was less about exuberance and more about intentional positioning. Under the thoughtful moderation of John Fitzgerald, Partner at Citrin Cooperman, the discussion underscored a critical distinction: prudence is not pessimism.

What I heard was strategy.

Balance sheets are strong. Liquidity remains healthy. Investment in artificial intelligence is accelerating. Companies are strengthening operations and planning for sustainable expansion. That is not hesitation. That is resilience with purpose.

PUBLIC INVESTMENT MUST UNLOCK PRIVATE MOMENTUM

Governor Kathy Hochul’s Long Island Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental Affairs, Rob Calarco, outlined the governor’s priorities, including middle-class tax relief, child care expansion, insurance reform and significant economic development commitments.

Most notable for our region was the emphasis on sustained investment in water infrastructure, including sewer and clean water projects designed to unlock housing development.

Infrastructure policy does not always capture headlines, but it determines whether growth is possible. Without sewer capacity and clean water systems, housing approvals stall. Without housing, workforce retention suffers. Without workforce stability, business expansion slows.

Water infrastructure is not abstract policy. It is the lever that enables economic mobility and regional competitiveness.

The encouraging signal is this: public investment is aligning around affordability and growth. The responsibility now is execution.

HOUSING IS THE MULTIPLIER

If one issue connected nearly every industry represented on the panel, it was housing.

The message was consistent across sectors. Without attainable housing, attracting young professionals becomes more difficult. Retaining families becomes harder. Scaling employers becomes constrained.

James Coughlan, Executive Vice President and Partner of TRITEC Real Estate, reinforced this point clearly. Housing production is not simply a development conversation. It is a competitiveness strategy.

Our survey confirms that business leaders understand this reality. Forty percent identified housing affordability as the most important area for government investment to facilitate growth.

Housing is not a siloed policy conversation. It is an economic multiplier. When supply expands and approvals move predictably, the ripple effects touch healthcare staffing, education, small business growth and long-term investment.

WORKFORCE STRATEGY MUST BE INTENTIONAL

Housing alone will not solve our workforce challenges. Talent pipelines must be built deliberately and sustained over time.

Throughout the discussion, the need for earlier engagement between industry and education surfaced repeatedly. Rich Humann, President and CEO of H2M Architects + Engineers and HIA-LI Board Member, emphasized that waiting until college to expose students to career pathways is too late. If we want engineers, designers, project managers and skilled trades professionals to remain on Long Island, those pathways must begin in K–12 classrooms.

That philosophy aligns directly with the work of HIA-LI’s Workforce Development Task Force, co-chaired by Humann and Suffolk County Community College President Dr. Edward Bonahue. Identifying labor shortages is not enough. Structured, visible and accessible pipelines must follow.

In healthcare, the urgency is even more pronounced. Christopher Nelson, President of St. Catherine of Siena Hospital, described rising demand for services colliding with workforce shortages and reimbursement pressures. We are training talented clinicians here. Policy and affordability must make it possible for them to build their careers here as well.

Higher education is navigating its own structural shifts. Dr. Christopher Storm, Interim President of Adelphi University, pointed to demographic headwinds and federal aid changes reshaping enrollment patterns. At the same time, institutions like Adelphi remain foundational to Long Island’s economic vitality. They produce first-generation graduates, train nurses and teachers, and prepare students for a workforce increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence.

From the financial perspective, the fundamentals remain strong. Kevin Santacroce, Chief Banking Officer of ConnectOne Bank and HIA-LI Board Member, reinforced that Long Island businesses are disciplined, well-capitalized and positioned for expansion. Entrepreneurial energy is intact. What business leaders need is predictability in the policy environment.

And any workforce strategy must remain grounded in household realities. Rick Lewis, Chief Executive Officer of the Suffolk Y JCC, reminded us that rising food pantry usage and cautious donor behavior reflect ongoing financial pressure on families. Economic expansion must translate into community stability.

Workforce strategy, in other words, is the connective tissue between housing, education, healthcare and business growth.

INNOVATION WITH RESPONSIBILITY

Nearly 60 percent of survey respondents believe artificial intelligence will positively impact their operations this year, and more than half have already invested in AI tools.

The discussion reflected maturity rather than hype. Leaders are embracing efficiency gains while recognizing that cybersecurity vigilance and governance must accompany innovation. Technology can amplify productivity, but it cannot replace thoughtful leadership or sound policy frameworks.

WHAT THIS MOMENT REQUIRES

After listening carefully to every perspective in the room, my conclusion is clear.

Long Island is aligned.

Businesses are prepared to expand. Infrastructure investment is underway. Educational institutions are adapting. Financial institutions are stable. The entrepreneurial spirit remains intact.

We know the pressure points. Housing approvals must move faster. Workforce pipelines must strengthen. Regulatory frameworks must facilitate development rather than delay it. Infrastructure investment must translate into tangible progress.

Long Island has always thrived when public and private leadership move in the same direction. That alignment was palpable at this year’s Summit.

The pulse of Long Island is strong. The foundation is in place. With focused policy action and continued collaboration, we have the opportunity to convert readiness into sustained, confident growth.

Because strong policy begins with strong data, I encourage you to explore the full findings in our 2026 Business Climate Survey.

To read the full Business Climate Survey, click here.

Action By HIA-LI Members Helps Secure Long Island’s Future

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Amid the doldrums of the COVID-19 pandemic, HIA-LI members have good reason to pat themselves on the back this year.

Why? Because our organization’s members played a central role in advocating for a public policy victory that will serve, according to Newsday, as a “building block for our region’s future.”

That victory occurred in August, when the Smithtown Town Board voted unanimously to greenlight a “zoning overlay” allowing mixed-used development at the 1,650-acre Long Island Innovation Park in Hauppauge (LI-IPH), formerly known as Hauppauge Industrial Park. The idea for a “zoning overlay” had arisen from a 160-page strategic analysis issued in April 2019. The analysis, commissioned by HIA-LI in cooperation with the Suffolk IDA and others, had enumerated ways to strengthen the Park’s future.

The Town’s decision came in the aftermath of an organized campaign – undertaken by HIA-LI members and many others – to help educate Board members regarding the merits of the change.

Thanks to new development opportunities made possible through the revised zoning rules­­­, one of Long Island’s most respected real estate developers, TRITEC of East Setauket, stepped forward in November and proposed to build a $125-million, mixed-use building with 335 apartments in the Park. The venue would be a development parcel at 49 Wireless Boulevard that TRITEC owns through a subsidiary. The “zoning overlay” opens the door for similar mixed-use projects at twelve other Park sites.

Long Island municipalities like the Town of Smithtown are recognizing the need to take bold steps to promote regional economic development and to help stem the hemorrhaging of young workers from Nassau and Suffolk. 

The Town – under the leadership of Supervisor Ed Wehrheim – understands that mixed-use development like this represents a “building block” for creating a better tomorrow for our area. Such measures boost our economic competitiveness by supporting workforce attraction and retention. In July 2019, a Rauch Foundation survey conducted for Newsday found that 67 percent of Long Islanders aged 18 to 34 years planned to leave the region within five years.

Can you imagine? Such an exodus would seriously disable the Long Island economy and make it highly difficult for Park employers to hire and keep a skilled workforce.

In a November 29 editorial, Newsday called the new Smithtown policy “a prime example of what’s possible” when Long Island municipalities act creatively to re-envision our region’s future.

So, bravo to the members of HIA-LI for helping to create a new model for fortifying Long Island’s long-term competitiveness.  And a special thanks to our LI-IPH Task Force, headed by HIA-LI Board Chair Joe Campolo, Managing Partner at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP.

Read the complete Newsday editorial here.

Despite Slip, AVZ Survey Says Long Island Economy Is Still Strong

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AVZ Economic Summit
Moderator Robert Quarte, Managing Partner, AVZ & Company, P.C., and panelists, from left: Jim Coughlan, Principal, TRITEC Real Estate Co., Inc.; Janine Logan, Sr. Director, Communications & Population Health, Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council; Rich Humann, President and CEO, H2M Architects + Engineers; Dr. John Nader, President, Farmingdale State College; and, Kevin O’Connor, President and CEO, BNB Bank.

Long Island business executives feel optimistic about the region’s economic future, as we explored at HIA-LI’s 26th Annual Economic Summit on February 12 at the Hyatt Regency in Hauppauge. HIA-LI sees this event as critical to helping our members interpret what’s going on here on Long Island.

Based on the annual survey conducted by AVZ & Company, one of Long Island’s largest accounting firms, confidence in the regional economy – which reached a survey record high of 7.2 in 2018 – stood at a healthy 6.8 by the end of 2019. Yet forty-six percent of respondents added employees last year, and 43 percent had “no problem” finding skilled workers.

With AVZ managing partner Bob Quarte keeping the discussion lively and interesting in his role as moderator, a five-member panel sustained the attention of over 250 guests as they delved into issues shaping our region’s economic future.

Jim Coughlan, principal of TRITEC Real Estate, praised IDAs for their powerful contributions to the success of large business development projects. But if State lawmakers begin requiring IDA-supported projects to pay “prevailing wages,” he cautioned, IDAs would lose much of their ability to promote growth.

Rich Humann, president and CEO of H2M Architects + Engineers, praised HIA-LI’s work in building bridges between the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge (LI-IPH) and regional universities.

Looking big picture, Kevin O’Connor, president and CEO of BNB Bank, said there’s been an evolution in deal structures over the past fifteen years that should lessen the incidence of “crash and burn” economic cycles.

Janine Logan, Senior Director for Communications and Population Health with the Nassau-Suffolk Hospital Council, seemed unsurprised that the AVZ survey had ranked healthcare as the regional industry with the greatest growth potential.

Why? Well, nearly one-fifth of our population is age 65 or older, she said, and the top, predisposing factor for chronic disease is age.

Dr. John Nader, president of Farmingdale State College, told attendees that many people burdened with college debt had never received diplomas. Instead of two- or four-year degrees, he said that many jobs now call only for “micro-credentials” and certifications. That’s something for us to keep in mind as we develop a proposed LI-IPH workforce development center.

This year’s Economic Summit was stimulating and upbeat and once again served as a very important discussion on the pulse and future trends on Long Island.

Our Task Force Has Begun Building the Park’s New Future

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We’ve got the vision – and we’ve got the strategy.

And now, we’ve got a blue-ribbon Task Force in place to implement the strategy.

Our goal? The HIA-LI is spearheading a bold expansion of the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge (LI-IPH), formerly known as the Hauppauge Industrial Park.

While our 55,000-employee workforce already delivers $13 billion in annual output, we’ve now identified powerful opportunities for new growth.

With support from the Suffolk County IDA and the Regional Plan Association, HIA-LI commissioned a full-blown “Opportunity Analysis” by James Lima of James Lima Planning + Development, a nationally respected economic development consulting firm.

It found that the Park stood as Long Island’s top source of new, incoming wealth – thanks to our unsurpassed ratio of “tradable” businesses. These are companies whose exports and services attract new dollars into the region.

Tradable industries constitute only 23 percent of the regional economy, well below the 36 percent national average.

But our Park’s ratio is super-high: 58 percent of our workforce represents jobs in tradable industries.

The 160-page Lima assessment pinpointed five expansion strategies: facilitate business growth, attract and retain key knowledge workers, strengthen workforce development, promote innovation, and bolster connections among businesses, government, and institutions.

Happily, our new LI-IPH Task Force has already begun implementing these strategies.

In addition to myself and Joe Campolo, HIA-LI board chairman and managing partner of Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP, its members include:

I applaud our Task Force members for their commitment to the LI-IPH – and to our region’s future.

Let’s enthusiastically support their efforts to usher in a new era of economic vibrancy for Long Island.