Happy Thanksgiving!
Despite the constant real divisions on the national and regional level, we have a lot to be thankful for in our local communities.
Each day at Vision we are thankful and blessed to see some of the best from our neighbors around Long Island. On the community level - citizens who are passionate about their neighborhoods and want to either preserve their quality of life or make changes to seek improvements. In the private sector - local businesses that have placed their economic well being on the line to invest in our downtowns and members of the development community that create jobs and redevelopment. In the public sector - local officials that navigate challenging economic conditions to manage growing and thriving Main Streets.
Most importantly we are thankful for family, friends and colleagues that guide us and provide the human and spiritual fuel to keep us going. Finally, we must give thanks to the opportunity and freedoms that exist in this nation to make conditions better where we live and work.
Thanks again to the many real people in real communities producing real benefits that are making our Island a better place. Thank You, and we look forward to a continued partnership!
Support Your Local Businesses On
Small Business Saturday...
And Every Day
Please remember to shop in our local downtowns and small businesses this holiday season.
Vision Board, staff & LI Main Street Alliance members have been and will be joining and promoting events with the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce, Suffolk County Alliance of Chambers in Merrick, Lynbrook, Northport, Westhampton and other locations with various elected officials including Nassau County Executive Laura Curran and local shopowners.
Small Business Saturday is November 30th so at the very least make purchases that day!
Vision Long Island and the Long Island Main Street Alliance have been working with the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce and Nassau County government, including County Executive Laura Curran, to get the word out about shopping in your local downtowns this season.
This is being done as part of the brilliant Shop Local campaign, which has worked for years to encourage local residents to spend some time in their downtowns during the holiday season. As Thanksgiving ends and we begin the holiday shopping season, it’s more important than ever to visit your local Main Street and help support local Mom & Pop stores.
As part of this there have been a series of press conferences with various local officials and business leaders joining in. These press conferences have been held annually since 2005 in downtown Farmingdale and the message has spread to communities across Long Island. This partnership has yielded a push to level the playing field between brick and mortar stores and internet sales with annual lobbying and eventual passage of taxing internet sales to bring revenues to local municipalities as well.
The second of what will ultimately be 4 events was held in Lynbrook this past week and announced the inaugural Shop Small Scavenger Hunt to be held on November 30th, the date of this year’s Small Business Saturday. This county-wide scavenger hunt will be designed to encourage residents shop and dine at local small businesses and help boost sales for local businesses.
To participate in the hunt, shoppers must complete four of the eight tasks that include taking photos while purchasing a beverage or snack from a local establishment, getting a haircut at a local barber shop or nails done at a local salon, purchasing clothing at a local boutique or gift shop, or shopping at a local hardware or variety store. Only purchases made on Small Business Saturday will be eligible and must be made in the same community at locally-owned stores.
The completed Scavenger Hunt sheet and corresponding photos of four tasks must be submitted by 10 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 30. Entries can be submitted on Facebook by tagging: @NCExecutive, @NassauCouncilofChambersofCommerce, @NassauCountyIDA and #ShopSmallNassau or via email to info@ncchambers.org with the participant’s name and #ShopSmallNassau in the subject line.
The first successfully completed contestants will win gift cards to local stores within the community their purchases took place. First place will receive $300 in gift cards while second and third place will get $200, and fourth will receive $100.
Here is the video from the press conference with the Nassau County Executive in Lynbrook.
Meanwhile the first event was hosted by Julie Marchesella of the Nassau Chambers and Merrick Chambers in her shop Queen of Hearts along with Nassau Legislator for the area Steve Rhoads. Nassau Chambers Vice President Frank Camarano, Femy Aziz, Joe Ponte and Juan Vides joined along with local Veterans associations.
You can read more details on the Shop Small Scavenger Hunt here and don’t forget to get out there and Shop Local this holiday season! Watch for coverage in the Herald, the Island Now and LI Business News.
PSEG Long Island Joins in Small Business Saturday
PSEG Long Island’s business programs have helped thousands of local companies across Long Island and the Rockaways save, grow and keep jobs right here. Their powerful economic development programs are revitalizing our downtown business districts and helping them thrive.
Small- and medium-sized businesses account for nearly 80% of the commercial energy efficiency projects we’ve supported, generating customer savings of more than $96 million per year.
PSEG Long Island has been working to bring relief to Main Street businesses on Long Island for years through various programs designed to lower cost and increase efficiency. They have helped numerous small business owners in our region to pay bills during the crucial early months of a new storefront, often when businesses are most vulnerable.
Please join them in supporting local businesses this holiday season: Shop local! See all the ways PSEG Long Island is powering small business at psegliny.com/business.
Natural Gas Moratorium Lifted on Long Island
Thankfully the natural gas moratorium has been lifted with an agreement between National Grid and the Governor. While it doesn’t address all the long term issues that we care about, it should help the many small businesses and projects that have been stuck in limbo since the moratorium began.
Here is a preliminary statement we released on request:
The lifting of the moratorium on natural gas is wonderful news for small business owners seeking to open or expand, affordable housing and mixed use downtown projects that were approved, new industrial redevelopment, and offices looking to provide jobs.
In the interim we are hearing that National Grid will bring back customers in the order in which their service request was received.
The agreement with NYS includes a $36 million fee that will go to a series of programs. There is a $7 million fund for customers that were harmed by the moratorium process, a funded program for energy efficiency to reduce the demand for gas, and $20 million that will be dedicated to as-yet-undetermined clean energy projects. There is also a short term demand response program that has larger customers switch back to oil on the coldest days.
Clearly there is no definitive judgement long term on a natural gas pipeline vs increased oil and propane production. There is also no clear alternative from the renewable energy industry on cost effective options to service these needs yet. What the end to this moratorium does is provide time to properly plan a truly regional issue. We sincerely hope that the region can take advantage of this reprieve.
In the long term, the lack of natural gas supply needs to be addressed as the temporary fix of CNG trucks moving through local communities should not be sustained. Hopefully this painful process will serve as a call to regional interests and local communities to sort out investment in sustainable energy solutions so we don’t have to retreat to oil and propane.
Special thanks to members of the Vision Board, community partners, the LI Main Street Alliance and members of the Smart Growth movement across Long Island who wrote hundreds of letters and held press events seeking to move through this crisis.
For a copy of the National Grid press release: https://files.constantcontact.com/d3d3986e601/18c6eda4-cda0-49ea-b671-ccbfb4372756.pdf
For a copy of the Q & A on getting service back: https://www.nationalgridus.com/gasconnect-faq
Check out the story in LI Business News – Vision LI/LIMain Street Alliance is quoted:https://libn.com/2019/11/25/national-grid-lifts-moratorium-on-natural-gas-service/
The 18th Annual Smart Growth Summit is an event that will feature networking, a trade show, workshops, technical worksessions, a youth summit, and plenary sessions on regional and local issues facing mixed-use development. Every year we bring together over 1,000 civic members, chambers, developers, environmentalists, design professionals, academics, not-for-profits, young people and federal, state, county, town and village officials from Long Island and the region.
We want this year to be our biggest summit yet, so become a sponsor and help us bring Smart Growth to our communities!
Contact us at events@visionlongisland.org or 631-261-0242 for more information.
ONLINE REGISTRATION
AVAILABLE!
Contact us at 631-261-0242 or
at info@visionlongisland.org for more
information.
Thank you to our Generous
Sponsors!
You can view a PDF version of the flyer here.
 |
Vision Long Island 24 Woodbine Ave., Suite Two Northport, NY 11768 Phone: 631-261-0242 Fax: 631-754-4452 Email: info@visionlongisland.org Website: www.visionlongisland.org |
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