Sponsored by a grant from
The U.S. Small Business
Administration

American Communities Institute releases initial study results at second Small Business Symposium

Over 100 small businesses convene to advance recommendations on improving the economic climate for Long Island and beyond

The American Communities Institute at Dowling College hosted its second Small Business Symposium on Monday, December 5, 2011 in Oakdale. Participants of the Symposium focused on discussing the needs of small businesses and steps necessary to improve the small business environment in the U.S., New York State, and on Long Island. The Symposium was sponsored by a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Dr. Jeremy Brown, President of Dowling College, provided a short welcome address to over 100 small business leaders and elected and governmental leaders from across the region. Congressman Steve Israel delivered a keynote speech following Dr. Brown’s remarks.

In his speech, Congressman Israel focused on the topics of helping small businesses, creating more American jobs, and extending the payroll tax break in order to stimulate the American economy. The Congressman pointed out that many items sold by souvenir shops in national parks and at national monuments are currently manufactured in China. “These items can be manufactured by small businesses here in America,” the Congressman noted. Speaking of investment in American jobs, Congressman Israel focused on the topic of infrastructure investment. Noting that China continues to heavily invest in the development of its infrastructure, the Congressman called for the increase of federal and state investments in infrastructure in order to create more American jobs and to improve our ability to move goods and people. Congressman Israel also emphasized the need for bi-partisan action to extend the payroll tax cuts in order to continue stimulating the American economy. Small businesses need more customers and the extension of the payroll tax cut would allow American workers to have more money to spend in the upcoming months.

U.S. Congressman Steve Israel, with, from left, Dr. Elana Zolfo, Dowling College & HIA-LI; Dr. Jeremy Brown, Dowling College; Dr. Nathalia Rogers, Dowling College | Peter Goldsmith, LISTNET; Rich Bivone, LI Business Council; Eric Alexander, Vision Long Island; Dr. Elana Zolfo, Dowling College & HIA-LI; U.S. Congressman Steve Israel; Dr. Jeremy Brown, Dowling College

The morning program of the symposium continued with two concurrent sessions that focused on the topics of small business policies and implementation.

Federal and State Policies and Practices

Panelists: Dr. Nathalia Rogers, Dowling College (moderator); Andrea Lohneiss, LI Regional Economic Development Council; Mark Grossman, NYS Department of Labor; Yves Michel, Suffolk County Department of Economic Development; Peter Goldsmith, LISTNET; Hussain Baqueri, MobilPro Wireless; Dr. Edward Gullason, Dowling College

Panelists in the Federal and State Policies and Practices session included: Andrea Lohneiss, Director of the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council; Mark Grossman, Long Island Representative of the New York State Department of Labor; Yves R. Michel, Commissioner of Suffolk County Department of Economic Development and Workforce Housing; Peter Goldsmith, Executive Director of the Long Island Technology Network; Hussain Baqueri, owner of MobilProWireless in Hewlett; and Dr. Edward Gullason, Professor of Economics at Dowling College. Dr. Nathalia Rogers, Director of the American Communities Institute (ACI) at Dowling College moderated the session. Participants exchanged ideas about how to help small businesses find workers with the skills that they need, reduce costs of operating businesses through providing them with tax credits, access the Department of Labor services for small businesses, and stimulate consumer spending through temporarily eliminating or reducing the sales tax.

Yves Michel provided the examples of practices beneficial to small businesses that can be replicated throughout the state and the nation. Mr. Michel discussed the “Let’s Get Ready to Borrow” seminars, where small businesses received advice and training on how to improve their credit rating to help them become qualified borrowers; the “Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club” program that serves the purpose of connecting inventors with entrepreneurs who may want to commercialize new ideas through creating start ups; and the “Workforce Connector” program that is designed to help connect workers with skills that are needed by local businesses with small businesses who want to hire them.

Regional and Local Policies and Practices

Panelists: Richard Bivone, LI Business Council; Bill Mannix, Town of Islip Office of Economic Development; Michael Panagatos, East Meadow Chamber of Commerce; Bob Scheiner, H2M Group; Lionel Chitty, Hicksville Chamber of Commerce; Ronni Rosen, SUNY Stony Brook Small Business Development Center

Participants in the Regional and Local Policies and Practices session focused on how to help small businesses to cope with economic uncertainty. Session panelists included William Mannix, Director of the Town of Islip Department of Economic Development; Michael Panagatos, owner of the Empress Diner in East Meadow and member of the East Meadow Chamber of Commerce; Robert Scheiner, Senior Vice-President of H2M; and Ronni Rosen, Community Liaison for the Small Business Development Center at SUNY Stony Brook. Richard Bivone, President of RMB Consulting and Co-chair of the Long Island Business Council (LIBC) moderated the session.

Panelists agreed that issues such as the lack of access to capital, the complex web of business regulations that are difficult and time-consuming to navigate, and the lack of easily accessible information about small business initiatives slow down the growth of small businesses on Long Island. Seminars for business owners about how to develop a business plan and to improve their credit score and wider dissemination of information about business learning programs were among the solutions discussed at the session. Bill Mannix spoke of the importance of retaining young people on Long Island. Allowing for more alternative housing and emphasizing the development of downtowns as small business hubs could make it easier for younger people to stay on Long Island and live in close proximity to jobs and places to shop.

Joint Session

Town of Islip Councilman Steve Flotteron; Bill Mannix, Town of Islip Department of Economic Development; Dr. Elana Zolfo, Dowling College & HIA-LI; Ron Roel, American Communities Institute; Walter Oden, U.S. Small Business Administration; Dr. Nathalia Rogers, Dowling College; Ronni Rosen, SUNY Stony Brook Small Business Development Center; Peter Goldsmith, LISTNET; Rich Bivone, LI Business Council; Eric Alexander, Vision Long Island; Michael Panagatos, East Meadow Chamber of Commerce

The joint working session and lunch featured the presentation of selected findings and recommendations from the Small Business Study sponsored by a grant from the Small Business Administration. The study was conducted by Dr. Nathalia Rogers, the Director of the American Communities Institute, and the ACI research team that included Dr. Susanne Bleiberg Seperson, Professor of Sociology at Dowling; Dr. Edward Gullason, Professor of Economics at Dowling; and Ron Roel, Fellow at the ACI. After the presentation, Dr. Rogers moderated a working session where conference participants discussed topics of promoting downtowns as economic hubs for small businesses, and the impact of the recent home mortgage crisis on the ability of entrepreneurs, especially minority entrepreneurs, to access capital and use it to start up new businesses.

Dr. Elana Zolfo, Chairperson of the HIA and Dowling Provost, noted that the Symposium should be just the beginning of the discussion about small business development on Long Island that involves stakeholders from business, education, government, and the civic community. “We need an ongoing conversation about how to keep young people on Long Island, how to keep jobs on Long Island, and how to keep businesses on Long Island. This is a great first step” Dr. Zolfo noted.

Bob Scheiner, H2M Group and Dr. Elana Zolfo, Dowling College & HIA-LI | Irwin Krasnow, Town of Oyster Bay | Tom Croci, Town of Islip Supervisor-elect, and John Keating, National Grid | Katheryn Laible, Synchronicity and Trudy Fitzsimmons, Leadership Huntington

Eric Alexander, Vision Long Island; Dr. Nathalia Rogers, Dowling College; Peter Goldsmith, LISTNET; Dr. Jeremy Brown, Dowling College; Rich Bivone, LI Business Council; Tom Croci, Town of Islip Supervisor-elect | Yves Michel, Suffolk County Department of Economic Development, and Hussain Baqueri, MobilProWireless | Walter Oden, U.S. Small Business Administration, and Dr. Elana Zolfo

Linda Bianculli, Town of Oyster Bay, and Dr. Nathalia Rogers, Dowling College | Bert Patterson, Town of Hempstead | Steve Elish, 511 NY Rideshare, and Scott Lewis, ITM Corp | Michael Panagatos, East Meadow Chamber of Commerce | Eric Alexander, Vision Long Island; Yves Michel, Suffolk County Department of Economic Development; Charles Schreibe, Suffolk Federal Credit Union

Lucille Wesnofske, Small Business Development Center; Diane Impagliazzo, Dowling College; Ellen O’Brien, Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce; Vita Scattura, Community National Bank | Artie Perry, Dowling College; Eric Alexander, Vision Long Island; Tom Croci, Town of Islip Supervisor-elect; Dr. Nathalia Rogers, Dowling College; Dr. Elana Zolfo, Dowling College & HIA-LI | John Lombardo, Suffolk Community College, and Dr. Elana Zolfo