Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP – a premier law firm with offices across Long Island – is pleased to announce that Senior Associate David Green has been appointed as a Trustee of the Sea Cliff Village Library. In his new role as a Trustee, Green will serve the Sea Cliff Village community by helping the library enhance the quality of life for village residents by providing informational, recreational, technological, and cultural resources for all.

Green will serve a five-year term and work closely with the Board and the Friends of the Library to approve library resolutions, budgets, discuss presentations and examine subcommittee reports. Part of Green’s responsibilities as a Trustee and leader in the community will be to uphold the library’s vision in becoming a gathering place in the Village for local professionals by providing resources and connecting Sea Cliff residents in all areas of business.

Green is no stranger to leadership; his work as a Senior Associate at CMM has earned him a spot on CMM’s own leadership team, where he plays a critical role in mentoring and training new attorneys and staff. He also provides CLE training on litigation topics and client relations.  As a member of the firm’s litigation team, Green works with clients involved in business disputes, personal injury matters, and intellectual property matters. He also counsels clients on complex discovery, trials, appeals, securing settlements, and alternative dispute resolution.

“The Sea Cliff Village Library’s dedication to the community and its mission of offering a welcoming space for all village residents really resonates with me,” Green said. “I’m excited to roll up my sleeves and get to work in assisting the library to respond to the needs of the village through programming and outreach as a member of the Board of Trustees.”

CMM Managing Partner Joe Campolo was honored to attend America’s VetDogs ribbon cutting ceremony yesterday as they unveiled their newly renovated Training Center in Smithtown. As a member of their board, Campolo spoke during the ceremony about the incredible leadership of VetDogs and Guide Dog Foundation and showed appreciation for all who helped achieve this amazing accomplishment. The training facility will assist in placing more guide and service dogs with veterans and first responders with disabilities.

Campolo attended alongside veterans and elected officials such as New York State Senator Mario Materra, New York State Senator Alexis Weik, New York Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army Steven Castleton, Senior Veterans Services Officer for Suffolk County Retired U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard Master Sgt. Melissa Pandolf, Smithtown Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim, and America’s VetDogs Board Chair Don Dea.

HIA-LI, one of Long Island’s largest business associations, has issued a whitepaper presenting a progress report on an April 2019 “opportunity analysis” that had set forth a multi-faceted strategy for maximizing the economic potential of the 1,400-acre Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge, formerly known as Hauppauge Industrial Park.

The whitepaper was written for HIA-LI by Joe Campolo, Lauren Kanter-Lawrence, and Ilona Kaydanov of Ronkonkoma-based Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP.

As the largest business park in the Northeast, the approximately 1,400 companies in the Long Island Innovation Park employ 55,000 people with an annual output of $13 billion.

The 2019 opportunity analysis – prepared by James Lima Planning + Development and the Regional Plan Association and funded by the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) – documented the park’s status as “the center of Long Island’s current and future economy.”

The study spelled out five economic development strategies for park expansion: facilitate business growth; attract and retain skilled workers; strengthen workforce development; promote innovation and technology transfer; and connect businesses, governments and institutions.

The HIA-LI whitepaper, titled “Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge: Securing Long Island’s Future,” highlights the Town of Smithtown’s August 2020 zoning change to permit developers to apply for a special exception on 13 parcels in the Park for mixed-use buildings that incorporate ground-floor retail or restaurants with upstairs apartments and offices. The whitepaper noted that the Town’s policy decision had been the result of “a fully transparent three-and-a-half-year analysis.”

The report anticipates that the amended zoning stood to generate construction of 1,000 new housing units. These units would, in turn, create more than 2,900 construction jobs with $180.7 million in construction earnings and $472.6 million in construction spending.

In the context of the 2019 opportunity analysis, the zoning change would help achieve at least two of the five growth strategies for the park: the facilitation of business growth and the attraction and retention of a skilled workforce.

The whitepaper, however, singled out two obstacles to park growth: a Hauppauge Union Free School District lawsuit opposing the Town zoning change, and the inadequacy of present wastewater management systems to accommodate the anticipated expansion.

Rebutting the school district’s lawsuit, the HIA-LI document presents a detailed statistical refutation of the contention that the newly permitted building conversions would burden the local school system.

In respect to wastewater management, the whitepaper notes that the size and design of the present-day collection systems, treatment plant, and leaching beds would have to be expanded to handle the expanded output that would be generated by park expansion. The HIA-LI report notes that the Suffolk County Health and Public Works Departments contracted with Melville-based H2M architects + engineers to propose cost-efficient, ameliorative steps that would align wastewater management capacity with future wastewater output.

A key focus of the 2019 opportunity analysis was the pre-eminent value of tradable industries, which are specific business sectors that bring net, new dollars into a region. The report found that on Long Island as a whole, tradable industries comprise only 23 percent of Nassau and Suffolk’s economy, compared to a national average of 36 percent. However, the analysis revealed that 58 percent of the jobs in the Innovation Park were in tradable industries.

“This whitepaper underscores the leadership of the Town of Smithtown in undertaking visionary policy changes that would deliver enormous economic development payoffs for the Innovation Park and for Long Island as a whole,” said HIA-LI President and CEO Terri Alessi-Miceli. “HIA-LI is especially appreciative of the efforts of Town Supervisor Ed Wehrheim in advancing job creation and business growth at the park.”

“Business leaders and government leaders alike need to implement well-informed strategies capable of carrying Long Island’s innovative economy to new heights,” said Richard Humann, PE, President and CEO of H2M architects + engineers and Chairperson of the HIA-LI board. “Both Suffolk County and the Town of Smithtown have proven to be reliable partners in maximizing the potential of the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge.”

“With its high proportion of tradable businesses, the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge is the indisputable linchpin of the Long Island economy,” said Joe Campolo, Chair of HIA-LI’s Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge Committee and Managing Partner at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP. “It behooves business leaders, government entities, and regional institutions to promote the Park’s long-term success.”

“It’s essential for local government to understand the impact of policymaking on business growth and job creation,” said Ed Wehrheim, Supervisor of the Town of Smithtown. “The leaders and members of HIA-LI have consistently maintained a candid and constructive dialogue with the Town of Smithtown, and our dialogue helps ensure that we will reach our common goals for economic development.”

“The Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge is the largest economic engine in the region and leveraging all potential opportunities for its continued growth is crucial for our region’s success,” said Natalie Wright, Commissioner of Suffolk County’s Department of Economic Development and Planning and Chair of the Suffolk County IDA. “We have a longstanding history of supporting HIA-LI and its partners in elevating the profile of the Park as well as its businesses. We’re proud of the progress already made as highlighted in the report and look forward to the next chapter of progress for this hub of employment, tax generation and overall economic prosperity.”

As the emerging cannabis market grows in New York State, Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP – a premier law firm with offices across Long Island – is pleased to announce the launch of its Cannabis Law practice, headed by CMM Partner Arthur Yermash. The new Cannabis practice group provides critical guidance for cannabis businesses, entrepreneurs, and service providers by leveraging the firm’s experience in diverse areas of the law including corporate, M&A, and labor and employment. Yermash, a corporate lawyer who has spent years advising on retail, wholesale, and pharmaceutical issues, is uniquely positioned to help clients meet the challenges and opportunities that come with the new legislation legalizing recreational marijuana in New York State.

“CMM has been tracking cannabis-related issues for years, and as a result, we were able to hit the ground running once the new legislation was passed,” said Yermash. “We have assembled a multidisciplinary team of attorneys that can advise clients on a range of issues related to this expanding industry.”

Adding another dimension to CMM’s services as a Forbes-recognized Top Corporate Law Firm in America, the Cannabis practice group focuses on providing clients with the most up-to-date guidance of the rules and regulations surrounding the growing cannabis market in New York. While the cannabis industry is a highly complex and cutting-edge area of the law, CMM’s legal team is well qualified to counsel clients on a variety of cannabis law matters. The firm offers entity formation advice for cannabis businesses, as well as guidance on regulatory compliance and licensing, commercial leasing matters, zoning disputes, and real estate transactions. The firm also has significant experience in private financing as well as M&A transactions.

Learn more about CMM’s Cannabis Law Group or call (631) 738-9100.

Over the past five years, CMM Managing Partner Joe Campolo, Chairman of HIA-LI’s Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge (LI-IPH) Task Force, has successfully spearheaded efforts to quantify the economic impact of the LI-IPH and attract critical investment in the Park. Recognizing that the Park is the anchor of Long Island’s tradable economy, Campolo has led the way in creating bipartisan and public-private partnerships to move this critical economic development project forward. Joined by CMM Director of Communications Lauren Kanter-Lawrence and Communications Coordinator Ilona Kaydanov, Campolo released a whitepaper earlier this month focusing on the economic impact of the Park on Long Island and addressing the challenges that lie ahead.  Below, read Campolo’s recent article in the HIA-LI Reporter discussing this work and new directions for the Task Force.

LI-IPH Spotlight: Expanding Our Reach and Getting Things Done

The phrase “we’re all in this together” has become a cliché throughout the pandemic, popping up everywhere from national commercials to your dry cleaner’s storefront. But to me, nowhere has this sentiment been more true than to describe the incredible success of the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge (LI-IPH) Task Force, which I am privileged to chair. The collective efforts – public/private and bipartisan – of our diverse Task Force membership exemplify how Long Island gets things done.

WHITEPAPER: Recognizing the critical importance of the LI-IPH’s success – and the role that housing plays in attracting highly educated professionals to work there – the Town of Smithtown amended their zoning code in August 2020. The change permits developers to apply for a special exception on 13 parcels in the Park for mixed-use buildings that incorporate ground-floor retail or restaurants with upstairs apartments and offices. However, the Hauppauge School District has commenced an Article 78 proceeding challenging the zoning change, and other critics oppose the change based on wastewater concerns.

To combat misinformation, address concerns, and make the case for why we have no choice but to ensure the Park’s success, the Task Force rolled up its sleeves to create a detailed whitepaper, “Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge: Securing Long Island’s Future.” The whitepaper is the culmination of significant research, studies, input from stakeholders, and efforts to quantify the tremendous economic impact of the Park, and I am confident that this work will help garner the support that is so critical to the Park’s success.

GROWING THE TASK FORCE: We are, in fact, all in this together – so as Long Island’s premier business advocacy group, the HIA-LI is expanding the Task Force (and our collective efforts) to promote economic development initiatives of all shapes and sizes.

• The LI-IPH Task Force will continue advocating for the Park and attracting the investment and development needed to ensure Long Island’s future economic success.
• MacArthur Airport will become a major focus as we work with the Town of Islip to attract new carriers and take advantage of pent-up demand from travelers.
• We will unpack the gem that is the Town of Islip Foreign Trade Zone, which offers an ideal environment for companies engaged in global trade.
• Innovation is thriving at Brookhaven National Lab, where the Electron-Ion Collider is being built to look inside the atomic nucleus. The EIC will facilitate the study of the strong nuclear force – and what scientists learn could power the technologies of tomorrow.

As we emerge from the pandemic, the HIA-LI is not looking to resume the status quo. Our resolve to push boundaries and make things happen on Long Island is stronger than ever.

Joe Campolo, Managing Partner of Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP and recognized business leader, has joined the Long Island MacArthur Airport Advisory Board at the invitation of Town of Islip Supervisor Angie Carpenter. Designated an Official Metro Airport by the FAA, MacArthur is one of the top 110 airports in the country and is a critical component of the Ronkonkoma Hub project as well as the greater Long Island economy.

Campolo is Managing Partner of Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP, a premier law firm recently recognized by Forbes as a Top Corporate Law Firm in America. The firm’s headquarters sits at the entrance to MacArthur Airport, giving Campolo a unique perspective on the airport’s opportunities and challenges.

In addition to running his own business and advising the who’s-who of Long Island about theirs, Campolo has kept an unyielding focus on growing the economy and investing in the community. His insight and no-fear attitude have led to some of the most significant economic initiatives on Long Island today, including the renaming, reinvestment, and rezoning of the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge (LI-IPH). This experience caught the attention of Supervisor Carpenter, with whom Campolo has worked on the HIA-LI’s LI-IPH Task Force.

“I’m delighted to have Joe on the Airport Advisory Board,” Supervisor Carpenter said. “His business sense, his experience moving economic development projects forward, and his focus on making our beloved Long Island as strong as it can be all make him a great asset.”

With travel opening up from its pandemic slowdown, Campolo is focused on seizing this opportunity to promote the airport for more business travel, as well as assisting the Town with their quest to bring in new carriers. “As we’ve learned from the important work we have been able to accomplish so far with the LI-IPH Task Force, a common element needed for robust economic development in a geographic area is access to transportation hubs,” said Campolo. “Long Island MacArthur Airport is a critical part of Long Island’s economy and ecosystem and I look forward to helping Supervisor Carpenter and the Town of Islip enhance the vitality of this asset.”