Category: News on the Homepage

On January 17, 2020, CMM Managing Partner and HIA-LI Board Chairman Joe Campolo moderated the 42^nd HIA-LI Annual Meeting and Legislative Breakfast, attended by over 350 members of the business community. Joe reported on HIA-LI’s incredible year in 2019 and the plans to relentlessly push for even greater economic growth in 2020. He then led a discussion with elected officials about the issues most affecting the business community. Panelists included U.S. Congressman Lee Zeldin, New York State Senator John Flanagan, New York State Assemblyman Mike Fitzpatrick, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, Town of Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim, and Executive Director of Islip Economic Development Bill Mannix. Read Joe’s full remarks below.

I’d like to welcome everyone to our Annual Meeting and Legislative Breakfast. Thank you for being here this morning. As Chairman of the HIA-LI Board of Directors, I’m honored to join you as the moderator for this event as we embark on a new year for Long Island business and for the continued prosperity of our region.

2019 was a wildly successful year for the HIA-LI. Building on our success in uncovering the numbers and facts that we learned through our Economic Impact Study about what was then known as the Hauppauge Industrial Park, we took a giant leap forward. Based on the success of that initiative, the Suffolk County IDA funded an opportunity analysis to take a deeper look at the Park.

The conclusions were staggering – in addition to verifying the prior economic analysis, this report also found that the Park has the largest concentration of tradable businesses not only on Long Island, but also is a full 20% above the national average for tradable business clusters. Tradable industry is critical to a healthy economic ecosystem. The Park truly earned its new name and new brand – the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge.

We now know how critical to Long Island it is to maintain and grow this high percentage of tradable business in the Park, for to lose them would be catastrophic. Unlike non-tradable businesses, tradable businesses are our only way to attract and keep the recent grads of our own educational organizations, who are all too often lured away by the glitz of NYC or Silicon Valley. This is the key, as these jobs will pay them adequate wages so they can buy our homes, afford the taxes and enjoy the higher-end amenities Long Island is known for.

And speaking of taxes, we also learned the astronomical amount of taxes that the businesses located in the Park generate on a federal, state, and local level. In the past, being that we never quantified those numbers, we didn’t have them to use when we engaged with our elected officials for resources and support. As a result, HIA-LI was relegated to the kiddie table while the adults shaped Long Island. Everyone, I believe, now knows that it was a huge mistake to leave so many business owners out of the discussion.

All of that changes now. HIA-LI has earned and will not accept anything less than a seat at the grown-ups table and will not accept being left out of critical discussions anymore. Armed with all our data, we are now able to have more intelligent conversations with our elected officials on a dollars-and-cents basis and are able to help educate them on the need to support this Park.

Luckily, our current elected officials understand this and have welcomed the new HIA-LI with open arms.

We’ve had productive and meaningful conversations with the County about economic development and sewers, with the Town of Smithtown about signs and overlay districts, and with the state about a workforce development center.

To my friends on the dais, I say thank you, and I say our work has just begun. HIA-LI will continue to relentlessly pursue improvements to the Park that will help foster and grow our beloved Long Island business, and we look forward to working with you all on these initiatives.

In addition to these efforts, our Small Business Task Force, headed by Rita DiStefano, and our Solar Initiative, headed by Scott Maskin, took enormous strides in 2019. HIA-LI also launched our Gold Member initiative, and I look forward to the growth of that program this year as well.

I am proud to report that HIA-LI is poised for another successful year. Thank you.

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP, acted as legal counsel for Farmingdale-based International Key Supply Hardware in its recent merger with H.L. Flake Security Hardware, a portfolio company of Supply Chain Equity Partners, which sponsored the transaction.  The transaction means that the combined entity will be one of the largest independent security hardware distribution platforms in the United States serving locksmiths and security professionals.

Sean McAuliffe, the founder and now former President of International Key Supply, said, “Working with CMM gave me peace of mind. The process was well organized, and Christine Malafi and her team were incredibly accessible and responsive. Their attention to detail and negotiating experience ensured that I was able to spend the majority of my time staying focused on running the business.” McAuliffe will continue to play a critical role moving forward, taking on the role of Director & Chief Strategy Officer – Automotive.

According to Malafi, Senior Partner at CMM who chairs the firm’s Corporate Department, “It’s always gratifying to counsel Long Island businesses that receive attention from private equity firms and companies located in other states and that result in such a successful outcome, including keeping operations on Long Island. Congratulations to Sean and the IKS team!”

CMM was recently recognized by Forbes as one of the Top Trusted Corporate Law Firms in America. Only 243 of the more than 40,000 law firms in the nation received this designation.

Vincent Costa assisted Malafi with the transaction. Learn more about our Mergers & Acquisitions practice here. 

Chief Judge Janet DiFiore is proposing Amendments to the New York State Constitution to consolidate New York’s major Trial Courts.

The Suffolk County Bar Association has joined with the Nassau County Bar Association to create a joint task force, pooling their knowledge and experience to analyze and comment on the proposed changes. CMM is pleased to share that Senior Partner Patrick McCormick, who serves as Secretary for the SCBA, is part of this important task force.

CMM is at the forefront of the legal and business communities, and McCormick’s critical insights will be an asset to the task force.

Renamed in 2019, the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge is finally getting the investment and attention it deserves thanks to HIA-LI’s relentless focus on growing this economic engine, spearheaded by HIA-LI Board Chairman Joe Campolo and HIA-LI President and CEO Terri Alessi-Miceli. These efforts earned a spot in LIBN’s 2019 roundup of the year’s top stories, “Newsmakers of the Year.”

HIA-LI fostering growth at industrial park

A new task force at HIA-LI is set to implement an action plan to optimize the long-term economic impact of the 1,400-acre Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge (up until recently was called the Hauppauge Industrial Park).

The action plan is based on the recommendations of the 160-page opportunity analysis by the Suffolk County IDA and Regional Plan Association that was released earlier this year. Leading the analysis was James Lima of James Lima Planning + Development, a New York City-based planning firm whose client list includes Facebook, several agencies for the City of New York, the University of Tennessee and other villages, cities and foundations.

A 41-year-old organization, the HIA-LI serves as the voice of the industrial park, where 55,000 people are employed. The park delivers $13 billion in annual output, according to the HIA-LI.

The report’s findings show that the park is the “undisputed anchor of Long Island’s ‘tradable’ economy,’” which brings “new dollars and commerce into the region,” according to a press release about the new task force.

Read the rest of the article here. For more details on the Innovation Park Opportunity Analysis and plans for growth, read Joe Campolo’s remarks from the 2019 HIA-LI Business Achievement Awards here.

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick congratulates our colleague and friend Hon. Andrea Harum Schiavoni on her election as a Suffolk County Family Court Judge as of January 1, 2020. To serve in this role, Schiavoni will vacate her role as Southampton Town Justice, where she was first elected in 2008. She will also leave her role at CMM, where she has spent the past several years focusing on commercial, family, and matrimonial mediation, real estate deals, and transactional matters for our East End clients.

In addition to her work at CMM and as Southampton Town Justice, Schiavoni was appointed to establish a Justice Court in the Village of Sag Harbor in 2010 and serve as its first justice and, in 2013, was appointed by then-Chief Administrative Judge A. Gail Prudenti to start a Veterans Treatment Court on the East End. She is a recognized authority in alternative dispute resolution, with significant experience working as a mediator and arbitrator, which will undoubtedly serve her well in her new role in Family Court.

Senior Partner Scott Middleton, head of our East End practice, said, “On behalf of all of us at CMM, we congratulate Andrea on this fantastic opportunity as she embarks on a new chapter in her distinguished legal career.”

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick is thrilled to announce that litigator David Green has been promoted to Senior Associate as of January 1, 2020. He is an incredibly hardworking member of our team whose creative thinking and results-oriented approach to handling our clients’ legal matters have earned him this promotion.

David represents all types of businesses and individuals in various areas of litigation. He has spent many years in courthouses fighting for clients and developing a reputation as an attorney with knowledge, skill, and talent. He has secured tens of millions of dollars for clients, managing cases from intake through inception. The University of Delaware and University of Miami School of Law graduate has been recognized as a Super Lawyers Rising Star in 2018 and 2019.

CMM congratulates our clients and friends at Markowitz, Fenelon & Bank, LLP (MFB), the accounting firm recognized for its personal approach to clients on Long Island’s East End, as the firm joins New York accounting and advisory firm Friedman LLP as of January 1, 2020. CMM’s Joe Campolo, with assistance from Senior Associate Vincent Costa, represented MFB during the negotiation process.

From offices in Riverhead and Bridgehampton, MFB has provided tax, audit, accounting, and advisory services to high-net-worth individuals, family offices, closely held businesses, and nonprofit and government entities for over 60 years. With this union, top-40 accounting and advisory firm Friedman will operate 13 locations with a roster of partners and staff of approximately 600. The integration of MFB’s expertise will strengthen Friedman’s core capabilities across practice areas and expand the firm’s presence on Long Island. Inside Public Accounting recently recognized Friedman among the top ten fastest growing accounting firms in the U.S. based on organic growth.

“By joining Friedman, we will be able to offer a broader and more sophisticated range of services, including dedicated practice groups with specialized expertise in areas like international tax, cybersecurity and digital currency, among others,” said MFB Partner Tom Terry.

CMM has become the premier choice for partners of professional service firms exploring upstream mergers, spinoffs, and new opportunities, handling such matters with the utmost confidentiality and professionalism. Learn more here.

CMM is thrilled to announce that we have been named one of the 2019 Best Law Firms by Dan’s Papers, the iconic mainstay publication of Long Island’s East End for more than 50 years. Each year Dan’s Papers organizes its “Best of the Best” competition, nominating prestigious businesses that are well known in the community. The votes are anonymous and driven solely by the honest opinions of the business community. As a prior honoree, CMM is grateful to have received this recognition once again. Thank you to the East End business community for the opportunity to serve you.