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CMM not only represents businesses and individuals, but is also well known for providing superior legal services to towns, villages, school districts, cities, and counties. Our litigation team recently demonstrated their strength in advocating for municipal clients by securing a victory for a Suffolk County Village in a contested land use matter.

The owners of a parcel of land located in the Village had requested a variance to divide their property in two to build another single-family house on the newly created second lot. The Village denied the variance request, citing the minimum required lot area per home pursuant to the local zoning district. Unhappy with the decision, the property owners filed an Article 78 petition (essentially, a legal challenge to the activities of an administrative agency or municipality) with the court, accusing our client of denying zoning variances in an “arbitrary, capricious and prejudicial” manner “contrary to the evidence presented” by the property owner and without substantial evidence to back the decision.

CMM strongly opposed the petition, arguing that the Village was well within its right to deny a variance that adversely impacted the physical and/or environmental conditions of the neighborhood as well as to preserve and protect the neighborhood’s character and the health, safety, and welfare of its residents.

Due to the hard work, diligence, and knowledge of the zoning laws by Senior Partner Scott Middleton and Associate Richard DeMaio, CMM successfully obtained a court order denying the petition and upholding the Village’s decision. Learn more about how we help municipalities here.    

Positioning Hauppauge Industrial Park for the future

By Adina Genn

A new analysis shows that the Hauppauge Industrial Park could position the region for economic growth, officials said.

Released Wednesday at the IBEW offices in Hauppauge, the 160-plus page report was commissioned by the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency and written, produced and designed by James Lima Planning + Development and the Regional Plan Association.

The report identifies strategies to further advance revitalization opportunities by supporting and clustering together industries at the park. It also offers competitor analysis to define additional ways to collaborate, and lessons learned from economic hubs across the country.

In positioning for the future, the park will be renamed as The Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge. The new moniker reflects a finding in the report that the park can “further capture economic opportunities of the region and maximize its impact to become a key player in Long Island’s overall economic development.”

The park is home to 1,300 companies that employ more than 55,000 people and its $13 billion of annual output accounts for 8 percent of Long Island’s gross domestic product, according to a press release. And 58 percent of the companies are in “tradable sectors,” or exports of goods from the region.

One of the report’s recommendations includes fostering industry clusters, and the key ones in the region include aerospace vehicles and defense, biopharmaceuticals, business services, construction products and services, distribution and electronic commerce, education and research activities, financial services, food processing and manufacturing and information technology and analytical instruments.

Collectively, the park would benefit if companies within it saw each other as collaborators rather than competitors: “All parties on the Island should be uniting around common goals for workforce training, incubators, co-work space, high-tech shared equipment and housing policies,” according to the report.

“This comprehensive roadmap provides our region with the building blocks needed to strengthen, expand and attract key industry clusters that will push our innovative economy to the next level,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said in a statement.

Five strategies within the report include facilitating business growth, attracting and retaining skilled workers, strengthening training and workforce development, promoting innovation and technology transfer, and connecting business, governments and institutions.

Noting that it’s the largest business park in the northeast, Hauppauge Industrial Association of Long Island President and CEO Terri Alessi-Miceli said that the park is “equipped to fulfill a growth scenario that will redouble its contributions to our regional economy.”

Both the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency and HIA plan to support partnerships with institutions, business and nonprofits to foster growth and learn from one another.

Smithtown Supervisor Ed Wehrheim saw many ways for organizations to partner together.

“Imagine neighboring businesses working together to capitalize on mutual growth, a think tank of business professionals working to help innovate local companies to the next level, the private sector working with public institutions to plan for alternative energy or create walkable communities for the next generation of great innovators to live and play,” he said. “The possibilities are truly endless.”

A rendering showed the potential for housing, which could help attract workforce.

“While the Hauppauge Industrial Park already plays an essential role in powering the Long Island economy, it still has tremendous untapped value,” Joe Campolo, the board chair of HIA-LI and managing partner at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick in Ronkonkoma said in a statement. “After analyzing a full spectrum of strategic options, we now have a viable, clear-eyed, long-term plan that will maximize the park’s value for decades to come.”

Theresa Ward, chair of the Suffolk County IDA board of directors, said officials are “extremely proud of this report, which takes a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities inherent in Long Island’s key economic generator.”

“The Hauppauge Industrial Park has been a significant hotbed for economic development and growth and this reimagining of the Park gets everyone involved in economic development in this region excited because the potential is so real and obtainable,” she added.

Read more here.

Joe Campolo, CMM Managing Partner and HIA-LI Board Chairman, moderated HIA-LI’s panel discussion, “Hauppauge Industrial Park: Current and Future Growth,” on April 24, 2019 at IBEW in Hauppauge. He delivered these remarks to the hundreds of guests in attendance.

I’d like to welcome everyone to our Hauppauge Industrial Park Update this morning. As Chairman of the HIA-LI Board of Directors and a Long Island business owner, I’m honored to join you as the moderator for this event as we embark on our region’s next chapter.

As steward of the Hauppauge Industrial Park, the second largest in the nation behind only Silicon Valley, HIA-LI has spent the last several years working tirelessly to spread the word about this incredible economic engine. And we have indeed made an enormous impact. One of my proudest accomplishments as Board Chairman is our success in making the numbers and facts that we learned through the Economic Impact Study so well known – so much so that the Park’s identity as an economic powerhouse is no longer a secret, but rather part of the fabric and story of Long Island.

Today you are going to hear new incredible numbers and facts that we’ve discovered about the economic power of the businesses in the Park, this time from the opportunity analysis that HIA-LI, Jim Lima, the RPA, and the Suffolk IDA have been working so hard on.

You’re going to learn how our beloved Long Island possesses economic assets that are greater than any other per-capita district in the country. You’ll hear new ways that Long Island can leverage these incredible assets to achieve greater economic growth, by capitalizing in the tradable industries that are already prospering and growing in the Park. During this presentation, you’re going to learn that not every dollar is created equal. In fact, a dollar generated in the Hauppauge Industrial Park is worth $2 generated elsewhere on Long Island and about $1.25 nationwide. That is truly incredible.

Our mission now is to accelerate this growth by relentlessly pushing and marketing and spreading the word about the Park as the region’s premier hub for growing businesses, and to continue building bridges between the public and private sectors to truly make a tremendous impact.

The fact is, the opportunity analysis concludes what we’ve always suspected: that there are amazing companies in the Park doing incredible things for the economy. Now that we are armed with this critical information, our task is to determine how the private and public sectors can work even better together to facilitate growth.

You see, this project is an example of a successful partnership between industry and government. It’s this collaboration that will ensure Long Island’s economic viability in the future. We need both business and government support: society doesn’t work well if it’s just one or the other.

We are fortunate to have elected officials who get it, and continue to express a renewed commitment to investing in the Park.  We thank them and assure them that, in return, we at the HIA-LI will always tirelessly fight for Long Island and its business community.

Thank you.

Download the Executive Summary of the Opportunity Analysis here.

Thank you for having us here today and for listening to this important study. Like everybody else here on the dais, I love Long Island. When I left Long Island to go into the Marine Corps there was never any doubt that I was going to come back here and spend my career here. I attended Stony Brook University, and I loved Stony Brook. And then I went to law school, and after law school I had many opportunities to work in the city, but I wanted to come back to Long Island, particularly Suffolk County. And people said, “Why do you want to go to Suffolk County? It’s farm country, there’s nothing going on out there!” And I said there’s an opportunity there, I just know it.

I love Long Island, and I love Suffolk County. I believe in its greatness. And as part of this I joined the HIA-LI, and people said, “Why are you joining the HIA-LI? There are bigger business organizations out there that can help you grow.” And I said I love the HIA-LI, and I know that there’s something special about that industrial park. The report that was released today has proven that every one of my inclinations about Long Island and Suffolk County is true.

The Hauppauge Industrial Park has the highest cluster of tradable industries in the nation. It’s the second largest industrial park in the nation. It means we bring in more new dollars per capita in our park than any other spot here in the United States. So to Mr. County Executive, I say if this is farm country, then you’re doing a pretty damn good job! The other beautiful thing that has happened during this process is not withstanding what’s going on there in the beltway, there’s been a total collaboration across all lines. On this stage you have Republicans, you have Democrats, you have real estate developers, you have business people, you have educational organizations, everyone came together to get this done. And so we’re not just the leading economic hub in the United States, we’re the leading collaborative group of talented individuals that exists in these United States, and should be a role model for every private and public partnership that’s out there today. So on behalf of everyone that was involved in creating this study, James Lima Planning, hats off to you, you confirmed what I had always believed, and it’s given us an opportunity so that our children when they turn 21 and they’re deciding where they want to go after they graduate from college, Long Island and Suffolk County is a very viable option. Thank you very much.

HIA-LI President & CEO Terri Alessi-Miceli announced that the new name of the park will be “The Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge.” Download the Executive Summary of the Opportunity Analysis here.

When a New York City business discovered that one of its shareholders was diverting millions of dollars in business capital for himself and competing entities and was also stealing the company’s confidential and proprietary data, CMM was there to help.

Our client is an alternative finance company that helps small businesses obtain financing to grow their businesses and the local economy. When they learned that one of their own was exploiting the firm’s resources for his own purposes, they called on CMM for advice and legal assistance.

CMM’s Jeffrey Basso and Richard DeMaio successfully moved by order to show cause and obtained a temporary restraining order prohibiting the shareholder and any company he may be working for from soliciting any of our client’s customers, business leads, or referral sources – a huge win for our client while the court considers the underlying motion. CMM also defeated the shareholder’s own request for a temporary restraining order, which sought to have a receiver appointed and force our client to essentially close down the business.

Our client is thrilled with the result and reported how much CMM’s preparation impressed them.

Learn more about our commercial litigation work.

Jeffrey Basso is a Partner based in our Ronkonkoma office.

CMM: You graduated from the University of Delaware before heading to St. John’s University School of Law. Why did you decide to become a lawyer?

JB: I majored in Criminal Justice at Delaware because the topic always interested me growing up, but when I graduated from college, I really was not interested in pursuing any careers that would typically be offered to someone with a Criminal Justice major.  So, I decided to take a year off after I graduated and got a job working at a law firm on Long Island doing a lot of writing.  I found that I enjoyed writing in a legal setting and making arguments on behalf of clients and, ultimately, that’s what led me to pursue a career as a lawyer.

CMM: You were born and raised on Long Island and never left (except for college)! You’ve crisscrossed Suffolk and Nassau at different points in your life and now live in Commack. Tell us your Long Island story.

JB: Long Island has always been a huge part of my life.  My mom lived on Long Island her entire life.  My dad came to New York from Italy when he was around 18 years old and, when they got married, they bought a house in Suffolk County that my family grew up in.  My parents still live there over 40 years later.  Having grown up in eastern Suffolk County, then living in Long Beach for several years after college to now raising my family in Commack, I have gotten to experience so much of what Long Island has to offer such as the thriving business community, highly regarded schools, great beaches, wineries and local breweries, renowned restaurants, proximity to New York City and on and on.  If there was only a way to reduce property taxes and make the traffic disappear every time I try to get on or off the island, that would be perfect. 

CMM: You came to CMM in 2012 after working at other firms. What attracted you to CMM?

JB: I worked at a couple smaller law firms on Long Island to begin my career, and I really could not envision a future with them. I still remember when I first interviewed with CMM and had the opportunity to meet with Joe Campolo, Pat McCormick and other attorneys at the firm, you could tell this place was different and that it was an up and coming firm with a different philosophy and vision compared to most firms.  I wanted to be a part of it.  I saw CMM as an opportunity to really launch my career and become a permanent fixture for me and, over the past seven years, that has truly been the case. 

CMM: CMM has grown exponentially since you came on board. What has it been like being part of that growth?

JB: When I first started, CMM had about 11 attorneys, and we were cramped in a small office bursting at the seams.  In the seven years since I started, we have tripled in size and now have a much bigger main headquarters in Ronkonkoma and two additional offices in Bridgehampton and Westbury.  It has been amazing to watch it and be a part of it.  The message and philosophy of the firm has really resonated on Long Island with the business community and has been a huge part of why the firm continues to grow and develop great, long-term relationships with clients all over the island. 

CMM: What practice areas do you focus on?

JB: My primary focus is on commercial litigation and employment litigation.  The types of cases I handle range from complex shareholder/partnership disputes typically referred to as “business divorces” to business mergers or acquisitions that go bad to employment matters involving employees breaching restrictive covenants, misappropriating trade secrets, stealing business clients, etc., to wage and discrimination matters to basic contract and commercial real estate disputes.  The matters I handle really run the gamut of the types of disputes business owners are faced with daily.   

CMM: If you couldn’t be a lawyer, what would you be doing?

JB: The one career I seriously considered pursuing before I went to law school was working for the FBI in some capacity, possibly as a profiler.  I was always fascinated with the FBI and being involved in criminal investigations which is what led to my criminal justice major in college, but I ultimately elected to go the attorney route instead.

CMM: What is the most valuable thing a lawyer can do for his or her clients?

JB: Listen to what the client wants to accomplish on any given matter.  For me handling litigation matters, it is important to understand why a client is in the position he/she/it is in and what that client is looking to gain.  It could be that the client wants to just use litigation as leverage to force a settlement, or the client is desperate because he or she is being forced out of the company, or the client wants to send a message to other employees, or any number of other reasons.  Knowing what a client is trying to accomplish from the outset allows the attorney to plan accordingly and better advise the client.  Too often, attorneys don’t listen and instead follow a path that the client never wanted or intended.    

CMM: How do you spend your weekends?

JB: My time on weekends is precious because there is such little time to unwind during the week.  I have two little daughters so most of my weekend time is spent with them as my wife and I try to keep them entertained.  It’s exhausting, but I love the time I get to spend with them.  Once it gets warm out, I love going to the beach and hanging out by my outdoor fire pit with friends and family.  If stuck inside, I’m a huge sports fan and often battle with the kids over watching the Jets/Mets or Disney princess movies.

CMM: How can Long Island keep young people living and working here, as well as attract others such as yourself, who may otherwise look to NYC or other cities for career opportunities?

JB: You can see that certain areas of Long Island, like Patchogue and Farmingdale as two examples, get it and are working to keep young people on Long Island by revitalizing downtowns and offering housing that is convenient walking distance to everything.  That certainly entices young people and gives them the opportunity to stay (although losing Amazon didn’t help), but the problem remains that everything is still so expensive on Long Island.  Friends of mine that live out of state pay a fraction of what we pay on Long Island for taxes and other cost of living items, and salaries for most people, especially the younger workforce, are not commensurate with those added Long Island costs.  Until that changes, I think many young people are going to continue to look elsewhere for employment.  CMM is proud to take a leadership role in this area by working closely with HIA-LI and the business community to attract and retain top talent. 

An effort spearheaded by veteran service organizations and Suffolk County Legislator Kara Hahn (D-Setauket) is nearing its fundraising goal to give nation’s newest veterans the respect they’ve earned.

The effort, dubbed Operation Remember, which looks to update four existing war memorials located in Port Jefferson, Setauket and Stony Brook to commemorate the sacrifices made by the latest generations of America’s service members, has been decisive thanks to the support of the community, according to a press release from Hahn’s office. To date, $14,400 of the estimated $25,000 has been received by the Veterans Memorial Fund established through a partnership between the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts located in Setauket, Stony Brook and Port Jefferson Station, the Long Island State Veterans Home at Stony Brook University and Hahn. Organizers are asking for a final push in donations to complete the mission of expanding these sites to honor those who served during the Cold War, the Gulf wars and the Global War on Terror by this Memorial Day.

“Support for this effort has been incredible,” Hahn said. “In only a few months we have raised more than half of what is needed to make this lasting tribute to the sacrifices of our local heroes a reality. Our goal is to have work completed by Memorial Day, a day on which we pause to remember and reflect upon the lives of those who have given theirs in order for us to freely live ours. Raising the remaining $10,600 needed in the next few weeks will ensure the work will be complete in time for this solemn day.”

Among those who have already answered the call are Purple Heart sponsors Realty Three LLC/Ridgeway Plaza LLC and Bruce Acker. Ardolino Group Realty Connect USA and Friends of Kara Hahn became Meritorious Service Medal sponsors, while Burner Law Group, P.C. earned the Commendation Medal and Moose Lodge 1379 of Port Jefferson donated at the Recognition Ribbon level. Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP also committed to a $500 sponsorship.

“Our community is very patriotic,” said Carlton “Hub” Edwards, commander of Post 1766 in Setauket. “I am certain the community will step up to help fund this Veterans Memorial Project to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice and have yet to be fully acknowledged.”

Last fall, memorial coalition members joined together to ensure veterans of our nation’s more recent wars would receive the recognition they have earned on those foreign battlefronts back here on the homefront. The partnership, through its Veterans Memorial Fund, hopes to update the memorials to include new plaques and monument stones to be inscribed with the names of wars since Vietnam at memorials located in Stony Brook Village, on the Setauket Village Green, at the Setauket Veterans Memorial Park and along the Port Jefferson harbor front.

“This project is in recognition of all veterans who served in all wars,” said Bill Wolf, commander, American Legion Wilson Ritch Post 432 in Port Jefferson.

“For those who served and gave so much, we Americans can only say ‘thank you,’” said Jack Gozdziewski, member of American Legion Post 432 and VFW Post 3054. “Through our local veterans memorials our communities show our love of country and respect to those who gave all. America’s freedom can never be taken for granted, veterans can never be forgotten.”

“The memorial is important lest we forget the sacrifices made and what we fought for,” said Tim Still, commander of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3054 in East Setauket.

Those wishing to donate, can make checks payable to and mail to Veterans Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 986, Port Jefferson Station, NY 11776.

Once the fundraising goal has been met, organizers will contract with a local stonemason to update the monuments with individual designs for each of the four memorials.

“Installation cannot take place until our fundraising is complete, and the monuments are paid for in full,” Hahn said. “We’d like to meet our fundraising goals soon, with the hopes of having the monuments installed and completed for Memorial Day.”

Read more here.

LI native and former Nutrisystem CEO says ‘stay nimble’

The career of Port Jefferson native and Stony Brook University alumna Dawn Zier has zig-zagged from electrical engineer to senior executive to chief executive at Nutrisystem Inc., where she spearheaded a turnaround, leading to the company’s acquisition.

Zier cites her twisting career path that led to unexpected opportunities as a lesson in staying nimble and open to new roles.

“I encourage people not to be wedded [to getting] from point A to B,” she said at a forum at the Charles B. Wang Theater at Stony Brook University. “If you’re in a job you don’t like, leave it. It’s important to know not only what you want to do, but what you don’t want to do.”

Zier spoke before a crowd of executives, academics and students last week as part of The Entrepreneurs Edge series sponsored by the university’s College of Business. She was interviewed onstage by Joe Campolo, managing partner of Ronkonkoma-based law firm Campolo, Middleton & McCormick LLP.

Zier earned her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Stony Brook and credits the school with teaching her “how to think” by taking problems and breaking them down.

She also has a master’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science and an MBA from MIT.

Zier, now president and chief operating officer at Tivity Health Inc., the Nashville, Tennessee, company that acquired Nutrisystem, said she never thought of herself as a leader but learned on the job.

“Leadership is a modeled behavior,” said Zier, who said she learned many lessons while rising to become the second-ranking executive at Readers Digest. “I did not grow up thinking I’d want to be a CEO.”

A management technique used at Readers Digest and transferred to Nutrisystem when she took the top job there in November 2012 was to lean on data analytics.

We put a “fact-based culture” in place that used “data to make decisions,” she said.

Zier instituted a system of performance-based financial rewards, cut costs and sought to banish “a culture that accepted losing.”

She also moved Fort Washington, Pennsylvania-based Nutrisystem’s core message back toward weight loss and away from an image as a gourmet food brand.

Since then, Nutrisystem’s revenue has almost doubled, from $396.9 million in 2012 to $691.0 million in 2018.

The turnaround was so successful that it attracted the attention of a suitor. Tivity Health, a provider of fitness and health-improvement programs, called her in September to explore a merger.  On March 8 the $1.3 billion cash and stock deal was closed.

Zier, who also serves as a director at Lake Success-based The Hain Celestial Group, said Tivity Health will have an expanding market as fitness and weight loss programs move toward a personalized DNA body blueprint.

“I believe the future is about personalized nutrition,” she said. “It’s no longer a vanity play.”

Read more here.

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick has successfully negotiated a multi-year contract for premier radio broadcast company JVC Media to upgrade and manage all advertising signage at Long Island MacArthur Airport, a recognized local alternative to JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark Airports.

CMM’s client, JVC Media, is one of Long Island’s best-known local and independently owned radio broadcast and media companies, operating over a dozen stations in New York and Florida. Through the diligent work of CMM attorney Don Rassiger and his team, the deal brings both new opportunity for growth to a Long Island business as well as the modernization of Long Island’s well-loved MacArthur Airport. JVC will replace all existing advertising fixtures and will install state-of-the-art digital networks, landmark LED spectaculars, and vibrant backlit tension fabric banners, enhancing the aesthetic appearance at the airport and providing advertisers with new opportunities to engage travelers.

Operated by the Town of Islip, MacArthur Airport is located next to CMM’s headquarters in Ronkonkoma and serves an estimated 1.29 million commercial passengers a year. With the addition of the airport contract to its portfolio, JVC now manages advertising inventory on Long Island on five FM stations, numerous print publications,  and the 7,000-seat outdoor venue The LI Community Hospital Amphitheater at Bald Hill, reaching over 3.2 million consumers annually. JVC’s ambitious plan to revamp MacArthur Airport’s advertising and signs will allow local businesses to bring their products and services to a wider audience, across a greater range of media, and in exciting new formats, all contributing to the growth of the local economy.

“Two million Long Islanders know all about the offerings at LI MacArthur airport and they all arrive at least an hour before boarding their flight, thanks to the very efficient security lines, making them a great audience for our Long Island media platform,” said John Caracciolo, President and CEO of JVC Media.  “This agreement is a win/win for the Town of Islip, JVC Media, and MacArthur Airport. Don and the entire team at CMM made this public/private agreement process very easy and stress-free, leaving us to do what we do best – sell marketing opportunities to our clients.”

CMM attorneys are adept at assisting businesses in contract negotiation for a variety of projects and expansion plans. Learn more about our Corporate work here.