Category: News on the Homepage

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.

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick has successfully and quickly disposed of a frivolous complaint filed against our client.

A builder, frustrated by opposition to his development by our client before she was elected to the local municipal council, filed an ethics complaint against her. He claimed that her actions to gather information about the developer’s activities following complaints made to her by the public about those activities abused her authority for her personal benefit. CMM’s Fred Eisenbud filed a response that included an analysis of the municipality’s ethics code and vigorous argument that everything our client did was within the scope of her powers.

Upon consideration of our opposition to the ethics complaint, the Ethics Board found that there was no reasonable basis to believe that our client had violated the ethics code. CMM is pleased to have so efficiently disposed of this frivolous complaint without it becoming public. With this issue now behind her, our client can move forward with her work on the municipal council.

Learn more about our municipal and environmental work.

When environmental and insurance coverage issues recently intersected to threaten our client’s efforts to create a group home for veterans, CMM was able to swiftly turn things around.

Our client, a property management company, was preparing a property for rent to Suffolk County for a veterans’ group home. The client hired a company to spread fill to level the property.  After the job was completed, our clients learned that the fill allegedly contained construction and demolition debris, which the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) sent notice was unacceptable. According to the DEC, the fill was also placed into an area adjacent to freshwater wetlands without a permit.

Our client submitted a claim with its errors and omissions insurance carrier, but was denied coverage because the consent order entered into with the DEC did not reference the client, only the property owner. Fred Eisenbud, chair of CMM’s Environmental & Land Use practice group, reviewed the policy and contacted the insurance carrier to argue for reversal of their coverage position based on his reading of the insurance contract.  In a victory for our client, less than a month later, the insurance carrier indeed reversed its coverage position and agreed to provide coverage to our client without reservation.

Eisenbud’s efforts have helped the client resume its work as cost efficiently and with as little distress as possible, allowing the renovation of the property to continue to ultimately serve as a home for veterans. CMM is grateful to have played a role in helping this critical work continue.

By Bernadette Starzee, Long Island Business News

As CEO of GE from 1981 to 2001, Jack Welch grew revenue more than five times, from $25 billion to $130 billion. The company’s net income swelled tenfold and market capitalization grew by 30 times under his watch. Welch had very definite ideas about leading and managing his workforce, which he discussed in his book, “Winning.”

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick Managing Partner Joe Campolo talked about some of the leadership strategies espoused by Welch in a seminar last week entitled “Winning: Incorporating the Leadership Lessons of Jack Welch into Your Business.”

Survival of the fittest

One of Welch’s principles was applying a “survival of the fittest” rule in evaluating his personnel and business units. Those who survived were those who were needed.

“Back then, when companies were gaining market share, they would increase head count, believing bigger was better,” Campolo told an audience of more than 50 business leaders, who gathered at the firm’s Ronkonkoma training center for the breakfast event. “But Welch was different. He looked at employees and decided whether they were nice to have, or if they were needed. He shrunk the workforce, going with fewer managers and fewer business units.”

It has to be a meritocracy, Campolo said.

“People who do more should be rewarded,” Campolo said. “‘Survival of the fittest’ is necessary. People say, ‘Shouldn’t we employ more people?’ and I reply, ‘I’m a lawyer, not a priest.’ I believe I’m on the planet to use my productive talent to help society move forward and lead others to be productive.”

Welch would eliminate the bottom-performing 10 percent of the company’s sales force at the end of each year.

“This was a clear direction to the workforce, and the salesforce in particular, and it inspired a desire to not be at the bottom,” Campolo said.

Entrepreneurial culture

Welch wanted to instill a culture of entrepreneurship – to let people feel safe to use their brains and not just do what their manager told them to do.
Company leaders should act like leaders, not micro-managers.

“If I have to do your job, then I don’t need you,” Campolo said. “A manager says, ‘Do this, do this, don’t do this.’ A leader will say, ‘What do you think you should do?’ The philosophy should be, ‘Don’t come to me with a problem unless you have a recommendation for a solution,’’’ Campolo said. “As a leader, we might agree or disagree with the solution. As a leader, sometimes you must allow people to make decisions even if you disagree, so they can see the ramifications of their decisions. Of course, you can’t let them make a fatal decision.”

Rules of leadership

Welch’s book lists eight rules of leadership, the first of which is “Leaders relentlessly upgrade their team, using every encounter as an opportunity to evaluate, coach and build self-confidence.”

According to Campolo, “this is what company leaders do. We don’t sleep, and when we do, we dream about more efficient ways to accomplish our goals,” he said. “We must constantly evaluate whether the right people are in the right roles, and whether someone is stronger here and weaker there. At the firm, we are always expanding from within, and constantly coaching and evaluating whether the team has the resources they need to do a good job. If we have to get rid of someone for lack of performance, it’s our fault, whether the mistake was made on the hire, the onboarding or through the training, mentoring, coaching or resources. I will not get rid of someone unless I am confident I have done everything I can to make sure they’re getting the resources they need to get the job done.”

The best way to boost productivity is by boosting self-confidence “with every interaction,” he said.

“People may need to be told that they are not doing something well, but it needs to be done respectfully and in a way that builds confidence,” he said.

“Everyone does something well, but they may not be doing a particular thing well.”

The relentless drive for improvement and increased productivity must start at the top, Campolo said.

“I pride myself on being a life-long learner,” he said. “And every day I want to be the hardest-working person here.”

Living and breathing 
the company vision

Welch’s second leadership rule is “Leaders make sure people not only see the vision, but live and breathe it.”

Leaders must make the team’s vision come alive – and they have to be genuine about it, Campolo said.

“If you don’t have a passion for what you do, you look ridiculous when you try to fake it,” he said. “No one buys it. The reason the jury system is so good is that we all have really good B.S.-ometers. The only way to inspire is if you have a vision that you believe wholeheartedly and share it every opportunity you get and make sure people understand it.”

After explaining elements of the vision, Campolo will ask the partner or staff member he is speaking with to repeat it back to him.

“I tell them I really need them to understand it,” he said. “It’s critical to our operations.”

His company has a Team Day event each March, where everyone from the mailroom up to the managing partner “rips apart what we did all year and evaluates it as equals,” and participation is expected from the entire team.

“When I hire people, I make sure they understand the vision and that if they are not a part of it, it will be very obvious and that they won’t fit into the ecosystem,” Campolo said.

Getting under their skin

“Leaders get into everyone’s skin, exuding positive energy and optimism” is Welch’s rule No. 3.

“An upbeat manager with a positive outlook ends up running a team filled with upbeat people with positive outlooks,” Campolo said.

Leaders have no choice but to set the tone.

“If I’m in a bad mood on a particular day, it sets a certain tone,” he said. “I didn’t realize it until it was brought to my attention by some of the other attorneys. I realized that I can’t allow the burdens that affect me to impact others. You have to be upbeat and positive every day. That’s how you get productivity out of everyone.”

It isn’t always easy.

Campolo’s father, Joe Campolo, Sr., who had served as the firm’s controller since its inception, passed away unexpectedly last fall.

“I was freaking out, but I couldn’t come to work and show that,” Campolo said. “It was really hard, but I had to set a tone of optimism. We are in a service business, and I couldn’t afford to have people unsure. As a managing partner of 60 people, I had no choice but to show confidence that everything would be okay. No matter what’s going on in your life, you have to pick up every day if you’re a leader.”

Celebrate the good

Campolo went through Welch’s other five rules of leadership, concluding with “Leaders celebrate.”

“It’s probably the most important one,” he said. “You need to celebrate the good with your team.”

The firm celebrates its anniversary every year, along with holidays and other special occasions throughout the year. Last month, the team gathered in the firm’s community room on the Friday before the Super Bowl, wearing the jerseys of their favorite football teams, eating heroes and wings and doing Super Bowl boxes.

“People need to have fun and blow off steam,” Campolo said.

Leading in the community

Leadership is something that can be taught, according to Campolo, who said his firm’s motto for the year is “Leadership and Ownership.”

“Everything we do is about leadership and ownership, and that includes being leaders in the community,” he said.

Planning regular seminars like this one for clients and other business leaders is part of Campolo’s mission to be a leader in the community.

“We try to bring business leaders across all verticals to share stories,” he said. “How we grow is by sharing stories – maybe we can pick up a nugget here or there.”

Read more here.

By Ken Schachter kenneth.schachter@newsday.com @kschach

Campolo, Middleton & McCormick LLP has opened its first office in Nassau County, the 11-year-old law firm announced.

The firm opened the office at 1025 Old Country Road, Westbury, on Friday. Campolo’s other two offices are in Ronkonkoma and Bridgehampton.

The firm, which began with two partners in 2008, now has more than 30 lawyers. Managing partner Joe Campolo said the firm would serve existing clients from the new office.

Read more here.

Arthur Yermash is a Partner based in our Westbury office. 

CMM: Talk to us about how a boy from Ukraine wound up as a Partner at a Long Island law firm! Tell us about your immigration to the United States.

AY: I left Ukraine in the winter of 1991 and landed at JFK on January 31, 1991.  As a seven-year-old, I didn’t give much thought to the life-altering change where we moved from one country to another where the language, customs, and nearly every aspect of life was different.  My family and I adapted quickly.  New York was now our home.   I started second grade shortly after while still dealing with a language barrier.  Through hard work, extra study, and ESL immersion, I caught on quickly.  By third grade, I felt on par with other students.  I’ve strived to excel and to do as best I could ever since.

CMM: You graduated from Brooklyn Tech, then Baruch College (Macaulay Honors College) before heading to Touro College, Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center. Why did you decide to become a lawyer?

AY: Becoming a lawyer was a goal even before high school.  Our profession has a certain mystique and respect about it that always drew me in.  Lawyers are expected to be reliable problem solvers and deal makers.  From a young age I saw myself as a problem solver and knew this was always the path for me.  I worked at several law firms through high school, college, and law school.  Fortunately, each experience reassured me that I was making the right decision.

CMM: You came to CMM as a law school intern when the firm was just starting out. Talk to us about how you came to the firm and what it’s been like experiencing and contributing to CMM’s exponential growth over the past decade.

AY: I started at CMM as a part time intern during my second year of law school.  I worked after class and on weekends, and, really, as many hours as I could without compromising my education.  Law school hardly provides the type of practical training that is needed to be a practicing attorney.  I sought to get as much as possible with my opportunity at CMM to learn to be an advisor, not just someone with legal training.  Since law school, I’ve worked extremely hard to provide our clients with the best possible service and experience.  In addition to growing my own knowledge base, I’ve focused on training other team members to make sure that the entire CMM team provides the highest quality legal service.  Each of us is only as good our team.

CMM: What practice areas do you focus on?

AY: I generally focus on representing employers with labor and employment matters.  I help businesses improve policies and make sure businesses are doing everything they should be to provide their workforces with the best possible working environment.  I also have a strong background in corporate transactions and have advised businesses on many difference corporate transactions – from basic confidentiality agreements to complex private equity investments.

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

AY: I would probably be a long-haul truck driver.  I’ve always had respect for truck drivers that are able to travel the country and see and experience all that this country offers.  There is something special to me about being able to travel as far as the eye could see.

CMM: You’ve toughed out a long commute from Brooklyn to Suffolk County for over a decade. Jokes about a better commute aside, why is it so important that CMM decided to open a Nassau County office?

AY: I certainly appreciate the added freedom of being closer to home that the Nassau office affords, but it certainly wasn’t the most important factor for opening this new office.  CMM has always sought to provide convenience and impeccable service to our clients.  While technology has made communication more efficient, it hardly replaces the comradery and effectiveness that meeting in person provides.  As we look to improve the services we provide to our Nassau County and NYC clients, being closer to their business was a no brainer.  We always welcome clients to stop by and discuss any issues they may have.  Giving our clients a closer presence only strengthens our ability to provide exceptional service.

CMM: What has been a challenge you’ve faced as a lawyer?
AY: Time management is a critical part of performing as a lawyer at the highest levels.  Planning is always critical, but often, even the best plans are derailed when client needs require it.  Often, we are also faced with balancing business urgency with taking the time necessary to do the best job possible.  As a result, I constantly strive to become more efficient with time, more focused on foreseeable and unforeseeable outcomes, and making sure that I am communicating those issues to our clients.

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

AY: I believe the most valuable thing a lawyer could do is to listen.  Many lawyers often make assumptions about clients’ needs and fail to focus on what the client seeks to accomplish.  Every situation is unique, and no fact pattern is ever the same.  By listening and paying close attention to our clients’ needs and desires, we can better advise them towards the goals they want to achieve instead of the goals we think they should achieve.

CMM: How do you spend your weekends?

AY: Weekends these days certainly aren’t what they used to be.  After the birth of my now four-year-old daughter, weekends have become filled with kid activities, birthdays, day trips, and naps.  I still, however, enjoy adult outings and dinners out without the kids from time to time.

CMM: What is an interesting trend happening right now related to your field of practice?

AY: There has been a tremendous growth of employment regulations that have made it tough for business owners to operate to the fullest letter of the law.  While many of these regulations are necessary and protect the workforce, the constant change and regulation growth has made it tougher for smaller businesses to comply.  With the ever increasing and changing regulations, our focus is to make sure we are providing our clients with as much guidance and communication as possible so that they can do what is necessary to run their businesses as efficiently as possible.

Westbury, NY – Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, LLP, a premier law firm, is pleased to announce the firm’s expansion with a new office in Westbury.  Opening March 1 to support CMM’s rapid growth and for the convenience of their extensive client base in Nassau County and New York City, the Westbury office is the firm’s third location (in addition to Ronkonkoma and Bridgehampton) and its first in Nassau County.

Centrally located at 1025 Old Country Road, the firm’s full-service Westbury office is close to Nassau County courts and government buildings in Mineola, as well as the bustling economic hubs that make Nassau County such a robust business community. The office is easily accessible by major highways and the Long Island Railroad and is home to several CMM attorneys and staff members, including CMM Partner Arthur Yermash.

CMM has enjoyed a rapid rise since its founding in 2008. Established with two partners in a small office, the firm now has a team of over 30 lawyers working out of three offices along the spine of Long Island. CMM has become the firm of choice for clients with respect to their most challenging legal issues, significant business transactions, and critical disputes. The firm is well known for its philanthropic efforts through its charitable arm, CMM Cares, as well as its attorneys’ dedication to moving the Long Island economy forward through involvement with HIA-LI, Stony Brook University, the Suffolk County Bar Association, and Touro Law School, among other organizations and institutions.

“We’re thrilled to make our expansion to Nassau County official,” said Managing Partner Joe Campolo. “We’re honored to serve our many existing clients in the area out of our convenient new space, and look forward to working with the local business community to continue to grow the Long Island economy. We’ve already received such a warm welcome, and we are eager to build exciting new business relationships in Nassau County!”