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Joe Campolo and Eugene Alletto. Photo Credit: Jessica Rotkiewicz

By Ken Schachter kenneth.schachter@newsday.com

Entrepreneurs’ efforts to strike a work-life balance are completely off-base, the chief executive of Farmingdale-based Bedgear LLC said at a Stony Brook University showcase.

“There’s no work-life balance. There’s work-life integration,” said Eugene Alletto, who founded the maker of “performance” pillows, bedding and mattresses in 2009.

Speaking Tuesday night at the Entrepreneurs Edge series staged by the College of Business, Alletto said work consumes his time and there’s no way to separate it from the rest of his life.

“You’re going to be working . . . 80 or 90 hours a week,” he said. “It’s not work to me. It’s me.”

Sprinkling anecdotes with salty language, Alletto spoke before an audience of Stony Brook students and members of the College of Business CEO leadership council at the Charles B. Wang Center. He was interviewed on stage by Joseph Campolo, advisory board chairman of Protegrity Advisors, a merger and acquisition consultancy in Ronkonkoma, and managing partner of Ronkonkoma-based law firm Campolo, Middleton & McCormick.

In his role as the company’s CEO and self-described “quarterback,” Alletto said he is the “big visionary,” and that he has made an effort to hire people who can compensate for his own shortcomings.

“I’m probably the worst manager of people,” he said. “I can’t manage myself.”

At the same time, Alletto said he steadfastly refuses to hire middle managers, preferring to describe the company’s broad direction and let employees figure out how to get there.

“You want to know how to compete on Long Island?” he asked. “You’ve got to get rid of this middle management.”

He acknowledged that his “guardrail” management approach lets the company “veer a little bit left and right.”

Bedgear has grown from 63 employees in 2013 to almost 200. The company has staged promotions and forged marketing partnerships with sports teams, including the New York Mets, the Boston Red Sox, the San Diego Padres, the Denver Broncos, the New York Islanders and the Dallas Mavericks. Bedgear was the “official mattress and performance sleep partner” of the 2017 TCS New York City Marathon staged earlier this month.

The company set up pillows, bedding and mattresses at the Wang Center for attendees to try.

Alletto addressed the students in the audience, urging them to seize opportunities when they arise and push through obstacles like people who camp outside of Apple stores to get the latest iPhone.

“That’s what the world is today. . . . You’ve got to do [expletive] that somebody else won’t . . . The single most important lesson in life is: Never give up. When you give up, I’m going to take your [expletive].”

Read it on Newsday.

By Joe Campolo and Terri Alessi-Miceli

When people talk about Long Island, they mention its sandy beaches, seaside harbors and quaint villages. Perhaps the largest, and most hidden, gem among these sites is the Hauppauge Industrial Park (HIP), the second largest industrial park in the nation behind Silicon Valley and a major economic engine serving all Long Island. But for too long, the businesses in the park have been deprived a seat at the table when Town and State budgets are determined, threatening the Park’s success and survival despite its major economic contributions to the state and local economy. It’s imperative that Long Island business leaders help save the Hauppauge Industrial Park and preserve our way of life as dreamers, innovators and builders for the next generation.

The Hauppauge Industrial Park is an 11-square-mile patch of land located primarily within the Town of Smithtown with a small piece reaching into the Town of Islip. It is a workday home to over 55,000 people, employed across nearly 1,400 companies, run by some of the most innovative entrepreneurs in the country. Its workforce represents almost one in every 20 people employed on Long Island. The companies in the HIP range from light industrial manufacturers and electronics makers to construction and engineering companies to professional services.

By the Numbers

HIA-LI (the business organization that has, for over 30 years, acted as a steward to the Park) and Stony Brook University recently orchestrated an Economic Impact Study (EIS) in collaboration with a task force of Long Island business owners, the Suffolk IDA, and the Regional Planning Association, to document the economic contributions of the Park. The reason for initiating the EIS is simple: The Park is an engine of job growth and by attracting businesses and new industries to the Park, we can help keep the next generation of workers here on Long Island to build and create. However, the results uncovered are staggering:

• $13.4 billion in sales volume is generated by Park businesses.
• $4.4 billion in business expenses are paid by Park businesses.
• $2.897 billion in total combined Park business payroll is paid to employees.
• $2 billion remains as household income to spend locally on Long Island.
• $806 million of the payroll is taxable income.
• $64.5 million in annual property taxes is paid by Park property owners.

The collaboration between the HIA-LI and Stony Brook University on the EIS was no coincidence. Many of the entrepreneurs and workers in the Park are products of Stony Brook University, and finding a home in the Park has enabled them to live on Long Island and make significant economic contributions to our area. In turn, the success of the companies in the Park helps boost Long Island’s reputation as a wonderful place to live, work, and study, helping draw students to study at Stony Brook and then stay here after graduation. Stony Brook and HIA-LI are committed to working together to make the HIP as strong as possible.

Despite its critical economic impact, the Park struggles to garner the proper attention and necessary resources it needs to survive and compete. This includes lack of legislative assistance and budget for tackling critical issues such as workforce housing, transit and shuttle services.

Only Suffolk County, which receives the lowest percentage of tax revenue from the HIP, has supported some infrastructure initiatives such as upgrading the Park sewer system and providing Wi-Fi access.

If these critical needs remain ignored, the HIP will not be able to compete and risks becoming an industrial ghost town, shut down by high taxes, high wages and a nonexistent workforce.

Long Island business leaders must do better than this.

We ask you to join HIA-LI, Stony Brook University, and the businesses of the HIP in educating our state, county and local legislators to ensure they understand the enormous impact the Hauppauge Industrial Park represents for all Long Islanders. Make sure they know that, like us, you are committed to building a stronger Island and that the HIP deserves a seat at the table when budgets for infrastructure spending are considered.

Together, we can make the HIP one of Long Island’s greatest success stories.

Campolo, an attorney, is managing partner of Campolo, Middleton & McCormick, chairman of Protegrity Advisors and a board member of HIA-LI. Alessi-Miceli is president of HIA-LI, which she has grown into one of the most dynamic business associations on Long Island.

Read it on LIBN.

By Bernadette Starzee

By using independent contractors instead of hiring employees, employers cut various expenses, from health insurance to payroll taxes. However, workers are sometimes misclassified as independent contractors when they are really employees, which could be a costly mistake for their employers.

Often, misclassification shows up in the salesperson category. As salespeople have various arrangements with regard to where they work and how they are compensated, even well-meaning employers often get the classification wrong.

Employers might also think that because their salespeople are paid on a commission basis rather than a salary that they do not have to classify them as employees.

“When the salesperson is in business for himself, and he’s out selling door to door, and he doesn’t have to be anywhere at any time, and he’s not told who to reach out to, who to sell to – that’s a classic example of a salesperson who is truly an independent contractor,” said Arthur Yermash, a senior associate at Campolo, Middleton & McCormick in Ronkonkoma.

Misclassification may be discovered when an independent contractor gets terminated and files for unemployment insurance or gets injured and files for worker’s compensation. Or it could be found on a Department of Labor audit.

Over the past few years, the Department of Labor has been focused on going after employers for misclassification, Yermash said, noting, “It’s one of the easier ways for employers to avoid some of the legal requirements regarding workers.”

Companies who have independent contractors on their roster should perform a self-audit to make sure they are classified properly.

“They should reevaluate every year or every couple of years, depending on the size of the company and how many independent contractors they have,” Yermash said. “They will be putting themselves in the best possible position to work through any audit that may come.”

Read the full article on LIBN.