By GREGORY ZELLER //
The powerful Long Island Regional Economic Development Council has anointed its new leadership, selecting from within.
With longtime co-chairs Stuart Rabinowitz and Kevin Law off on new adventures, the LIREDC announced Thursday that Farmingdale State College President John Nader and Bethpage Federal Credit Union Senior Vice President of Corporate Affairs Linda Armyn will take the council’s reins, effective immediately.
Officially, Nader succeeds former Hofstra University President (now President Emeritus) Rabinowitz as the LIREDC academic co-chair, while Armyn succeeds Law, the executive vice president of East Setauket-based Tritec Real Estate and former Long Island Association president who’s serving as chairman-designate of the Empire State Development Corp. Board of Directors while awaiting final confirmation.
Rabinowitz and Law had led the council since 2011, riding herd over an annual competitive application process that netted more than three-quarters of a billion dollars in state investments through Albany’s REDC system.
Kevin law: Handing off.
Law noted Thursday that it’s been a “privilege” to work with the other professionals on the council, and said he’s “confident the LIREDC is in great hands” with Nader and Armyn at the wheel.
“[Both] are experienced, skilled visionaries, uniquely qualified to lead the council and supercharge our momentum to bring Long Island to the next level,” Law said. “Long Islanders will be well served by their insight, integrity and consensus-driven approach.
“Together, we’ve supported inclusive economic growth that benefits all Long Islanders,” the ESD chairman-designate added. “I look forward to supporting the council’s efforts in my new role with [Empire State Development].”
Rabinowitz also saluted the breadth of talent supporting the LIREDC, noting he was “honored to have …. partnered with such a talented group of people to help grow Long Island’s economy.”
And the longtime Hofstra head praised his successor as the council’s academic co-chair.
“I am confident that [Nader] will bring his deep understanding of and commitment to the region’s higher-education landscape to find ways to incubate and catalyze ideas that have the power and potential to transform our economy and our daily lives,” Rabinowitz added.
Both Nader and Armyn have served the LIREDC for years already. Nader, who became Farmingdale State president in 2016, joined the council in 2018 and has previously co-chaired its Workforce and Education Committee; Armyn, who joined Bethpage FCU in 2001, joined the council in 2016 and has served on its Executive Committee, Child Care Committee and Downtown Revitalization Committee.
Stuart Rabinowitz: Higher power.
The new co-chairs also maintain several influential board positions outside the LIREDC. Nader, a former mayor of Oneonta and one-time SUNY Delhi provost, currently serves on the executive committees of the Long Island Regional Advisory Council on Higher Education and the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s Division III Skyline Athletic Conference.
Armyn – a who spearheads Bethpage Cares, the FCU’s community-focused philanthropic effort with a $2 million annual war chest – is a member of legislative and advisory committees for the Credit Union National Association, the New York Credit Union Association and the National Association of Federal Credit Unions. She also serves as a board member for YMCA of Long Island, the Cradle of Aviation Museum, Mentor New York, the Child Care Council of Suffolk and the Stony Brook Council.
The new co-chair said she was looking forward to taking the baton from Law and working with Nader to “continue the council’s transformative work.”
“Having already had the honor of working with the LIREDC, I’ve seen firsthand how our regional private-public sector collaboration, along with academia and labor, can help to grow manufacturing and innovation across Long Island’s multiple industry sectors, from tech to life sciences to clean industry and defense,” Armyn said in a statement. “I look forward to continuing that collaboration.”
Noting the LIREDC’s “important role in local economic development,” Nader said he was “honored to serve as a co-chair alongside Linda Armyn.”
“By bringing together experts from industry, academia and nonprofits, the council has developed strategic plans that have helped to fuel regional innovation and make Long Island a great place to live, work and visit,” Nader added. “I look forward to building on the success of the council and working to ensure Long Island’s economic prosperity.”
