By TOM MARINER //
Since its 1926 inception, the Long Island Association has played a pivotal role in shaping Long Island’s economic, social and political landscapes – and leadership has always been the key.
The LIA has championed the region’s interests and fostered growth on the backs of many great contributors – its current 90-member-plus Board of Directors represents a who’s who of Long Island’s most important organizations and businesses. But this has always been top-down association, and from its very first president, this chamber of commerce for all of Long Island has been blessed with the best.
The association’s early presidents – George Havens (1926-1930), Arthur Wise (1930-1933), Frederick Pratt (1933-1943), Harold Vanderbilt (1943-1946) and James Carpentier (1946-1953) – focused on issues like transportation infrastructure, attracting new industry and stimulating tourism. (Stop me if this sounds familiar!)
Tom Mariner: Built by association.
Between 1953 and 1967, the famed philanthropist Robert Dowling helped polish the association’s benevolent bent. Other names you know, including former New York Power Authority CEO and current Nassau County Industrial Development Agency Chairman Richard Kessel, also left their mark on the center seat.
In 1993, Matt Crosson became president and CEO and helped Long Island reinvent itself after Northrop purchased Grumman, costing thousands of regional jobs. Over his 16 years heading the LIA, Crosson increased association membership and helped create an “action plan” with hundreds of socioeconomic recommendations.
In September 2010, Kevin Law stepped in. Law – a former Long Island Power Authority president and CEO now serving as Empire State Development’s chairman of the board – would preside over the LIA for 11 years, with a penchant for securing funding for crucial infrastructure projects.
The long-serving president/CEO also hired one Matt Cohen as the association’s vice president of government affairs & communications – in effect, Law’s chief operating officer.
Cohen spent years learning under Law’s wing, and when Law left – first for a partnership at East Setauket’s Tritec Real Estate Development Co., then adding Empire State Development to his resumé – the LIA board selected Cohen as his successor.
While maintaining the LIA’s gravitas, the youngest leader in the association’s history has spearheaded a dramatic rebranding – a new logo, a new website, new social media channels and an all-in dedication to expanding the association’s small-business programming.
In the first episode of his new podcast series, Cohen noted that small businesses “make up 90 percent of the business community” on Long Island – and declared this his LIA would be mom and pop’s best friend.
Matt Cohen: Rising star.
“We care about small businesses,” Cohen said on the show.
He also cares about the long-term success of the LIA, so he’s borrowed a page from Law’s book by hiring a strong second-in-command: Stacey Sikes, the former Hofstra University executive dean of entrepreneurship and business development.
A former deputy chief of staff to the Town of Brookhaven supervisor, Sikes – also a one-time assistant director of Accelerate Long Island and now chairwoman of Accelerate’s Board of Directors – graced City & State New York’s Albany 40 Under 40 power ranking last summer, an indication of her personal direction, and the LIA’s.
Together with Cohen, she forms a new “dynamic duo,” just as Cohen did with Law. That’s good news for the LIA, which has energized Long Island for almost a century thanks to smart and progressive leadership – and is in very good hands today.
Tom Mariner is the executive director of Bayport-based Long Island Bio.
