Limba

David M. Daly Vice President-LIPA Transition. spons BRT
2013-08-16 00:00 (America/New_York)
Today’s speaker was Dave Daly, Vice President of PSE&G – LIPA transition.

Mr. Daly comes from a service area that has many similarities to Long Island. That experience lends itself to operating on Long Island with confidence. Mr. Daly outlined a number of initiatives. As he put it "PSE&G will be putting plans together so that they can hit the ground running" on January 1, 2014.

Daly suggested that a mundane operation such as tree trimming is like changing the oil on your car. If you don’t do it not much happens at first, but you set yourself up for failure over time. Examining the system when everything is normal sometimes gets left out when budgets are running out near the end of the year. That can be avoided by using realistic and disciplined procedures. The same is true with pole inspections. Poles deteriorate, and if you do not check them for decay and equipment deterioration they will fail, eventually.

He spent some time on communications as well. There is a need to keep the public informed and these procedures. Investments in technology that will facilitate these goals will be made. Mr. Daly stressed the need to be an active part of the community and being at LIMBA was just part of that process.

Mr Daly addressed the unions, and the inference was that unions are partners more than adversaries. Good relations with the unions are expected and the union people in the room appeared to be happy with the new situation.

Daly referred to Key Process Improvements. 80 recommendations are anticipated including Storm Process and Asset Management

Questions came up about alternative energy. As solar and wind become more available and installed there has to be constant accommodation for the new technology. I pointed out that as privately produced power using solar increases that will almost certainly decrease the rate base making the remainder of the people carry more of the debt burden. Daly seemed to think that the new sources would be embraced. I don’t know how that will play out, but I do know that we are not going back to a time when these sources of power are not part of the mix.

The competency of the company is accepted as believable. The service area in New Jersey is about double the size of the LIPA system yet they were able to restore power to more customers in at less cost than LIPA.

LIPA is a high cost system to operate and much of that cost is attributable to the debt that was not incurred by the ratepayers, but was imposed upon us by Albany. Despite the fact that I am hopeful that PSE&G will bring about much needed improvements, they will not be able to overcome that basic problem.

Ernie Fazio

Congressman Tim Bishop
2013-09-13 00:00
Our congressman from the 1st Congressional District, Tim Bishop was our speaker this morning and he outlined some of the topics that he thought may of concern to us.
Tim began with the situation in Syria. He pointed out that there was a real reluctance to using military strikes to punish the Syrian government. His constituents and the constituents of his colleagues across the country were expressing serious doubts that the use of weapons would accomplish the goal of stopping the use of chemical weapons.
His take was that diplomacy was a much better route, but ironically that approach was unlikely without the credible threat of military action. We now find ourselves in a place where we may get what we want without the risks that are usually unfathomable when the missal fly. The Russians have been the patron of this brutal regime and without them Assad is adrift. If the Russians increase the pressure Assad will likely relent.
Debt Limit- The looming threat of shutting down the government unless the Senate and the President give up on the Affordable Healthcare Act. Not likely, but it is a looming threat. Bishop pointed out that the competitive market that was created with the legislation is beginning to impact the cost of insurance and the trend is to cut it by 50%. That is the projection at the moment. He went on to remind us that Medicare was as least as much hated by the same political forces that are upset about “Obamacare”. In that case there were refinements and few people today want to go back to the days when Medicare did not exist. During the Q&A the congressman pointed out that the deficit has been constantly dropping and at a rate that is much faster than anticipated
Immigration Reform- The opponents according to Bishop want the borders secured before any legislation is passed. To that he told us the $30 billion in additional border security has been added to the effort. Then he went on to outline the depth of the dilemma. Children who know no other country than the United States are not and should not be expected to go to a foreign land. If you deport the parents, what do you do with the children? And some of those children are legal Americans because, while their parents may be undocumented, they were born here.
Bishop put it this way; we have three choices
1) Round them up and send them back to where they came from. (We don’t have enough planes)
2) Attrition- As he put it make life so miserable for them that they want to leave.
3) Create an Immigration Act and pass it, with the recognition that there will be some inequities, and difficult choices.
During the Q & A that followed. The topic of the ethics investigation that we saw in Newsday was brought up. Tim told us that any and all information that was sought has been provided. I am cooperating 100%. The question was about him interceding on behalf of a campaign contributor who wanted a permit for a fireworks display. Mr. Bishop noted that interceded for several organizations as well, including the local fire department for the same issue.

Special Program on energy- Commercial Scale Solar PV
2013-09-20 00:00
Our speakers today were the president and CEO of Nautilus Solar, James Rice and Long Island attorney Morton Weber.

Solar power has been around for many years. Photovoltaic cells were used in spacecraft at the inception of the space program. The then new technology was far too expensive to be used by the public, and the day that it could ever be economical was a far-off dream. PV power was later manufactured in larger runs than the specialty production used for powering spacecraft electrical systems. It was still relatively expensive but it found a market in homes that were far from the established grid. If it cost $100,000 to bring a power line to a home, than solar with battery back-up was a better choice.

We progressed over the years and what was formerly a novelty, became more and more mainstream. What was introduced today tells us that Solar PV is not only well established for its non-polluting benefits, it is now economically viable.

Mr. Rice pointed out that the number of workers that are employed in the solar industry is higher than the number of workers in the coal industry. That trend will, no doubt continue. Nautilus gets its best results from large installations. The bigger the better. The concept is that they rent your roof to have a platform to generate power and feed it back to the utility. The benefit to the building owner is that he gets a rent check. Over time the equipment will become the property of the building owner. The cost of the technology has dropped dramatically in recent years and that trend appears to be continuing. With cost of solar now at 22cents per kilowatt hour, the industry needs no further state initiatives according to M. Rice. The lease is 20 years and then the equipment ownership is transferred to the building owner for $1.

Attorney Morton Weber has been specializing in IDA (Industrial Development Agency) funding of the financing of these systems and the benefits and tax incentives were explained.

When the formal remarks were completed we opened the floor to questions. A question was asked; Why not place the solar field on the ground where there is no building?
A) Of course we could put systems near the ground, but real estate is expensive and roofs offer an excellent opportunity to use an existing asset.
Q) What about roof integrity, is it in any way compromised?
A) The panels are not attached to the roof deck, and there are no holes in the roof. They use a ballast system which preserves the integrity of the roof and in fact protects the roof. In addition the panels can be moved when necessary. The weight of the ballast is far less than the snow load requirement of 36 inches

There were other questions about fire personnel safety when fighting a fire and other questions about safety. It was explained that these systems disconnect and stop producing power when the grid power is turned off, which is standard operating procedure in any fire emergency.

This was a very informative meeting and every indication is that this technology will be more heavily used as we move forward. The company has set a goal of 2.5 million square feet for Long Island.

We thank our speakers James Rice and Morton Weber for imparting important information.

This event took the time and effort of many people, Michele Zere was unrelenting in getting the message out and helping LIMBA plan this meeting Thanks to Bill Miller and his staff at the door we were able to accommodate our guests.
Thank you Ken Nevor, Anna Woodroof, and Cindy Mardenfeld.

The staff at the Clarion Hotel were attentive to the needs of the breakfast as usual.

Ernie Fazio

LIMBA Steve Levy- Center for Cost Effective Government
2013-10-04 00:00
Our speaker this morning at LIMBA was former County Executive Steve Levy. Steve established the "Center for Cost Effective Government" for the purpose of "preventing municipal government from going over the cliff."

Levy described the current problems as two parts. Revenues are reduced and expenses continue to rise. Revenues will again rise in the future, but the revenues will be constantly lagging increasing costs, according to Steve.

Levy sees the biggest hole in the bucket being personnel costs. He states the problem is not just that municipal salaries are high, pensions and work rules are really killing the goose.

Pension funding is based on market fluctuations. The "guaranteed benefit" plans that are in place:

1) Dictate that the taxpayer needs to reach deeper into his pockets when the stock investments under-perform. Ironically the taxpayers are also hurting from their own losses.

2) Overtime in the final years of employment increases the pay-out, instead of basing the payout on the regular salary. "That is why we see enormous pension payouts"

3) 20 year retirements mean we can conceivably be paying a police officer that came on the force at age 22 and retiring at 42 another 40 or more years.

4) Mandatory arbitration. Arbitrators are hired by the unions and always find for the highest increase in order to get re-hired again.

5) Work rules. -Vacations, holidays, paid sick leave, and personal days amount to 100 days. If you add in weekends they are working less than half as many days as there are in the year.

6) Step increases- (Tri borough Agreement) Step increases are not part of the union negotiations. If the contract expires, the step increases continue. This takes the pressure off the union to negotiate.

7) Disability retirements increased 648% since 1959 Levy finds this rate of disability very suspect since we have safety programs that were unknown in 1959, including OSHA legislation. Fraud in LIRR retirements is the most visible example, but we must examine the rest of the municipal workforce.

Beyond that Levy asserts that we are an enormous regional population that gets short-funded from Albany and Washington. New York City has 9 million people and garnered $30 billion in federal funds. We on Long Island celebrate if we get a few hundred thousand and we have 3 million people. "If it were proportional we would be getting $10 billion."

Mr. Levy came to us armed with many facts and examples for the audience to question, and they did.

Ernie Fazio

This Meeting was sponsored by M&T Bank and Bill Miller. Thank you!

Dr Sam Stanley - Pres.of SUNY Stony Brook TBC Nat Grid Spons
2013-10-18 00:00
Our speaker this morning at LIMBA was Dr. Samuel Stanley, president of SUNY Stony Brook. We asked him to speak about the economic impact of the university. Dr Stanley brought with him two of the contact people that could assist the business community in doing business with the institution.
Stanley began by discussing the funding which has come under pressure lately but he had an optimistic report that allowed savings in personnel and learned efficiencies to enable the school to grow with only modest tuition increases.
Once funding problems are solved planning becomes easier. In the plans are a net 250 new faculty members, but these faculty people will be doing mostly research and that means that money to fund those individuals will be forthcoming, and those pursuits tend to generate more funding This adds the economic strength of the region.
SUNY 2020
Work is being done on Smart Grid Technology, Energy Efficiency, and Coastal Management. These efforts are essential to residents, business, tourism, and commuting.
There are two new medical building being built one of them will be a $220 million dollar investment. This is a very large construction job, but the finished product will generate many permanent jobs.
Stony Brook’s education mission is aligned with science and technology and that in and by itself very important, but the university maintains a theater, The Staller Center. It has a stadium and an active sports program. All of these assets help funnel assets into the local economy.
The Q&A that came after Sam’s formal remarks was interesting too. It was a fast moving back and forth that allowed a lot of the people in the audience to take part. Dr Stanley adeptly handled each question with a level of confidence that we expect of someone with his background. We were not disappointed.
Ernie Fazio
Thank you Ken Nevor Anna Krause, and Anna Marie Woodroof for helping with the meeting registration and greeting the guests.
This meeting was sponsored Ray Homberger and National Grid

Mfg Back to Suffolk -Anne Shybunko-Moore, President, GSE
2013-10-25 00:00
Anne Shybunko Moore was our speaker Friday morning. Shybunko is president of GSE Industries. GSE has a long history on Long Island but had purchased land in Georgia a few years ago and built a manufacturing facility. It all seemed so attractive but a trained workforce was less available. And retention of those who were hired was difficult. The decision to bring that operation to Long Island was motivated by the confidence the company had in our local labor force. Some of the Georgia personnel did come to Long Island but most of the hires were recruited here on Long Island.
GSE had an option to locate in South Carolina near the new Boeing manufacturing facility. It may have been a good fit because the carbon fiber materials that GSE makes are used in aircraft. Anne opted to make the relocation to Long Island because of the confidence in the region. She said she also like living here.
Suffolk County IDA president, Anthony Manetta was also on the program and gave the audience information on the workings of the agency. According to Manetta poaching of Long Island business is an event that happens every day. Retaining business is more than tax abatement strategies, there are services rendered to business to help them prosper and remain in place. These services are quite straight forward and available to any company that can demonstrate a plan for a successful business. That point was made when someone asked if Anne Shybunko’s company received preferential treat ment because she had a woman owned business. Help received from the IDA was based on the merits of the company’s application stated Shybunko

Gary Richard - PC Richard & Son LI Success Story
2013-11-01 00:00
At LIMBA we like to vary our programs. This week I reached out to Gary Richard of PC Richard & Son fame. Although I met Gary almost 30 years ago it never occurred to me to ask him to speak at LIMBA. The story of a family owned business remaining in the family for 104 years is unusual to say the least.
The meeting began by him giving us a brief timeline of how his grandfather went from a penniless immigrant from Holland to a hardware store owner, appliance repair shop, and appliance sales.
Gary is very comfortable having an enlarged conversation with the group rather than a formal presentation and very quickly we shifted to that mode. He answers questions with directness and humor and is able to take a little ribbing as well.
He had a picture of the hardware store that his parents operated with an apartment upstairs where he was born, and he told us of that experience. The company blossomed under his father’s management with a philosophy that hasn’t changed over the years. “We don’t make sales, we make customers.”
When asked how do you perpetuate a family business and keep the well-educated and capable children interested in the business, “the business must become your life,” according to Gary. And because a substantial business needs people of varying skills, the members of the family are likely to find a spot that they can excel in. When you have logistics, store management, warehousing, human resources, repair shops and other needs, there is room for a wide variety of skills and interests.
Mr. Richard spoke about the growth spurts that occurred when the company absorbed the locations of the failed enterprises of Newmark & Lewis and later Circuit City. When Newmark and Lewis was operating they were doing about $200 million in sales and so was PC Richard, a year later PC Richard was doing more than $380 million in sales. Most of those additional sales were a result of retaining most of the Newmark & Lewis customer base.
The company considered going public against the advice of Gary’s father. After the investment house went through their dog and pony show and the deal was set Gary told the bankers that the deal was off. They insisted that they all go to dinner and have a few drinks and resolve the differences. “Why not, let’s have a good meal and enjoy some wine since we are never going to see these guys again.”
He didn’t have the heart to pull the trigger because all of what he and the two generations that came before him had built would be lost.
The employees of PC Richard & Son have had health insurance for the last 60 years. They will not keep a location going if the activity is low because it erodes the morale of the workforce. It is this kind of thinking that tells you that a satisfied workforce is as important as a satisfied customer base, and the two thoughts are closely related.
This program was sponsored by JVC Broadcasting and John Caracciolo. JVC had their sound technicians in the room and they taped the meeting. After the meeting JVC Broadcasting conducted a one-on-one interview with Mr. Richard

LIMBA program - Helena Williams LIRR president
2013-11-15 00:00
Our speaker this morning was Long Island Railroad President Helena Williams. Helena has been our guest speaker at LIMBA each year for the last few years. Her mission today was to inform us of the various projects the railroad is working on.

The principal effort of today’s discussion was the second track on the Ronkonkoma line. The electrification of the Ronkonkoma line was accomplished in the mid 1990’s but only one track was active.(That was a project a LIMBA requested) But Ms. Williams pointed out that although the rail system could not find the money for the second track, however the electrical substations were built robust enough to support the additional track. That made the building the second track less of a burden, and now it is coming to fruition, she credited the past leadership’s foresight.

Double track will advance the efforts of the LI MacArthur airport to regain passengers and be profitable. It will have an impact on economic development by allowing reverse commutes. Williams expects to be able to have half hourly service in both directions during off-peak times, resulting in a substantial increase in service.

Beyond the service improvements are the economic benefits of engaging workers building the infrastructure.

The resiliency of the system by making this second track improvement will also serve us better when we suffer large scale disasters such we saw in hurricane Sandy and what we are now seeing in the Philippines.

Williams pointed out that some of the planning that was done over 100 years ago served us well. The tunnels leading into Penn Station were built at a much lower level than the station itself. These tunnels did take on water but Penn Station was spared, and that would have been a much worse situation. Helena stated before she closed that the mainline improvements are essential when you consider the growing frequency and ferocity of weather patterns.

There are so many good reasons for making the proposed improvements and outreach to the community is essential to making the public aware and winning support for the railroad. That’s what she accomplished today.

This meeting was sponsored by Greenman Pedersen Inc., an engineering firm that has expertise in railroad planning and design as well as other disciplines. Team leader Denise Carter introduced the speaker- Thank you Greenman Pedersen.

Ernie Fazio

Thanksgiving weekend - no meeting
2013-11-29 00:00

LIMBA Holiday Gathering
2013-12-13 00:00
James Graseck will be playing for us again. We call Jim the "Victor Borge" of the violin. We will also have comedian Harry Freedman. Harry has worked our room before in 2002 and was a big hit. He also brought us the ventriloquist Vince Dantona, and comedian John LaRocchia. This is always a well attended event. At present we are 25% sold out.
We are looking for several sponsors for this event.

Kevin Law
2014-01-09 00:00

LIMBA/BOCES Event
2014-01-17 00:00
Today’s program took us to the Edward Miliken Training Center in Oakdale. The facility houses the technical training program that Eastern Suffolk BOCES uses to impart numerous practical skills ranging from solar electric installations, nursing, diesel mechanics, and auto repair to audio-visual training, and various other important skills needed in industry. The unit is now called "The Academy of Applied Technology."

It would be a mistake to think that the academy is just producing skilled craftspeople. They are in fact giving the students an education that demands that the science of their work is understood. Students are no longer faced with the stark choice of going to college or working as a laborer. The objective is to give the students salable skills and a background that encourages pursuit of higher education, if they choose that course later.

The academy is staffed with teachers that are from industry and know the skills that they are teaching by actually having to have had made a living doing it. They are practitioners first before ever teaching. That real world knowledge is essential to making a program like this work.

While at the meeting this morning I mentioned that when I come into the building the students and staff are open and friendly. They greet you in the hall and smile. I asked if that friendliness is promoted by the school. The answer they gave is no, and Julie Lutz, the administrator there, noted that learning disabled students that are referred from other schools in the system have a high rate of success. The reason for the success with those students and the good attitude in general could be that achieving something worth doing has a calming effect. There were a few people in the room that have benefited by the programs and they supported the notion that education received there was worthwhile.

Presenting was District Superintendent Dean Lucera and Leah Arnold Director of Technical Education, Picture shown, and Superintendent of Educational Service Julie Davis Lutz.

Ernie Fazio

St Joseph's Veterans programs
2014-01-24 00:00
St Joseph’s College Veterans Programs Panel

We started the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and the then Bill Miller introduced the speaker
This Friday’s meeting was an in depth discussion on educational opportunities that are available to veterans. Dir. Vitters brought several fellow staff people from St Josephs’ College. Dr. Vitters is a retired Colonel and his efforts have been directed to using all of the economic support tools that are available. The GI Bill that we associate with the returning vets after WWII is again available today. St Josephs was named as the best college for veterans by US News & World report
Dr. Vitters pointed out that these vets are dealing with stresses that are more severe than those we welcomed home in the past. The formula for service during an action is 1/3 of the army is at war 1/3 is preparing for war an 1/3 is on leave at home and in general repairing themselves. That is not the case now. It is ½ in a war zone and ½ in preparation for war. That formula is unsustainable.
St Joseph’s College has about 5,000 students between the Brooklyn and Patchogue campus and is among the four highest rated private colleges in the country. They have integrated the enrolled veterans into the campus life and the experience and maturity has had a positive effect on the other students. They come to the school with real job skills and now they have the drive and aptitude to develop themselves further.
The funding is called “The Yellow Ribbon Program” It provides $19,000 to cover the educational program and the college will provide an additional $5000 if that amount is insufficient. The VA will provide another $5,000 if still needed. So far the students have not exceeded the base amount, but the extra funding is there of it is needed. But there is more. Student vets get an additional $2700 per month for living expenses, and $1,000 for books.
The investment in these veterans is particularly important because Long Island has one of the highest concentrations of veterans in the country. The fields of study they are interested in run the gamut from learning rehab for fellow soldiers to child care.
We also learned that Tauro College has a program and Ken Rosenblum was in the audience to tell us of that effort too. Dr. Hubert Keen president of Farmingdale State College sent a representative, Eric Farina, to the meeting as well, and he gave us a take on services his unit was offering.
We learned a lot today about programs that are getting serious attention.
There were a number of veterans in the audience and they posed interesting questions and made a few suggestions.
Ernie Fazio

In the Photo: Shannon O’Neil, Dr. Gail Lamberta, Bill Miller, Dr. Al Vitters, and Dr. Steve Fuchs.

Ross Ain, President Caithness Long Island
2014-02-07 00:00
The Caithness Company is no stranger to LIMBA. This morning Caithness President, Ross Ain, discussed the new 350 megawatt plant that has been proposed. The original plant that Caithness completed in 2009 was the most efficient power plant that was ever built on Long Island. The new plant will use techniques that will further improve efficiency and operating range.
Mr. Ross made a painstaking explanation of how current plants operate. First explaining the difference between single cycle operations and combined cycle plants such as the Caithness design including the plant they built 4 years ago. Then he explained the efficiencies that are realized with the new plants. Older plants produce more pollution when they are operating at the optimum levels, than the new plants, but at reduced power they actually become even more polluting. The modern Combined Cycle plants remain at maximum cleanliness even when they are powered down to 50%.
In addition they can power up or down very quickly. The old power plants can takes as much as 24 hours. The reason why that is important is because we need that kind of flexibility when we are introducing more and more solar and wind generation. With solar and wind the flow of electrons can be reduced by storm clouds, and falling levels of wind. We need a system that can take up the slack quickly in order to make wind and solar more viable.
Fuel is one of the big cost items in producing power, lower fuel consumption brings substantial savings, and the new plant as well as the existing Caithness plant, use much less fuel that any other power plant on Long Island. When the power is sold it gets preference over other power plants because they can deliver the generating capacity at lower cost. Other power plants still get some of the ordered power because the need is greater than Caithness can provide. That will change as this new power comes on line, but the demand for power is still growing, and the PSE&G will still be using other plants to make up the difference.
Ross explained that the plant uses very little water, the cooling process is similar to the closed loop that we see in our automobiles. Instead of requiring access to a large body of water such we have in Northport, Port Jefferson and other locations on Long Island, the coolant is recirculated and cooled in “cooling Towers.” The process not only saves water, it avoids thermal pollution of the surrounding waters that seriously effect marine life.
The Q&A that followed was quite lively. There were people in the room that were knowledgeable about power plants in general as well as this technology and there were people from the environmental community. Those questions allowed the speaker to elaborate and fill in the information.
Ernie Fazio

Fishbat Social Media Workshop
2014-02-21 00:00
Friday’s meeting was a good overview of modern communication in business. The meeting was dubbed Business Bootcamp and it was the first of several that we will be hosting. Our visiting experts were the principals of Fishbat. Fishbat prides itself with being attuned to effective ways to communicate services and products of its clients to their target market through the use of digital media.
Jennifer Calise and Clay Darrohn were the presenters and one of their first things they mentioned was the precision of the message is beyond anything that could have been done in years gone by. We now have the ability to target market our commercial messages in a digital forward media to an audience that will probably be interested. The example they gave was a restaurant that wanted to reach a certain age segment in a limited radius. If you want to reach an audience that is between the ages of 25 and 55 because you have statistics that indicate that this age segment tends to eat out, you can do that. You can refine your criteria in numerous ways to make sure your efforts are received by the people who might want your services.
Clay and Jennifer went into some detail on the use of Facebook and other vehicles that you can enlist to make your campaign more successful. During the Q&A specific questions were posed that were answered by our presenters. The message in the room was that we are living in a truly different environment and that environment is constantly changing.
Using the various tools that we have at our disposal our campaigns to create an efficient stream of business has improved. Understanding those tools with all the possibilities as well as limitations are essential to launching and sustaining a business campaign.
Our meeting was sponsored by Matrix Corporate Park and they generously donated two 50 inch flat screen TV’s for door prizes. Our winners were Merrill Zorn from Zorn’s Catering and Chris Banks from Brookhaven Memorial Hospital. Congratulations!
This program was largely the efforts of Michelle Zere. Great job, Michelle! I also want to thank Annette Krauss and Ken Nevor for helping Bill Miller with the registration desk
Our next two meetings are;
March 7th – Richard Margulis, President of Brookhaven Memorial Hospital
March 21st – Steve Levy and NY Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick – Cost Effective Government
Ernie Fazio

BNL Event To Be Confirmed
2014-03-06 00:00

Peter M. Curtis
2014-03-06 00:00
Peter M. Curtis
President
Power Management Concepts, LLC
Applied Science Center for HLS
510 Grumman Road West, Suite 211
Bethpage, New York 11714
516.465.0188 x7838
516.870.7838 – Direct
pcurtis@powermanage.com
www.powermanage.com

LIMBA Richard Margulis, Pres. Brookhaven Memorial Hosp.
2014-03-07 00:00
Brookhaven Memorial Hospital president Richard Margulis was our speaker. He dispelled some notions that perhaps some of us had. BMH is an independent hospital and as an independent facility, can it be competitive in terms of services offered? The answer appears to be yes. The larger hospitals often take a regional approach to care. They will concentrate on several areas of health and assign patients to other hospital out of that narrow area of expertise.
Brookhaven must take a different approach, and must have diverse capabilities, by necessity.

In the case of heart ailments time is important. Quick remedial action is often the difference between living and dying. Therefore the hospital is planning a major addition for their cardio unit. In addition they have built a family medicine unit in North Bellport. North Bellport is a low income community with many residents having no insurance. The unit has been built to provide patients with on-going care. A place where when a patient comes in their will be prior knowledge of the patients’ medical profile. The cost of treating patients is less than emergency room visits. In addition to cost considerations emergency room care is often too late. Lower cost and better outcomes are the goal, and this facility is accomplishing that.

When asked about the effects of The Affordable Care Act, Margulis said that so far he has not seen any adverse effects.

The New cardio unit will cost $60 million and will fill a serious need. There are four such facilities in western Suffolk, but this will be the only one serving the east end.

Mr Magulis discussed the economic impact of the hospital. There are over 500 doctors associated with the unit, and approximately 500 nurses. The annual revenues of the hospital are in excess of $820 million. Mr Margulis presentation was very encouraging that better care for this community is available. We came away from the meeting with a deeper appreciation of the value of the medical service being administered.

This meeting was sponsored by Nickerson Corporate Interiors Joe Ogno was representing Nickerson.

LIMBA attends LICA meeting
2014-03-14 00:00
Mark Herbst announced today that the Long Contractors Association will be holding its legislators breakfast on March 14. Details will follow. LIMBA members are encouraged to attend
Ernie Fazio

Steve Levy- & Panel- Center for Cost Effective Government
2014-03-21 00:00
Today’s meeting consisted of a panel featuring Steve Levy, NYS Assemblyman Michael Fitzpatrick and the president of Dowling College Dr. Norman Smith. Mr Levy began by outlined the problems that are causing our taxes to rise at a faster rate than inflation. The message on issues known as the The Triborough Amendment, binding arbitration, gaming the retirement payouts were discussed at length.

Mr. Fitzpatrick is an assemblyman that has introduced a bill that will address these anomalies that are adversely affecting our ability to sustain local and state budgets. He gave us his overview and the resistance to change that he is dealing with.

Dowling president Dr. Norman Smith was included in the panel to reflect the concerns of that part of the economy that are not directly involved with government. Dr Smith then spoke few minutes about the status of the college.

The Tri-borough Amendment allows labor cost increases even without a union contract. Here is how it works. There are two parts to labor cost increases, one is negotiated, and the other is termed "step increases." If a union contract runs out than the part that is negotiated does not increase, but the step increases continue unabated. This feature is unheard of in the private sector, nor is it a practice in other states or federal employment.

Binding arbitration was established to overcome an impasse. If the negotiators could not agree a panel that is supposed to be neutral would negotiate. As it turns out the binding arbitration panel merely increases an agreement wage based on the last highest wage agreement and adds on a little more.

Gaming retirement is the practice of using the last years of employment to boost the retirement pay. For example- If a policeman is earning $125,000 per year and boosts his overtime to $200,000 before retirement his retirement pay is based on that higher amount. This usually results in the retiree receiving more in retirement than his regular pay. Nowhere in industry or other states are pensions paid this way.

The above were the main points, but there are myriad of issues such as accumulated sick pay, and accumulated vacation pay. In industry if you fail to use sick time or vacation time it will eventually be withdrawn.

The room was filled with people who had many comments and questions. Some of them had knowledge of what the speakers were going to say, but others were new to the topic and felt that the session was enlightening and provocative.

Ernie Fazio

Sponsor for this meeting – Campola, Middleton & McCormick – Thank you

LIMBA staff , Annette Krauss, and Ken Nevor . Michelle Zere was the director for this program and it was great topic. Thanks

LI News Radio 103.9 was taping the meeting and will play excerpts on the air -Thank you station manager Matt Goldapper.

Our door prize today was two tickets to any show at the Engeman Theater in Northport from the owner, Kevin O’Neil- Thanks

Much thanks to all the participants for an excellent program – Bill Miller and Ernie Fazio

LIMBA Social Media Roll-out- Steve DePass Jr
2014-04-04 00:00
This is Big

LIMBA Business Boot Camp Series – Roll-out of its new LIMBA Social Network– Learn how you can connect with thousands of people and companies in our network to develop your relationships with vendors and potential customers. This will be a place where you can regularly announce events and promote ideas.
Presentation by Steven DePass
Please join us

Meeting will be held at the Clarion Hotel (formerly Holiday Inn)3845 Veterans Memorial Highway, Ronkonkoma hotel phone 631 585-9500
Room opens at 8AM Program begins 8:30 and adjourns at 9:30AM Member fee $15 non member fee $25
Register on-line https://limba.net/breakfastform.php or call 631 757-1698

Cancelled meeting - death in speakers family
2014-04-11 00:00
There has been a death in speakers family. This meeting will be rescheduled.
If you paid in advance you can use the payment for the next meeting or ask for a refund

LIMBA has been presenting useful and interesting insights on doing business.
This workshop will sharpen your ability to retain useful information and enhance your skills
Memory Training Program- Matthew Goerke, Developer Of the Memory Switch Program
This meeting is sponsored by West Star Capital represented by Tim Dillon- Thank You

Meeting will be held at the Clarion Hotel (formerly Holiday Inn) 3845 Veterans Memorial highway, Ronkonkoma NY Hotel phone 631 585-9500

Room opens for registration at 8AM, Program begins at 8:30, We adjourn at 9:30AM

Meeting fee for Non members $25 for members $15. You may pay on-line https://limba.net/breakfastform.php or
Call 631 757-1698

Passover and Good Friday week-No meeting
2014-04-18 00:00

Wayne Horsley as new park commissionor
2014-04-25 00:00
Wayne Horsley is the former representative of Suffolk County’s 14th district. He is now the commissioner of Parks. Mr. Horsley is a popular and respected leader and has now taken on the responsibility of the parks system. The region has many beautiful parks and the job is big. We will learn what improvements plans are being planned in the year ahead.
This meeting is sponsored by West Star Capital – Thank you Tim Dillon
Meeting will be held at the Clarion Hotel (formerly Holiday Inn) 3845 Veterans Memorial highway, Ronkonkoma NY Hotel phone 631 585-9500
Room opens for registration at 8AM, Program begins at 8:30, We adjourn at 9:30AM
Meeting fee for Non members $25 for members $15. You may pay on-line https://limba.net/breakfastform.php or
Call 631 757-1698

LIMBA Boot Camp Series PR&Media Mangmt RoxanneDonovan
2014-05-09 00:00
Our LIMBA speaker Friday was Roxanne Donovan, President of Great Ink Media Relations. Her expertise is in dealing with the press. She began by stating that what is said about you lives on. Therefore it is important that we must be careful and pro-active It’s a good idea to google your name at least once a week.

"If you get a call from a reporter, the story may have already been written." She stated you can influence the outcome of the story if you pro-actively call the reporter. Reporters are constantly under a deadline requirement and the story you tell has a good chance of being the story that is eventually written.

Reporters vs bloggers

Reporters have a standard of professional conduct that expects them to do their own research, and at the very least must stand behind what they write. Bloggers on the other hand do not usually have that kind of oversight.

Be respectful of a reporters deadline and get information out while there is still time to make changes. It is prudent to have low expectations of a reporters experience and expertise on the topic, he often covers several beats.

Bear in mind the reporting is subjective and he may interpret an event based on his own experience. It is your job to nudge him toward the true picture. There is ego involved and asking for changes on a material fact may be important but a trivial fact should be ignored.

Nurture good relations with reporters by commenting on the times when you liked their work, and don’t call a reporter when he is close to deadline.

The Press release

Press releases make the reporters job easier, if he calls for details he is just verifying the facts as stated and is able to complete a cogent article quickly.

Off the Record

This is a minefield that needs to be discussed. What does it mean? Does it mean he cannot mention it all? Does it mean he can attribute it to an industry source that is not named. Can he say he deduced it from other information he collected? Make it clear and have that conversation before you disclose "off the record" information.

After Roxanne’s formal remarks there was a very lively Q&A delving into the many statements you see above.

Michelle Zere brought today’s speaker to LIMBA Thank You

Ernie Fazio

Our sponsor for this program was Ronald Stair PhD, president of Creative Plan Design – Thank you Ron

LIMBA Boot Camp -Matt Goerke- The Memory Switch
2014-05-30 00:00
Our speaker this week was Matt Goerke. Matt is a truly talented memory training specialist. He began by asking which one of us has trouble remembering and the response was almost universally negative. He went on to say that the bulk of memory difficulty is the belief that we cannot do it. It sounds simplistic, but as the session went on we could see where the training could substantially increase our ability to learn the techniques of memory retention.

The first exercise was to elicit a word from different people in the audience until he had 15 words. Each of us wrote down the words. He asked us to turn over the paper and write down all the words in the order that we first heard them. Not only were we not able to remember most of the words, those we did get were not in the correct order. By the end of the session all of the people could remember the words in the correct order and randomly as well.

When we were leaving we realized that the session went over the designated hour and no one seemed to realize the passing of the time, a fact that indicated that we were all so engaged in the thinking process.

Beyond the idea that remembering people and names, sources of technical information and processes are all essential to our business success, it is also fun. But perhaps more importantly was the fact that the mental stimulation was likely to keep us healthy. Memory training is apparently on par with learning a foreign language and other similar challenges. The pursuit of a better memory appears to be useful in maintaining a healthy outlook.

Ernie Fazio

Congressman Peter King
2014-06-13 00:00
Our speaker this morning was Congressman Peter King, and it was a particularly lively meeting. It was the congressman’s first appearance at LIMBA since his district was changed to include the Town of Islip. The audience was eager to hear what he had to say and the room was full.

I introduced the speaker after I told the audience the role the congressman played when he teamed up with George Mitchell and President Clinton and worked on a peace settlement in Ireland. It was the kind of cooperation across party lines that is not seen today. I also noted that Mr. King was not shy about calling out Republicans lawmaker around the country when they tried to stiff the region on Sandy funding.

Mr. King took the floor and explained that his outrage at the Republican Party was based on the fact that we rushed to the aid of other parts of the country when they needed assistance, and then they chose to abandon us.

Peter King is easy to know. He speaks his mind and most people find that refreshing. There are some who are offended by straight talk, but most of the people in the room were appreciative.

Mr. King opined that President Obama left Iraq too early, and that, in the congressman’s point of view, was a missed opportunity.

During the Q&A he was reminded of the war in Iraq, was not a good move, and how that war has destabilized the entire region. King said he voted for the war and did so on what he considered good information.

One of the people in the audience questioned his judgment on speaking harshly about people like Rand Paul and Ted Cruz. “Shouldn’t those critical remarks be spoken to them in private” was the question. Mr. King was quite direct and told the questioner that those people are the ones that create dissent and he has no obligation to be quiet about his disapproval of them (not a direct quote).

When speaking about Cruz’s closing down of the government, he stated that he too objected to Obamacare, but closing down the government to get what you could not get legislatively is not the way we do things. Obamacare was created through the legislative process, if you want to repeal it, elect a Republican congress and a Republican president and repeal it; otherwise it remains the law of the land.

The release of the Guantanamo prisoner in a swap for Mr. Bergdahl was not a good idea according to King. He thinks that they are still a danger to the United States.

Ray Keating, economist and columnist for LIBN
2014-06-27 00:00
Mr. Keating is an economist and a columnist for LIBN. He has authored several books as well. He has a conservative view
Please join us. Meeting will be held at the Clarion Hotel (formerly Holiday Inn) 3845 Veterans Memorial highway, Ronkonkoma NY Hotel phone 631 585-9500 Room opens for registration at 8AM, Program begins at 8:30, We adjourn at 9:30AM Meeting fee for Non members $25 for members $ 15 You may pay on-line https://limba.net/breakfastform.php or Call 631 757-1698

John Kanas, President Bank United
2014-07-11 00:00
It was a pleasure to have an old friend of LIMBA return. John Kanas has the reputation of being unassuming and well-grounded and that is exactly what we saw this morning.

Mr. Kanas took us through the chronology of his development. He began as a middle school teacher doing reasonably well when he was offered a job as a bank teller which paid less than half of what he was earning as a teacher with a much shorter vacation. He refused the job but he had an ambition to earn his MBA and become a lawyer so he turned back for a moment and asked if they had a tuition reimbursement plan. They didn’t have such a program, but they wanted him work at this three branch, rural institution called North Fork Bank so they said yes. He took the job thinking I’ll hang around here until I get my MBA on their dime and then I will pursue law.

Someone once said “life is what happens while you are making other plans.”

To hear him tell his story, life is serendipity. That is to say your fortunes are found, whether or not you are looking for them. There is, of course, some truth to that notion, but successful people have vision and real skills. He found that he liked what he was now doing and was quite successful at it. His advancement eventually put him in charge as president and he began growing the bank until it became the large regional bank that was well known on Long Island and New York.

Mr. Kanas came to North Fork Bank when it could have been purchased for $1 million. It was eventually sold to Capital One for $16 Billion.

After he left Capital One John gave himself a time-out and later began looking for depressed banks to acquire for Wilbur Ross. Ross was an investor that looked for depressed companies. Among the banks that Kanas looked at was Bank United. He offered $1Billion for Bank United but the federal regulators said the bank was viable and was not available for sale. Then the crash came and the bank was in shambles. They called Kanas and his investors back. They eventually paid nearly a billion dollars. The day his team took over there were crowds of people on the street demanding their money. I suggested to John that the film “it’s a Wonderful Life” took on new meaning, he agreed.

The new entity is actually doing quite well at this point and is growing by $1 Billion every 90 days. Does lightning strike twice? Maybe.

Ernie Fazio

Today’s program was sponsored by Austin & Williams Advertising represented by Ken Greenberg and the law firm of Bond, Schoeneck & King represented by Bernard Kennedy

Thank You for your support

Lee Zeldin
2014-07-25 00:00
This morning our speaker was Lee Zeldin. Mr.Zeldin is the Republican candidate that is running for congress in the 1st congressional district The candidate is impressive as a person when you consider his education and his military service.
He spoke about his participation in the repeal of the MTA tax that LIMBA championed. He noted his great displeasure with the so-called Common Core agenda. Neither of these issues are that controversial with most of Long island voters. He alleged that his opponent, Mr. Bishop, was out of touch with his electorate, and not a moderate. All of this went over very well with this mostly Republican audience.
When it came to the Q&A of the program he was less sure of himself. When he was asked if he would take a bold stand against the party as last month’s speaker , Peter King ,did when he blasted them for blocking Sandy funds, he was evasive. However he did state that, at times he differed with the party on a state level in his role as a state senator.
When asked to explain why the congress has done nothing on infrastructure, immigration, basic research funding, and a farm bill, and what he would do to make things better. his answers were not fully developed. I don’t think that being vague should be held against him because nobody in Washington has been leading the way. Did he make his case that he could do a better job than the incumbent? He made a case that he is a decent human being, but that’s not the point, we knew that.
I told Lee as he was leaving that I would like to see him promote a long time LIMBA goal of building a Maglev train on Long Island. Supporting such an industry would provide a minimum of 20,000 high paid jobs on Long Island and 20 million jobs nationwide. In the end it’s about creating a better country, he agreed. I also told him that if he did prevail that LIMBA would always be there for him as an avenue to speak to the voters.
Ernie Fazio
I want to thank my partner Bill miller, Michelle Zere for making this meeting truly successful, Annette Krause, Ken Nevor , Roger Ulanoff, Zee Morrissy Joe Ogno and Peter Vannucci
Patriotic Music was provided by The New Millennium Jazz Band
Colors were presented by the Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts represented by Kyle, Tyler, Hunter, and Chase Zere
Our Sponsor was the Atlantic Agency represented by Maddy Leibowitz
