UPDATES FROM THE PRESIDENT & CEO No Recovery Without Trade Groups, Which Need Support
Making the cut: Whether facilitating grand openings or slicing through red tape, the Hauppauge Industrial Association of Long Island is a constant friend to small business -- and requires federal support to assist with the regional COVID-19 economic recovery, according to President & CEO Terri Alessi-Miceli.
By Terri Alessi-Miceli President & CEO HIA-LI
We generally think of COVID-19’s devastation in terms of its human toll and its economic toll. Indeed, the pandemic is registering a terrible impact on the health of many Long Islanders. And our region’s healthcare sector is battling valiantly to save lives and minimize the medical effects of this crisis.
June 2020 - The HIA-LI Reporter Page 6
At the same time, the pandemic is causing massive disruption throughout the Long Island economy. Thousands of regional businesses have closed and some 260,000 Nassau and Suffolk county residents filed unemployment claims in April. Primarily through the new Paycheck Protection Program, and also through the Economic Injury Disaster Loans, Congress and the White House mobilized rapidly to provide emergency loans to help stabilize the U.S. economy amid this new recession. The first two rounds of PPP funding alone are providing some $660 billion in emergency financing to employers. But something important is missing.
America’s regional economies: The strategy omits nonprofit business associations, trade groups and chambers of commerce from the employer categories eligible for PPP and EIDL aid.
curtailed face-to-face meetings and conventions. Associations nationwide are losing previously steady sources of revenue from membership dues, advertising, sponsorships and fundraising.
These 501(c)(6) organizations – entities like ours – boost and nurture local economic development. Around the country, these associations promote job growth; provide education and professional development for America’s workforce; create product and safety standards; advance professional standards within numerous sectors; and organize community assistance programs after catastrophic events such as the current pandemic.
Like the thousands of small businesses we serve, organizations like ours face serious financial challenges. We’re struggling to cover our own payroll, rent and other costs. But if 501(c)(6) organizations become disabled, it’ll just become harder for the hard-hit Main Street economy to stage the turnaround we’re going to need.
These incubators of growth and innovation must remain strong. Otherwise, we’ll face serious delays in bringing our economy We bring the community together to back to life. confront shared challenges and promote local economic development. Happily, the entire Long Island delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives has Locally, simply put, we keep Long Island’s endorsed an appropriate fix that would economy churning – and businesses need fill this gap in future rounds of emergency our help now more than ever. aid. We’re particularly grateful to U.S. Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY 1) for taking the For example, HIA-LI mobilizes our 1,000 lead. And we’ve been given assurance member companies to advocate for that Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and economic development. We also promote Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) will follow suit. the growth of the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge, the 1,400-acre Local nonprofits like ours promote small business complex whose 55,000-person businesses. We’re poised to help build workforce delivers $13 billion in annual back our local economy. To do so, output. however, our own organizations also need the resources to bounce back and thrive. For Long Island’s economy to fully recover, organizations like ours must remain viable This article was first published by: and vibrant. This will enable us to maximize our strategic role in staging our region’s economic renaissance.
Amid their understandable haste to set these emergency initiatives into motion, the recovery strategy suffers from a Many associations that were financially gaping omission that further damages solvent before the pandemic have now