Islip supervisor Carpenter addresses CEO Summit

Town supervisor Angie Carpenter addressed the assembled guests of Islip's 5th Annual CEO Summit, sponsored by the town's Industrial Development Agency, and highlighted the fact that manufacturing is prospering within the town. Supervisor Carpenter co-moderated the "Ignite Islip" summit at an NBTY Corp. in Ronkonkoma. John Kominicki, publisher of InnovateLI.com, was the other co-moderator of this event, which was attended by roughly 100 business executives. "Manufacturing companies are performing well on Long Island and in the Town of Islip," said Carpenter. "And while manufacturing remains strong, other industries are also thriving within our town." The summit featured presentations by eleven different business leaders, including: * Brian McAuliff, president of Bri-Tech Inc., a commercial and residential building automation integrator. * James Bonner, marketing manager at the New York & Atlantic Railway, which serves 65 customers, mostly in Suffolk County. * Cara Longworth, regional director of Empire State Development, who described various economic assistance programs available for businesses. * Tom Murphy, business manager at Covanta, which operates the Town's Waste-to-Energy plan. * Peggy Coppola, senior vice president and corporate relationship manager at Santander Bank N.A., who described how local businesses can expand abroad. * Richard Cameron, president of Carson Optical, a manufacturer of microscopes, telescopes, magnifiers and other optical equipment that recently moved into a 50,800 s/f facility in Ronkonkoma. * John Lombardo, executive vice president for economic development and workforce training at Suffolk County Community College. * Greg Ferraro, president of Crown Enterprises, of Bay Shore, a prepared foods producer owned by J King Food Service Professionals, that sells to area supermarkets. * Jamie Moore, president of the Hauppauge-based, 50-member advocacy group Aerospace and Defense Diversification Alliance in Peacetime Transition, or ADDAPT. * Matt Dunn, vice president and general manager at B/E Aerospace, whose lighting division has operations in Bohemia. * Harvey Kamil, vice chairman of the Ronkonkoma-based vitamin and supplement manufacturer NBTY, who spoke on the importance of trade associations. Supervisor Carpenter cited the importance to local businesses of Long Island MacArthur Airport, which she called, "truly an asset." She encouraged business leaders to reach out to the town to inform them about destinations they would like the airport to serve. "We are very committed to supporting businesses in our community," Supervisor Carpenter said. "It is imperative that we do what we can to help them to succeed and to grow." President of Carson Optical, Richard Cameron, who started his optical manufacturing business 25 years ago in his mother's basement and now operates from a new facility in Ronkonkoma, said his company plans to shift production to Long Island from China, because of increasing expenses and quality control difficulties associated with manufacturing in China. Matt Dunn, vice president and general manager at B/E Aerospace, a global company that manufactures interior components for airline cabins, said his unit's LED lighting business is growing and is supplying colored lighting for Boeing 737 jets. He said the company resisted corporate pressure to move near Boeing's operations in Seattle, Washington, because it would be difficult to break up the company's Long Island operations. "It's still an attractive manufacturing environment here on Long Island, he said, adding that the Islip IDA "had been very helpful."