Economic Development Advancements: Towns Shaping Long Island’s Future

Moderated by our founder, Joe Campolo, the panel featured five Long Island town supervisors —Angie Carpenter of Islip; Dan Panico of Brookhaven; Rich Schaffer of Babylon; Ed Smyth of Huntington; and Ed Wehrheim of Smithtown. They joined together for a wide-ranging discussion on downtown revitalization, infrastructure investment, housing, and the policies driving growth across the region.

Campolo said that bringing together the town leaders was a way to outline the levels of government, from federal, state, county to town, and how they interact.

He said on Long Island, from zoning to planning, the “buck stops” with the towns.

“Everything that happens in our communities, these folks are the ones who lead those charges,” Campolo said. “They set the priorities; they and their town boards work hard to make sure they hear the communities; they’re the boots on the ground.”

The program underscored that Long Island’s future will be shaped by the decisions being made at the town level today. With significant projects underway and more in the pipeline, local leadership is not only guiding growth. It is defining what Long Island will become in the years ahead.