SOURCE:
https://libn.com/2019/12/05/smart-growth-summit-to-focus-on-collaboration-and-communication/
December 5, 2019
A crowd of more than 1,200 business, community and government leaders are expected to attend the annual Smart Growth Summit to be held Friday at the Crest Hollow Country Club in Woodbury.
The all-day event will have 20 workshops featuring more than 130 speakers topics related to downtown revitalization and infrastructure investment on Long Island. Over 50 different Main Street redevelopment and wastewater, energy and transportation projects will be covered throughout the day, according to a statement from event organizer Vision Long Island.
More than a dozen local elected officials will participate as panelists at the summit, which also features a luncheon headlined by RXR Realty’s Rebecca Deloia who will present an update on the Nassau HUB project; Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, who will also speak on the Nassau HUB and reformed IDA and mobility initiatives; Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, who will touch on wastewater funding and economic development work. State Senators Anna Kaplan and James Gaughran will provide a preview of the 2020 Albany legislative session and Adrienne Esposito, co-chair of the LI Lobby Coalition will be providing an update on accomplishments and plans for 2020.
Long Island Rail Road President Phil Eng will report on the LIRR’s modernization work and Keith Rooney from National Grid will update attendees on the status of natural gas service.
For the 12th straight year, the event will also convene a Long Island Youth Summit, with students from St. Joseph’s College, SUNY Old Westbury, Hofstra University, Suffolk Community College, Farmingdale State, Long Island University and local high schools.
The newly formed Long Island Main Street Alliance will have members at the event from 40 different downtown communities that have plans for future growth and preservation, where there were more than 14,000 units of housing approved in the last 14 years.
Vision Long Island Director Eric Alexander, who also leads the Long Island Main Street Alliance, says the theme for this year’s Smart Growth Summit is communication and collaboration.
“In an increasingly polarized world, driven by big business, government and media, it is important for Long Islanders to keep their focus local where folks still know how to work together,” Alexander said in the statement. “As we head into 2020, the forces of division will continue and on a local level we have the opportunity to lock arms and work together to meet the needs of our local residents and businesses while advancing needed jobs, housing, infrastructure and quality of life concerns. Our collective accomplishments in our downtowns over the last 20 years have only happened through bottom up planning. Let’s continue that trend and not take part in the division.”