Volume 2, Issue 3
Table of Contents

Cover Story:
Taking Rockland’s Pulse
When it comes to healthcare, the prognosis is good for Rockland County

Feature Story:
Trends In Senior Living
From home health care to hospice care, assisted living to nursing homes, find out what's right for you

RBD Round-Up:
RBD's First Annual Small Business Awards
We’re looking for you! Find out more about our new awards program—and how to nominate a small business

DEPARTMENTS:

Economic Round-Up
• The Smart Investor
How should you manage your retirement?

Retail Round-Up
• The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
Retailers expect respectable sales as shoppers head into the holidays

Business Round-Up
• Things You Should Know
The County hires a new health commissioner, Wyeth celebrates the century mark
• Marketing By Design
The fine art of advertising
• Rockland Newsmakers

Ask The Expert
• Limited Liability and Company Retirement Plans

Dedicated Section:
Rockland Business Association:

The President’s Desk
It’s Been A Very Good Year...and It Ain’t Over Yet

Marking a Milestone
The Old 76 House in Tappan becomes the RBA’s 1,000th member.

RBA Happenings
• Committee and Council Info
• Calendar of Events
• New Members

Publishing Information
Rockland Business Digest, LLC

Co-Publishers:
Ken Mahoney & Steven Powell

For complete publishing information, please click here.

It was somehow fitting that a business which traces its roots back to the 1700s and is one of Rockland’s most historic made history again in October when it became the 1000th member of the RBA.

The Old 76 House in Tappan, a restaurant which has served an illustrious group of patrons that include both George Washington and actor Bill Murray, was honored with a reception in the restaurant attended by an array of luminaries, including Robert Norden, the CEO and owner of the Old 76, Barbara Cochran and Kelly Mason, the restaurant’s general manager. House. Orangetown Supervisor Thom Kleiner, Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee; Senator Tom Morahan and Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski, Jr. joined RBA President and CEO Al Samuels in congratulations of the milestone in the development of business associations and chambers of commerce -- the coveted 1,000th member mark -- occurred one month after the association celebrated its 40th anniversary.

RBD: It’s quite an accomplishment to reach this milestone. How did the RBA get to be a business association with 1,000 members?

Al Samuels: Hard work and good planning. The strategies were put into place six years ago when I became president of the organization, but before that I had been a member of the RBA for 5 or 6 years, I guess, and I had seen the RBA from the eyes of a small business member; from a very active volunteer who served on a myriad committees. Because in earlier times, as is defined by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the smaller chambers and business associations are basically run by committees and awful lot of expertise rose from the committees and the individuals to the organization.

I recognized that Rockland being a community where only 3% of the businesses had 50 or more employees, that there was a need for the local business association for the county’s businesses to devote more attention to the business community.

RBD: What was the first thing you did when you were named RBA’s President?

Al Samuels: When I took over we began to address and made much more of a concerted effort to meet the needs of the small business community, basically centered around networking opportunities, through education, and access to capital. So we developed programs and created situations that would help small businesses to meet these goals.

We grew the membership to meet these goals primarily through the small business community, but that was also an asset to the large businesses because another aspect was that to be truly important, you had to be involved in issues of public policy and economic development; you had to be involved in the big issues. And so the larger companies needed that, plus we needed the strength of numbers when we spoke in New City and Albany and Washington. You know, it’s nice to say you’re a tight knit group of 300 members; it’s very different to say you are an influential advocacy group of 1000. And we needed to get to the ladder; but 1000 is just a plateau; it’s arbitrary.

A large group of notables showed up at The '76 House in Tappan to celebrate the restaurant becoming the 1,000th member of the Rockland Business Association. Seated: Joan Neumann, RBA VP Administration; Barbara Cochran, '76 House Account Executive and Kelly Mason, General Manager. Middle row: Steve Porath, REDC and Empire Zone Coordinator; Orangetown Supervisor Thom Kleiner; Robert Norden, CEO/Owner, '76 House; Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee and Senator Tom Morahan. Back row: Roger Scheiber, RBA VP Development; Ron Hicks, President, REDC; Sheldon Horowitz, RBA Director; Al Samuels, RBA President/CEO and Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski, Jr.

RBD: How many other business organizations such as yours have a thousand members?

Al Samuels: There are 87 chambers of commerce and business associations in the Chamber Alliance of NY, and there are only 17 with a 1000 or more.

RBD: How many are there in the Hudson Valley?
Al Samuels: Westchester, Orange, Dutchess and Ulster Counties all have at least 1,000 members. We’re probably the fifth.

RBD: Is there a formula for growing membership?
Al Samuels: Again, we’re addressing the needs of small business, but we’re also taking on the large issues and we’ve attracted the larger companies in even greater numbers. We have a very nice cross section, a representation of Rockland’s business community. I think we’re successful, too, because we have a regional approach.

The first part is to engage the small business community, and then improve the numbers so we’d have the strength of numbers for our economic development policy, and then thirdly, we realized we had to stop being parochial. Most organizations are very protective of their geographic borders. The RBA, however, became a regional organization. We reached out to our colleagues in the surrounding areas. We have hosted the Westchester Business Council, the Commerce and Industry Association of NJ, and the Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce. There is so much business that is done across the line; it’s an imaginary border. That regional approach, by the way, has brought us 25% of the membership.

RBD: As Vice President, Development, Roger, you have the primary responsibility to build the RBA’s membership. How do you view the success of your and Al’s efforts to bring the RBA to this plateau?

Roger Scheiber: It’s a very big accomplishment for us since we are a relatively small area in terms of population and small in the number of businesses compared to the bigger counties and chambers. It’s been our ability to change as the needs of our members change in order to meet the demands of whatever is happening out there in the world that affects our neighbors. I think that has helped organization to grow on its own. Having that good vibe out there, letting people know that we’re doing the right thing has been a tremendous asset, from my end, especially when you hear such positive feedback. That perception in the business community has always made it easy for us to grow. RBD