Politics & Government

7-Eleven Owner: 'We Need to Market This Town'

As part of an economic development committee, local business owners want members of the Southold Town Board to create a business liaison position in Town.

is looking for a person with significant business and management experience to work in a volunteer position as a business liaison for established and new business owners in town.

At Tuesday’s work session, Phillip Beltz, the town’s special projects coordinator, pitched the idea to members of the town board with local business owners like owner Tony Cocheo as part of a local economic development committee.

Cocheo, who spent years trying to get final approval from several governmental agencies to on the corner of Route 25 and Factory Avenue in Mattituck, told the board that an effective business liaison is essential to market the town as a great place to set up shop.

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“This is a great place — we’ve got the labor, we’ve got a friendly town board, now we just need to market this town,” he said. “It’s important that we do that as a committee.”

Cocheo said that he envisioned the position would evolve around the person who is chosen based on that person’s feeling and investigation into what’s working and not working in the current incarnation of Southold Town government to properly foster business growth. Supervisor Scott Russell said he believed that the position is a great, high profile opportunity for someone like a retired executive who is familiar with town government.

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“There are people out there looking to do these kinds of things because of their background and interest,” Russell said. “When a new business person comes in to town, it’d be nice to have that facilitator who has a certain finesse with all the different governmental agencies.”

Councilman William Ruland said that this liaison and the committee should also focus on existing business who are looking to expand and to find ways for them to be able to do so.

“We don’t want them to immediately think – ‘Well, I need to move to Riverhead because this town board just won’t let me do that here,” he said.

Councilman Chris Talbot agreed that a liaison would help business owners navigate through all the layers of town code and zoning, “one of the hurdles to doing business here,” he said.

Beltz and committee members are also working with Suffolk County’s economic development committee to create an online inventory of business owners and their development and happiness in Southold Town.


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