North Fork Business Owners Talk Marketing

North Fork business leaders will come together to help shape the area's economic future.

The North Fork Promotional Council will host an open marketing committee meeting for North Fork business owners on Thursday at 5 p.m. at First & South Restaurant in Greenport.

According to Gene Gluck of the NFPC, the group was asked by the East End Tourism Alliance to help administer a $340,000 grant -- the largest of its kind -- for tourism promotion.

The grant was awarded to boost tourism efforts across the East End, and the NFPC was asked to help administer the grant on the North Fork.

"If you agree that the North Fork business community needs fewer meetings, and more results, and that we need to bring more customers to our businesses, please join us and participate," Gluck wrote, in a message to NFPC members.

Joan Bischoff van Heemskerck, NFPC president, also wrote to members. He explained that the funding was awarded as a "reformative agri-tourism promotion grant," and said it was the largest of its kind ever awarded for such a purpose.

Thursday's meeting will be held to help choose volunteers for an EETA North Fork Committee, who will help administer the grant on the North Fork.

Bischoff van Heemskerck added that the NFPC is spearheading an effort to streamline tourism promotion by all businesses on the North Fork.

"So many efforts are fantastic – we have distinctive and creative businesses in a wonderful region we all love," he said. "We believe we have a lot in common which binds us. We believe that cooperation of all this effort already underway could be beneficial to all of our businesses, and to the whole North Fork."

Business owners need to work collectively, he said. "The North Fork is undergoing change, like it or not," he said. "Our business community can have influence on the direction of change, but only if we collectively step up to the plate. As a business community we need to make better use of scarce human and treasury resources, and attract more customers for all our businesses, while making sure our effort will remain sustainable."

To that end, "We need fewer meetings and more equally distributed and measurable results," he said.

Business owners who wish to attend Thursday's meeting should contact Gluck at 631-655-7328 or email him at gene.gluck@northfork.org.