Though the remnants of the pandemic still haunt some industries, most Long Island companies have remained resilient, and many are thriving again. And while obstacles like hiring and supply-chain issues linger, the business owners and executives who LIBN spoke with at last week’s HIA-LI Trade Show are optimistic about the future.
Here’s what some of them had to say.
At Hauppauge-based Merch & Swag, business is heating up. The maker of promotional products and custom apparel boasts an impressive client roster of companies and organizations that includes BodyArmor, Bobcat, Long Island Ducks, Blue Point Brewing Company, Island Harvest and many more.
“Business for us lately has been good,” said Eric Limmer, Merch & Swag’s co-founder. “We’re booming. We’ve been pretty much growing every single year for the past 10 years.”
Like most Long Island businesses, Merch & Swag suffered losses through the pandemic but managed to hang on.
“COVID was a bit of a hit for us, but even through that we had some wonderful clientele that kept us busy and we were able to keep the doors open,” Limmer says.
Though some fall-out from the pandemic remains, mostly in the form of lingering supply chain struggles, Merch & Swag continues to persevere.
“I think my biggest obstacle right now is still a little bit of the supply chain, but it’s getting much better,” Limmer said. “A lot of vendors in my industry were having inventory issues, but that’s pretty much solved.”
Starting out with just three employees, the company has grown to a staff of 23 and so far this year, sales are up by at least 25 percent. Limmer says this is Merch & Swag’s busy season, supplying summer camps and end-of-the-year school events.
“We’re really starting to ramp up production and we’re open seven days a week at this point and still can’t keep up,” he said.
Looking ahead, the company is planning to open some satellite locations and retail showrooms, to act as secondary business offices and attract some walk-in traffic.
“I’m optimistic for the short term as well as the next five years,” Limmer said.
For Thuro Metal Products, a Brentwood-based manufacturer of precision parts and components for several industries, such as aerospace, defense, and automotive, business is healthy after recovering from the pandemic.
“We lost about 30 percent of our business because of COVID,” said Sam Handle, president of Thuro’s aerospace, defense and lighting divisions. “In 2021 we did about $7 million. In 2023, we’re on track for about $16 million.”
Founded in the 1960s by Albert Thuro, a skilled technician from Germany who immigrated to the U.S., the company soon became a major supplier of hydraulic fittings and components for military aircraft. In the 1990s, Thuro’s main clients were in the automotive industry, where the company became a Tier 1 supplier to firms involved in vehicle manufacturing. Today, some of its major clients include Standard Motors, Bendix and BAE Systems.
And lately, Thuro is growing, going from 50 employees in 2021 to 70 this year. While hiring talent has been difficult for many Long Island firms, Thuro is growing its own.
“We hire interns and train them,” Handle said. “We hire about four interns a year and we promote from within. We build our company organically.”
Business has also been on the upswing for the law firm of Schroder & Strom, a Mineola-based real estate tax counsel.
“Business has been pretty steady compared to prior to the pandemic, although obviously the real estate landscape is changing with pandemic-related changes about where people are working,” said Chris Byrnes, a Schroder & Strom partner. “Obviously the residential real estate market has had a much different experience than commercial, particularly office space.”
Despite a recent slow-down in some real estate sectors, taxes continue to rise, and that’s been creating opportunities for tax-grieving law firms.
“The number of people wanting to file tax grievances seems to increase annually,” Byrnes says. “As taxes rise, which is almost a given these days, more people want to see what they can do to get them in check.”
Founded in 2000, Schroder & Strom’s staff has grown to 30 at its 8,000-square-foot offices. Though hiring remains one of the firm’s biggest obstacles, even that issue seems to be abating.
“We’re always looking to add new talent to the firm,” Byrnes said. “And I think hiring is starting to improve compared to the past couple of years.”
Is he optimistic about the near future?
“Yes, for sure,” Byrnes says. “I think there’s more business to be had.”
For some companies, the new hybrid work environment has been challenging. But for others, like IVCi, an audio/visual integration provider, it has created opportunities for growth.
“We’ve been able to offer more services that combine the hybrid and virtual and in-office environment,” says Jodi Meagher, the Hauppauge-based firm’s senior director of operations. “So, because of our creativity, we’ve been able to expand our services and grow our business.”
Founded in 1997, IVCi specializes in creating customized audio/visual solutions, featuring Cloud-based and managed video systems for a variety of industries that include finance, healthcare, education, government, construction and e-sports.
“We help corporations take their in-person events and help them deliver them in a completely virtual capacity, regardless of where their presenters are joining,” Meagher said.
Her colleague Keith Moehringer, who works on business development and strategic partnerships for IVCi, said that the firm has “mostly recovered” from the pandemic.
“Business is good,” said Moehringer, “but it could always be better. There are still challenges that we’re facing.”
Still, both Meagher and Moehringer see more growth ahead for IVCi and are optimistic about the future.
Another firm that provides corporate technology is Bohemia-based Brothers II Business Machines, a company owned by brothers John and Bill Cavallo, where business is back to where it was before the pandemic.
John Cavallo says the company’s biggest challenges are finding qualified help and getting new clients.
A documents management specialist for over 40 years, Brothers II’s most popular products are multi-function printers and copiers. And lately, the firm, which operates out of its own 7,000-square-foot building on McCormick Drive, has branched out with new offerings.
“We’re also providing mail fulfillment services, which is a growing division within the company,” Cavallo said.
And while Brothers II has put the problems of the pandemic in its rear-view mirror, it has created a workaround for one lingering obstacle.
“Supply chain issues have pretty much abated, but there are still some lagging issues in that regard, and we’ve had to adapt,” Cavallo said. “We used to order on demand but now we order in bulk and in advance and work off of our inventory to make sure we have product for our clients.”
Unlike most companies, Dave Muller’s firm Building Structures Unlimited was swamped with business during the pandemic, as home sales boomed.
“The last two years have been bonkers with tons of calls coming in,” Muller says. I get most of my calls from homebuyers and over the pandemic, we got plenty of foundation inspections.”
Founded in 1999, Building Structures Unlimited specializes in fixing cracked and broken foundations, bowing walls, sinking slabs, sagging floors, and basement waterproofing. The company employs a crew of six construction specialists.
Now that home sales have slowed somewhat, Muller acknowledges that “it’s been a little bit quieter lately,” but there’s still a lot of business to be had and he remains optimistic about the year ahead.
“I deal a lot with home inspectors, so they recommend me,” Muller said. “That’s continuing to climb.”
Mike Santiago, one of the partners of The Board Room Café & Eatery in Hauppauge, is encouraged by the new company’s growth.
Opened inside the office building at 100 Motor Parkway since only last November, Santiago has already seen some positive signs.
“We’ve seen a slight increase in business as the building occupancy rises,” Santiago told LIBN. “We’re the only café in the building and we’re definitely seeing an upward trajectory, with people coming back after COVID.”
Santiago runs The Board Room with his brother Marc and his dad George, who has a background in catering and also owns Little Porky’s Marinades. The family is working on expanding The Board Room’s catering business to serve companies in the surrounding Hauppauge area.
“We’re in a great building and a great area,” Santiago said. “The industrial park is the second largest in the country. So we’re very optimistic.”
For Billy Hatzichristos, founder and managing director of Holbrook-based Native Ceuticals, the HIA-LI Trade Show was an opportunity to introduce more people to his company’s hemp-based products.
While some businesses cited hiring or lingering supply-chain issues as their main challenges, Hatzichristos says brand awareness and product education are his firm’s biggest hills to climb.
“We’re doing different campaigns on social media, which is huge,” he said. “We hold educational seminars in-store. I’m here at the HIA event to get out in the community, teach people that there’s an alternative to getting high.”
Native Ceuticals operates a hemp farm and processing center in North Carolina, where it makes a wide range of hemp-based CBD products.
“Business is going very well,” Hatzichristos says. “If you look at year-over-year in sales, we’re up about 30 percent this year as compared to 2022. And the future is super bright. Hemp is truly the future of healthcare.”
Meanwhile, the struggle to find workers amid Long Island’s historically low unemployment rate is a boon for staffing firms like Nesco Resource. Tom Roach, market manager for the national firm’s Hauppauge office, says business is good. In fact, he said 2022 was probably the company’s best year yet.
“We are quite busy right now,” Roach said. “We do contract hiring, temporary and full-time hiring, we’re seeing a very strong demand on the full-time, permanent side. It’s still a supply/demand issue. There’s more demand than there is supply and that’s not letting up.”
And of course, finding talent is Nesco’s number one challenge and its main goal.
“We’re very well networked,” Roach says. “We work with a lot of the local colleges and trade schools to pull talent.”
Founded in 1956, Nesco Resource has grown to more than 100 offices nationwide and is one of the largest staffing and HR services firms in the country.
And though Roach says they’ve experienced some nervousness from a few corporate clients about the future of the overall economy, it hasn’t resulted in much of a retreat.
“I think there is some trepidation about a possible recession, but we’re not seeing clients let up with requirements,” he said. We’re getting orders for high-end resources, mid-level and some lower-level resources as well. In the areas we’re in, manufacturing, aerospace and media, we’re very busy.”
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