On Long Island, women empower economic development

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It wasn’t all that long ago, 40 years, when some of Long Island’s key business leaders met up at a Freeport diner, commiserating. They discussed being left out of deals, simply because they were women, and at that moment they were trying to figure out how to help a woman they knew relocate her company to Hempstead.

Brainstorming, the women – Roz Goldmacher, executive director of Long Island Development Corp., Dorothy Tripp, of Hempstead Town Department of Industry and Commerce, and Ilene Krupnick, of Chemical Bank – structured a plan. They would advise the woman to purchase the building with the help of an SBA 503 loan, a New York Job Development Authority loan, and possibly, a Chemical Bank loan.

It would be great, they said, if they could do more of this – structure similar deals for women, much the way men did on the golf course or at the bar.

And so they launched Women Economic Developers of Long Island, or WEDLI.

The group today has about 55 members “who come from all spectrums of the business world on Long Island,” said Judith White, a founder of CJ2 Communication Strategies. The organization offers “a really exciting and wonderful place to exchange ideas and meet new people.  I’ve gotten several clients from WEDLI.”

Some 40 years later, more women in the United States have increased their presence in the top 10 highest-paying occupations, including CEOs and public administrators, according to the PEW Research Center. About 33% of these top positions are held by women, up from 13% in 1980. Still, women lag behind when it comes to leadership positions, with only 11% of Fortune 500 company CEOs are women.

Experts say that women-owned businesses bring economic advantages to the region. In November, New York State invested $11 million to eliminate the state’s certification backlog for minority- and women-owned business enterprises.

“By removing systemic obstacles, we empower diverse businesses and entrepreneurs to realize their full potential, spur local job creation, encourage new investments, and cultivate statewide economic development,” Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight said in a written statement at the time.

And while the climate for women-owned businesses has improved, support can go a long way toward making it even better.

“To a certain extent, women are still not where they need to be in leadership roles in business,” White said.

Still, the business community has changed naturally over time, said Randi Shubin Dresner, president and CEO of Island Harvest, who joined WEDLI in 2007.

Since then, Long Island “went through a recession, Hurricane Sandy and the pandemic – all three were life-changing experiences that always have an impact on business and employment,” she said. Those kinds of events can prompt businesses that want to expand to “really look at the skills women offer the business community.”

Helping that effort along is WEDLI, which continues to help “empower women in positions of leadership in Long Island’s economic landscape to make connections and to meet other women that can assist in helping to grow their individual leadership roles,” according to a news release.

Its members include lawyers, accountants, construction companies, professional engineers, educators, housing advocates, banking, nonprofit executives, women-owned businesses and government leaders.

Recently, the group held a discussion featuring a panel of Long Island’s female college presidents on the state of education in the region. On Thursday, it is holding a cocktail reception at Blackstone Steakhouse to kick-off the celebration of its 40 years, and to look toward the future. And in April, it is holding a discussion on waste management and its impact to Long Island. Other discussions include cryptocurrency and other issues that can affect the way leaders conduct business.

“WEDLI offers today what was consistent with our organization model at inception and for the last 40 years as providing a forum for education and information sharing with networking opportunities for women who are leaders and decision makers in their industry,” said Martha Stansbury, WEDLI’s president. “Who knew the current forum of education would lead to discussions of bitcoin and cybersecurity around our boardrooms?”