Minding our own business: Shelter Island Reporter Forum looks at Island small businesses
Shelter Island, once a place where the main livelihoods for residents were fishing and farming, evolved over the years to small businesses and some services, along with construction and maintenance companies, and the shops located mainly in the Heights, along Bridge Street and in the Center.
Over the past 20 years or so, the hospitality and real estate industries have become an important driver of the Island’s economy, with a renewed interest in the purchase of second homes, and new restaurants and inns coming on the scene and revered stalwarts such as The Chequit and Rams Head Inn seeing sparkling makeovers and updates.
The Reporter, in its latest Community Forum coming up Thursday, Feb. 13 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Shelter Island Presbyterian Church’s Fellowship Hall, invites the public to participate, along with a panel of experts, to discuss “The Future of Small Businesses on Shelter Island.”
There are many success stories, but also some troubling signs. Ride along Route 114 heading south from North Ferry, and while the initial impression is positive as you head up past Piccozzi’s gas station and continue south, it’s not long before you encounter views that former supervisors Gary Gerth and Jim Dougherty characterized as less than appealing.
Mr. Dougherty, when he was in office a decade ago, said the main thoroughfare of the Island had become “an eyesore,” and he may not have been far from wrong.
There are certainly lovely stretches along Route 114, particularly to the south, but for those unfamiliar with the Island’s overall beauty, the first impression after they leave Shelter Island Heights could be that this is a town in decline.
The deterioration comes not from residences along the way, but commercial areas with several vacant stores and crumbling structures — some there for years.
The Reporter Forum will focus on different areas and what can be done to improve conditions here, but also will look at the difficulties of owning and managing a small business and what government and the community can do to aid this essential sector of the Island.
It’s a risk to own a small business anywhere, not just here. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics has found that even though 8 of 10 small businesses make it through their first year, it becomes more difficult as the years go by, with about 50% going under after five years, and 65% are gone after 10 years in business.
The Reporter Forum will look at the Island’s situation, and what the small businesses here offer Islanders, not just in goods and services, but as resources for volunteers and charitable contributions to the school’s and community’s events that all Islanders cherish and rely on, as well as contributing to social programs and providing help for the neediest among us.
Moderated by the Reporter’s Charity Robey, the panel will include Town Supervisor Amber Brach-Williams, Chamber of Commerce President Linda Eklund, and business owners Darryn Weinstein, Marika Kaasik, and John Needham. All are invited for a lively and informative discussion on Thursday, Feb. 13 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Shelter Island Presbyterian Church’s Fellowship Hall. There is no fee to attend.
