Matthew Cohen, president of the Long Island Association;
Catherine Simenti has learned a thing or two during her five years as owner of Baked by the Ocean, a pastry shop in Long Beach.
“They don’t teach you this in school, but equipment breaks,” said Simenti, who started cooking and baking with her parents at age 3. Ovens, for example, need to be replaced, which costs money.
Corey Mahoney also learned a lot during his 10 years as a bartender. “I needed to do more than just serve drinks,” he said. Mahoney is the owner of Urban Fields Agriculture in Patchogue, where he hopes to expand his company that grows leafy greens and microgreens.
Simenti and Mahoney are among 50 Long Island business owners to receive local grants of $5,000 each from Optimum Business and the LIA Foundation, the charitable arm of the Long Island Association, the region’s largest business and civic organization. Combined, the LIA Foundation and Optimum Business have provided $250,000 in grants to small businesses.
“Supporting small businesses through grants is more than just financial assistance,” Matt Cohen, president and CEO of the Long Island Association, said in a statement. “It’s an investment in the backbone of our economy. We’re looking to nurture the potential of small businesses, help them realize their dreams and ultimately create lasting, positive change in Long Island’s business community.”
Baked by the Ocean has become a must-visit spot for surfers and swimmers in the seaside town. Simenti opened it six years ago after working on the team that opened Thomas Keller’s Per Se. The New York TimesShe was also the chief pastry chef at Craft Steak in New York, later moving to California to take on the same position at Craft Los Angeles.
But she learned she needed money to replace the equipment, and Ms. Simenti said she would be able to use the grant money to buy items such as an oven.
“I’m reinvesting that money back into the business,” she said. press.
Mahoney also plans to expand. “We’re going to quadruple the size,” he said. pressHe decided he needed a career change from the hospitality industry and launched his business in 2019.
“The market was there,” he said of growing vegetables.
The awards, held in June at Optimum Offices in Bethpage, included a bookstore, a pizza place, a cafe, a restaurant, a dance studio, a printing shop, social service and mental health organizations, a sporting goods store, a distillery and a wine shop.
Sir Shave Barber Parlour in Wyandanch received $5,000 to add more chairs and help pay interns who want to become barbers, owner Keith Banks said. press.
Banks, a bank employee, was encouraged to open a shop by people with Wyandanch Rising, a program aimed at improving the area’s downtown. He was approached about the idea seven years ago, opened his shop in the new Wyandanch Village Plaza, and hasn’t looked back since. His shop, with its plush black leather barber chairs and giant 4K TV screens streaming ESPN and CNBC, describes itself as “made for men.”
The Bernzweig family owns A&S Sports in Westbury and received the award for modernizing the brick-and-mortar store, family members said. pressThe company plans to purchase new glass display cases and install new LED signs outside, which it hopes will bring more foot traffic. Additionally, the money will also be used to foster partnerships with local Little League teams and fire departments, the family said.
Lighthouse Mental Health Counseling Services in Valley Stream plans to use the money to expand its after-school programs, owner Linda Simon Taylor said. pressThe program runs in the fall and spring, and kids ages 9 to 14 come for six weeks for one hour of homework help and one hour of counseling.
Simon Taylor said the department also hoped to use some of the funding to pay interns’ salaries.
The grant was made possible in partnership with the Long Island Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce.
