Farmingville, NY – The Long Island Economic Development Council (LIREDC) recently unveiled its strategic plan to compete for $40 million in state funding, and designated two Brookhaven projects out of 13 island-wide as transformative: the Ronkonkoma-MacArthur Transit Hub and Accelerate Long Island. The 13 transformative projects were announced by the Council at its last meeting on November 10, 2011. Transformative projects promise the highest return on investment, scored highly on criteria developed by the LIREDC, address regional objectives, and result in job creation.

The LIREDC has recommended $500,000 in state funding to match a venture capital investment of $500,000 for Accelerate Long Island and $4 million for sewage treatment plant design for the Ronkonkoma- MacArthur Transit Hub.

Supervisor Mark Lesko said, “I am proud that the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council recognizes what we are doing in Brookhaven to jumpstart our economy. If the Long Island Council is successful in receiving funding for its transformative projects, our vision for the Ronkonkoma Hub and the creation of high-tech start-ups will become a reality, resulting in thousands of new jobs.”

Accelerate Long Island was announced by Supervisor Lesko in January 2011, and has since been progressing as an island-wide initiative under the auspices of the Long Island Association. This not-for-profit partnership includes Brookhaven National Lab, Cold Spring Harbor Lab, Hofstra University, the Feinstein Institute for Biomedical Research, Stony Brook University, CA Technologies, the Long Island Association, and Canrock Ventures LLC. Accelerate Long Island will assist in the creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem where the potential of research at these institutions is harnessed by entrepreneurs who start companies and create jobs on Long Island. It will increase commercialization of research, promote entrepreneurship, and foster business creation and retention on Long Island.

The LIREDC called the Ronkonkoma-MacArthur Transit Hub a “a rare collaboration between two large towns, Brookhaven and Islip… that will allow construction of a new transit-oriented, live-work-play destination in a blighted area - and which will strengthen ties between Suffolk’s busiest rail station and a regional airport, LI MacArthur.” The Town of Brookhaven is partnering with the Town of Islip to redevelop blight and connect new housing, entertainment opportunities, and high-tech businesses with the Ronkonkoma Train Station and Long Island MacArthur Airport (LIMA). Key to this new TOD is a regional sewage treatment plant, which will make the redevelopment possible, potentially attract a new major carrier to LIMA, and spur the growth of high-tech companies. The Town of Brookhaven has been working on the redevelopment of the Ronkonkoma Hub with the community since 2007 and is in the process of selecting a Master Developer. The Ronkonkoma-MacArthur Transit Hub is projected to create 2,000 construction jobs, 4,000 permanent jobs, and 7,000 indirect jobs.

In addition to Accelerate Long Island and the Ronkonkoma Hub, several other projects located in the Town of Brookhaven were designated as transformative by the Council. These include the Smarter Electric Grid 3, a Stony Brook University-Brookhaven National Lab collaboration to establish Long Island as a national center for energy research, development, and manufacturing, the expansion of Amneal Pharmaceuticals in Yaphank, of one of Long Island’s largest pharma firms, and funding for EngINE, a public-private partnership between Hofstra and Stony Brook Universities to boost the number of engineering graduates.

“These transformative projects certainly pave the way for Brookhaven becoming a center of high-tech innovation,” commented Supervisor Lesko.

The LIREC’s strategic plan can be found at http://nyworks.ny.gov/content/long-island. To learn more about the Ronkonkoma Hub and Brookhaven’s involvement in Accelerate Long Island, visit www.brookhaven.org.

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