Rockland Business Association President Al Samuels Means Business

Al Samuels has worn many hats in his lifetime. In addition to the current hat that Al wears as President of the Rockland Business Association, he has been a veteran, a rodeo cowboy, business owner and of course a husband, father and grandfather. One thing he is not is complacent in his role as President of the RBA where he advocates for Rockland’s businesses. Al is the quintessential advocate for business retention, growth and expansion within Rockland County.  He is also concerned about the future, as Rockland nears a tipping point in affordability, as those in attendance learned at his recent annual state of the business community address last month.

Prior to becoming the head of the RBA, Al actually had retired. He was a member of the RBA since 1994 and a business owner. He eventually had a short lived retirement and moved out of Rockland. “I actually retired in 1998 and moved up to Tannersville, New York—it lasted five months” Samuels told me with a chuckle recently. He continued, “My predecessor asked me if I could give him two days a week in March of 1998 I started giving two days a week. I ended up going full time long distance commuting from Tannersville. I was at the time head of the Government Affairs Committee and eventually became President and CEO a little over ten years ago. Eventually we moved back to Rockland.”  

The RBA is a unique organization that advocates for businesses. According to Samuels,

“The RBA is a public policy and legislative advocacy organization that also provides the basic programs and services of a chamber of commerce, networking, education for business owners that you find typically find in a county Chamber of Commerce. This is what sets us apart as a business association. I am proud to say that we recently received the Business Council of New York Platinum Award as the ‘Small Business Chamber of Commerce Council Best Small Business Chamber Award.’ It shows that people in the state business organizations recognize that we know what we are doing and do it well.”

Among the services that the RBA offers include

• Monthly networking luncheons and marketing opportunities
• CEO Forum for owners and CEO’s of businesses
• The Green Council helping businesses find ways to save money by “Greening” operations
• The Women’s Council for women owned businesses and to highlight the role of women in business leadership
• Government Affairs/Economic Development to advocate and for business at all levels of government. This last area was the focus of much of Samuels annual address as RBA

President as Government at all levels came under fire.

According to Samuels,

“Issues at the Federal level and State level directly impact on the local level. A lot has to be done at the higher levels of government to allow businesses to survive. The first two years of the Obama administration were not business friendly. The mid-term elections hopefully will change this and the Presidents’ focus. He is addressing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce today that in itself is a step as this was an adversarial relationship but he appears to be moving to mend fences. I do believe that the reality of politics is that he has to move to the center. We need to take advantage of the next two years and the opportunities that the Obama administration may really want to work with the business community.”

The RBA has a role to play watching government so that regulations do not swamp businesses. According to Samuels,

“Groups like ours need to be watchdogs. We need to be careful to work with our federal legislators to watch carefully so they do not institute things that will be detrimental to the business community via the Labor Department and National Labor Relations Board. Often times, regulations that the ordinary business owner is unaware, come through government agencies like the ones I mentioned and this hurts business. We and groups like ours are watching and speaking out—we need to protect in that manner.”

According to Samuels, the election of Governor Cuomo bodes well for business and all New Yorkers

“At the State level I personally have a great deal of confidence in Andrew Cuomo he has been courageous in addressing issues. The reality of his budget is that his ‘words’ have become his ‘deeds.’ We know he has proposed cuts but it has to be done—the unreasonable gains of unions over the years are crippling New York State; Medicaid is crippling New York State. We give more than any other state we must accept that there are limits to our largess and not exceed them.”

Samuels continued,  

“The special interests have cost us in New York State; it is a staggering amount. The state has lost $38 billion in personal net wealth from 2000-2008—business and people have fled to places with services that cost less and allows business to thrive. We are literally crippling ourselves by the cost of government and services, it is not allowing people to stay. I am very concerned because if we do not act quickly, the opportunity will be lost and New York, Rockland County and all of us will be part of the moment in time when we lost our place as the Empire State.  We are at or near a tipping point the precipice from which we may never return if we don’t act.”

A key partner with the RBA in advocating and promoting business is the Rockland Economic Development Corporation headed by Ron Hicks. Samuels has great admiration for Ron Hicks and his staff who assist businesses through various programs to come to Rockland. He offered “Ron is a real partner, ally and friend to not only me but the entire business community.”

Samuels is also optimistic that New York State will offer more reforms especially concerning the Excelsior Program to create jobs and true ethics reform. He is hopeful that Cuomo will push for a Constitutional Convention to seek additional reforms. He offered, “In the not too distant past, we have had scandal at all levels of New York State Government—we need true ethics reform to prevent this and I know that Andrew Cuomo is committed to that effort.”

One area that Samuels cites that needs special attention concerns government instituting unfunded mandates that he says only hurt businesses. New York State leads the way in unfunded mandates according to Samuels and the RBA is seeking reform. He offered,

“We are pressing to have unfunded mandates from health care enacted to reduce premiums that must be provided but not used by all but by requested by special interests groups. For example we have more unfunded mandates for fertility and reproductive rights than anywhere else in the nation. Right now everyone pays for these services but not everyone needs them. History tells us that every time an unfunded mandate is passed, 3 percent of businesses drop from the pool of insured—the exact opposite is happening than what was intended. When these mandates are passed, the elected officials think more people will be covered—the exact opposite is true; it becomes more unaffordable and companies and people drop.”  

One area that Samuels offered that Government can improve is speeding new projects through the approval process. He offered

“During the stimulus debate we heard much about ‘Shovel Ready Sites’ that were pre-permitted  with the ability to put the shovel in the ground immediately. To the best of my knowledge we still don’t have a shovel ready site in Rockland. However, Clarkstown has recognized this and has really taken efforts to shorten the amount of time it takes to get approvals. Clarkstown realizes that it cannot be years—it can’t. Otherwise people can go elsewhere. A border county like Rockland cannot delay businesses any longer—to be competitive to have economic development, we need quick approvals and incentives up front.”

Recently, I asked my Town Council Colleague Frank Borelli about Al Samuels and he replied,

“I do not always agree with Al but I have a great deal of respect for him. I understand as a small business owner that he is the best advocate for business that we have in the County. Al and the RBA understand the needs of business owners and have helped the business community throughout Rockland in countless ways.”

In other words, I guess you could say that Al Samuels means business.

To learn more about the Rockland Business Association including marketing opportunities for business and membership contact 735-2100 or visit www.rocklandbusiness.org.