New Hyde Park Chamber Installs Officers, Directors

The held its annual at the elegant Thursday evening.

Businessmen — and women — listened intently as chamber members gave their speeches and were sworn in by County Executive Edward Mangano and County Legislator Richard Nicolello.

First Nicolello swore in the seven — some new and some re-elected — chamber directors, which included Angela Powers, Donna Pagano, Rich DeMartino, Judy Torree, Tom Schrafel, Leslie Hall and Jerry Baldassaro.  

Mangano swore in officers Mark Laytin as president, Jeannette Frisina as first vice president, Ralph Ventura as second vice president, Jerry Baldassaro as secretary third vice president and Chris Vulpis as treasurer.

“This is a great place to be and even if I never helped my business by joining the chamber, this is a place where you really get to know the best of the best and people who really support you in whatever you do,” said former chamber president Stewart Small.

Small, a financial services representative for Metlife Insurance, passed the gavel onto new chamber president Mark Laytin, who served as first vice president for the past two years.

“I feel great about reaching this 50^th year and starting the next 50 years of this chamber,” Small said. “I had a partner over the past couple of years — Mark Laytin — and Mark is incredible in just having a vision and discussing things and a big part of what Mark has done is the little things.”

Small thanked Laytin and said he is taking over at a great time in order to move the chamber along to the next steps over the next 50 years.

“You live a life and if you realize one day you’ve gotten a lot out of it, it’s time to give something back,” Laytin said of why he first joined the chamber. “You can give back to your church or synagogue, you can give back to a charity, or you can give back to your community, so I chose the community and no better way than the Greater New Hyde Park Chamber of Commerce.”

Laytin, a regional vice president for Utah-based Invisus, said the chamber is like a bank account — the more you do the more you get out of it; if you don’t make a deposit you can’t make a withdrawal.  

“The chamber is about serving leadership, giving to others before you give to yourself because if you take care of enough other people, they will take care of you,” Laytin said. “Leadership is also about leaders replacing themselves…so we continue to set the foundation, reach out and marketing, grow the website and make special events that continue to make the New Hyde Park Chamber possible, so that 50 years from now somebody will get invited back to a chamber that is still as vibrant as the one today.”