Business Owners Need Help After Stony Brook Incubator Oven Explosion

CALVERTON, NY — An oven explosion at the Stony Brook Incubator in Calverton last month left one woman injured — and scores of business owners struggling to survive.

The woman was injured when a walk-in oven exploded at the facility on August 10, police said.

The blast happened just before 9 a.m., Riverhead Town Police said, leaving the woman with a head cut and other potential injuries. She was escorted away from the building, as were others inside, police said.

Wading River Fire Department Ambulance evaluated the woman and took her to Stony Brook University Hospital for treatment. The Wading River Fire Department and emergency services personnel turned off the gas line to the building, police said.

Stony Brook University officials issued a statement this week: According to Lawrence M. Zacarese, vice president for enterprise risk management and chief security officer, Stony Brook University: "On August 10, there was an explosion in a gas walk-in oven at the Food Business Incubator at Calverton. One person was injured, they were treated at the hospital and released. There was significant damage to the building and for safety reasons, we shut down power and gas lines. We have a plan in place for a partial reopening of the building by the end of the month once safety checks and inspections have been completed. We have communicated this plan to all of the businesses, we remain in close contact with the companies and are consulting with both the Long Island Food Council and Suffolk County to identify alternative locations for their businesses. We take seriously the impact this temporary shutdown is having on the incubator community and repairs, upgrades and improvements are well underway to get the Incubator back up and running safely and as quickly as possible."

Since the explosion, small business owners have been faced with staggering losses, according to a GoFundMe page, "Explosion Shut Down 70 LI Small Businesses," created by Suffolk County Alliance Chambers, or SCAC.

"The facility that houses the operations for over 70 food producers was shut down," the page said.

Stony Brook University, as well as Suffolk County government and state officials and the SCAC are working together to get the site reopened and also find temporary locations for the producers to resume their operations, the page said.

More than 75 percent of the businesses operating out of the incubator are Women Minority Business Enterprises, or WMBE, the page said.

"The SBU incubator program has been in operation for over 12 years and has provided entrepreneurs an opportunity to build their business at this food co-op facility," the page said. "For many of these producers, their dreams, and even life savings, are invested in their businesses. There is an economic loss of over $600,000 to date. Also sustaining losses are the producers' families, employees, suppliers, local farmers, customers, and consumers — in addition to the loss of sales tax revenues," the page said.

The GoFundMe page was created to help the producers with escalating financial burdens while trying to stem economic losses, the SCAC said, adding that 100 percent of funds garnered will be given to the food producers to help with their operations and stop gap losses.

Those raising funds are also asking for assistance from the private and corporate sectors, as well as philanthropists. In addition to financial donations, food ingredients are also needed, organizers of the effort said.

For a full list of Incubator businesses, click here.

"We hope 'Strong Island' can again come together to help out with these needed donations," the SCAC said. "All donors are invited as our guests to the next SCAC breakfast featuring some of the incubator companies affected."

To register for that breakfast, click here.

To donate to the GoFundMe, click here.

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