Economic Evolution: More Year-Round Businesses Making East End Home

The East End tradition of Tumbleweed Tuesday — the day after Labor Day weekend when, traditionally, visitors fled the region — appears largely a thing of the past as more residents remain year-round.

To accommodate the change, the East End economy, while still seasonal, is also becoming more year-round. More entrepreneurs are opening businesses, while tourism extends beyond the peak tourism seasons.

“Now we’re seeing more year-round residents. I think that has helped support businesses,” Juan Micieli-Martinez, president of the Board of Directors of the Long Island Farm Bureau, says. “I think it was a trend pre-COVID, but COVID put an uptick on that as people realized they could work remotely. Their office can be their beautiful home on the East End.”

To help with the transition, the Long Island Association (LIA) recently launched its East End Business Support Program, forming an East End committee to extend services to businesses across the Twin Forks.

“I don’t expect an employer in Southold to go to western Nassau County to go to an event of ours,” LIA President Matthew Cohen said at the April 20 launch attended by several hundred at the Atlantis Banquets and Events in Riverhead. “We have to go to them.”

The LIA’s decision is the latest sign that the region is attracting businesses and residents. These range from agriculture to aquaculture, waterfronts to wineries and downtowns displaying diversity in industry and ethnicity.

“You’ve seen more businesses coming out here,” Micieli-Martinez says. “You’re seeing things more year-round, which is good. We used to be more seasonal on the East End.”

He adds that “Long Island, and in particular the East End, continues to evolve.”

Meanwhile, Connie Lassandro, president of the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce, calls Riverhead not only a destination for visitors, but a place “to conduct business.”

“These businesses are the very backbone of our downtown and the surrounding towns,” Lossandro says.

While growth brings growing pains from traffic to labor and affordable housing shortages, she sees the East End economy as transforming.

“We’re doing something right out here,” she says. “You have to have vision, tenacity and change, because change is good.”

East End Economy

EAST END-TRAPRENEURS

Entrepreneurs are key components in any economy, including on the East End. More businesses are popping up in downtowns and around the region in addition to those based in homes.

“We’ve got a lot of businesses opening,” Lassandro says.

Hispanic-owned businesses, she says, are a key component as entrepreneurs open to serve growing demand. Riverhead’s downtown Business Improvement District is helping businesses open and expand.

Seasonal employers are part of this growth — Splish Splash, Lassandro says, is looking to hire 800. She says 55 people answered another recent “help wanted” advertisement. Riverhead is working on workforce development.

“Our market for labor is difficult,” Lassandro says, “but it’s out there.”

TOURISM TIME

Long Island’s tourism industry has been rebounding, including on the East End. Long Island’s leisure and hospitality sector added “a record high” 4,500 jobs in March to reach 123,800, compared to an average 2,700 gain, according to Shital Patel, an economist with the New York State Department of Labor.

The sector added 6,800 jobs, growing 5.8% in March from a year ago, pushing past thresholds before the pandemic. “Overall employment in the sector is at a record high for the month at 4,700 or 3.9% above pre-pandemic levels (March 2019),” Patel says.

“The East End is obviously a critical component of the tourist industry,” Discover Long Island President Kristen Reynolds says.

COMPETITION COMING

Competition has been increasing on the East End, including for tourism. Online services such as Airbnb are injecting new energy, competition and concerns.

“We have a lot more competition. The North Fork has grown up,” says Wilfred Johnson, innkeeper at Arbor View House, a four-room bed and breakfast that opened in 1999 in East Marion. “We have more hotels. We compete with Airbnb, Bedandbreakfast.com, Expedia, Travelocity, Hotels.com.”

Sites like Airbnb provide choices to visitors and price pressure on hotels, making them a mixed bag for the industry.

“It serves a need. We have low inventory of hotels,” Reynolds says. “For every hundred dollars somebody spends at a hotel, the average is $212 in the community. That all fills a need.”

Still, Reynolds says, it’s important that those renting to tourists follow the same rules as others in the industry. “Suffolk County has been really active as of late to make sure there’s a level playing field, that they’re also collecting the hotel-motel tax,” Reynolds says.

ONLINE UPS AND DOWNS

Wilfred Joseph books through his own website at arborviewhouse.com, as well as Discover Long Island, the Long Island Wine Council and local websites for Greenport and elsewhere. And he uses online travel agencies (OTAs) that drive traffic, such as Expedia and Booking.com.

Those sites typically charge commissions of 18% or more to be more prominently displayed.

“There’s a trade-off between getting those guests and getting somebody looking for a bed and breakfast,” Joseph says.

Still, keeping booked is a big part of the business. And sites help fill rooms, particularly during down times. “I’m booked mostly in the summer and in the slow season on weekends,” Joseph says. “People come out all year long, celebrating birthdays and anniversaries.”

WORKERS WANTED

If the tourism industry is strong, companies say they’re having trouble finding enough workers. Seasoned Hospitality, which has over 500 employees, is just one example.

“We’re going to be short probably 10% of our workforce this year, so far, as it looks,” says Tora Matsuoka, a partner at Seasoned Hospitality, which owns and manages restaurants and manages hotels on the North and South Forks. “This is a significant issue for us.”

Matsuoka says, “There has been a consistent decline in the labor pool on the East End over the past 10 years.

“We are still having serious issues filling vacant job spots,” he adds. “Not just finding people to fill jobs, but housing for them.” 

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

In order to serve residents and visitors, the region needs workers, who need places to live as affordable or workforce housing becomes a key issue.

“It’s a challenge nationwide,” Reynolds says. “I talk to colleagues nationwide. It’s something everyone’s facing right now. We’re not unique.”

Lassandro says Riverhead is seeking to attract and support these projects. The Riverview Lofts, she says, is designed to offer some workforce housing, although $2,500 for a two-bedroom is hardly rock bottom.

“Housing is your foundation. If you don’t have a strong foundation, no matter what you do, you won’t succeed,” she says. “It’s workforce housing. That’s the population we’re trying to target.”

Micieli-Martinez, a Riverhead resident, believes “Riverhead has done a great job leading the way with affordable housing on the East End.” But he doesn’t see much elsewhere.

“I think most of the affordable housing for the East End has fallen on the shoulders of Riverhead,” he says. “It’d be great to see other East End towns get to the point where they match what we’ve done in Riverhead.”

TRAFFIC TIME

Success brings strength as well as challenges. More people means more consumers and more vehicles.

“Traffic is a big problem on the East End in general. Compression, people that come in the weekends,” Reynolds says. “Quality of life for our residents is paramount.”

Groups such as the North Fork Traffic Alliance look at ways to help manage traffic, while they and Discover Long Island looks at data to track visitors’ patterns. Numbers of tourists rise in areas such as Greenport and the North Fork during peak season.

“It’s great for visitors,” Reynolds adds. “But it’s unbearable for residents.”

The trade parade occurs as workers head for the East End, but that’s only one small component. More people are spending more time, even full time, on the East End. And you can see the change on the roads. Kevin Stuessi, mayor of the Village of Greenport, says traffic has worsened.

“On the East End, we’re one small village of just a square mile,” Stuessi says. “Traffic has become unbearable.”