At Hewlett-Woodmere Business Association, a fight to survive

The Hewlett-Woodmere Business Association claims to have 180 members, but only five attended its meeting at the Hewlett-Woodmere Public Library on March 9.
Officials from the organization, which was formed through a merger of the Hewlett Business Association and the Woodmere Merchants Association in 2011, said there are about 30 active members.
The membership number is based on the businesses and organizations the association bills for their annual dues, said David Friedman, the HWBA’s 1st vice president. “For 2015, we billed approximately 180 businesses and organizations,” he said. “Since the new billing just went out March 1, we won’t know how many paid members we have until April 1, when we total the checks and PayPal credit card payments. We’re getting new payments in daily.”
The HWBA’s goal is to bring together business owners and professionals in the two communities, and to encourage residents and their friends to purchase goods and services offered locally. The organization helps to sponsor the communities’ Memorial Day Parade, a seasonal lighting and banner decoration of participating businesses, and the Arts Below Sunrise Festival.
Lack of interest is one of the recruitment challenges the group faces, said Albert Risi, a branch manager for Citibank in Hewlett, a HWBA member since its formation and its current treasurer. “It was a rocky road after [Hurricane] Sandy,” he said. “Then those who joined were no longer interested. To be a member, it requires a lot of energy, time and effort invested.”
When Sandy made landfall in the Five Towns, Risi added, businesses were damaged or destroyed, and their attention turned to rebuilding, which took up any time they otherwise might have devoted to HWBA activities. A former member, who declined to be identified, said he lost confidence in the leadership of current President, Jamie Wysocki.John Roblin, the group’s 2nd vice president and the creative director of the Woodmere-based Web development company 8th Planet, said that the absence of local leadership also affects membership. “Without a local political representative — and by that I mean a mayor — the HWBA is the prime voice for local business interests,” he said. “The more members the HWBA has, the stronger we are, and the better chance we have of being heard when we ask town or county officials for consideration of our needs.”
The organization’s annual dues are $125. For that, members get their business names posted on the HWBA website. Roblin said that if the group could raise more money by attracting more members and perhaps through grants, it could do more for the communities it serves. “Cleanup, beautification and improvement projects we’d like to start need to be funded,” he said. “If we had a wide base of paid memberships, that could be used for a lot of local projects. There are some projects we’ve had to wait on because of funding, and we’re always looking for suggestions that we can act on.”