New Riverhead Chamber president wants business community to have ‘unified voice’ and work together

The new president of the Riverhead Chamber of Commerce is looking to bring a fresh vision to the organization, one with an emphasis on unifying Riverhead’s business community.

“We want to be there for everybody, not just our members,” chamber president Brian Curtin said in an interview this morning. “For those who haven’t joined yet, we want them to know that there is an organization there to help them.”

Curtin, who is the general manager of Great Rock Golf Club in Wading River, was elected president of the chamber at the beginning of the year. He wants to focus on providing new resources for the chamber’s members that will assist with common obstacles members frequently encounter managing their businesses.

“For new businesses, we want to help them navigate the town’s business application process,” Curtin said. “For established businesses, we want to be there when they need help with things like clerical business at Town Hall.”

One of the chamber’s goals under Curtin’s leadership, he said, will be establishing a better line of communication with town officials. “We want the town supervisor to be able to come to us and ask what the business community would think about an idea. It would be helpful to Town Hall, and it would be a great resource for us.”

He also hopes to work on strengthening the chamber’s relationship with the Riverhead Business Improvement District.

“We should all be working together,” Curtin said. “We all have the same goal, and that’s to help the businesses we have and bring new business to the town.”

One of the ways Curtin plans to do this is by marketing to consumers outside of Riverhead, particularly those off of Long Island. In past years, the chamber has acquired grants from the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau, which requires the grant money to be spent on marketing off the island, Curtin said.

“You’d be surprised by how many people across the Sound don’t know that Long Island has wineries or about many of the attractions we have to offer,” Curtin said. “There’s a whole market of people out there who don’t have the means to go thousands of miles away for a vacation. But with just a short drive to the ferry, they can get it all here in Riverhead.”

The chamber’s discount golf book program, which has been a major source of revenue for the chamber in the past, can be marketed to consumers in the Connecticut towns surrounding the ferries, Curtin said. The chamber is arranging meetings with the island’s ferry companies to promote the program.

He also would like to restructure the chamber’s networking events so that members have the opportunity to do more business with other members.

“We’d like to host some ‘speed dating’ style events, where we’ll match members up with each other depending on their business’s needs,” Curtin said. “You’ll give us a list of all the possible industries you’d like to work with, and we’ll match you up with members that fit the description.”

Curtin hopes matching up members will “get the conversation started” for those who might be more reserved or uncomfortable during large networking events, which usually require people to approach complete strangers without preamble.

Most of all, Curtin says he is excited about the direction the town is headed, and says he is looking forward to helping the business community reach its full potential through an organized and unified chamber of commerce.

“I see tremendous amounts of opportunity all around,” Curtin said. “We are very optimistic about the development on Main Street. We’re hoping its the first piece to the puzzle of really transforming downtown into the next Patchogue, where young people will want to come live and spend their money.

“I’m thrilled to be a part of that,” he said.