NEWSDAY: Q&A Matt Cohen on leading the Long Island Association into its second century

Q&A: Matt Cohen on leading the Long Island Association into its second century

Matt Cohen, president and CEO of the Long Island Association, speaks at an association event. The group will mark its 100th anniversary in 2026 amid growing affordability and workforce pressures for Long Island businesses. Credit: Johnny Milano

By Victor Ocasiovictor.ocasio@newsday.com@Victor_OcasioUpdated January 5, 2026 7:13 pm

The Long Island Association, one of the region's oldest and best-known business advocacy groups, will  celebrate its 100th year in operation throughout 2026.

Since its founding in 1926, the LIA — formerly the Long Island Chamber of Commerce — has aimed to serve as a voice for Long Island’s business community. 

As the association approaches its centennial, the region’s business landscape is undergoing rapid change — from rising costs and hiring challenges to a growing focus on affordability, diversity and emerging industries.
LIA president and CEO Matt Cohen, who took the reins in 2021, spoke with Newsday about how the Melville-based nonprofit has evolved from an organization primarily focused on wooing businesses from neighboring New York City and how it is positioning itself for the next generation of growth on Long Island. 
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

What are your thoughts on the organization reaching its centennial?
It is remarkable that the LIA is going to be celebrating its 100th year in existence. It’s a tribute to and a reflection of all of the men and women who have served on the LIA board over the last 100 years. I can say that without hyperbole because they all took the mission of the LIA as seriously as we do — that is, to help foster a climate on Long Island that allows business to thrive and gives our residents the opportunity to afford to be able to live here.

How has the organization evolved since its inception?
It has become an organization that has a much stronger diversity of opinion and much broader perspective and now represents a larger number of industries.

Why has the LIA been more focused on minority business owners in recent years?
Reaching out to minority business populations is a reflection of Long Island’s population trends. Long Island has become much more diverse, and our business community does and should reflect that. I think it’s the right thing to do, but it’s also an economic imperative.

We want to expand on that and reach out to all communities. We’re all in this together. We all live here, and we all want to stay living here. We all want our children to be able to stay on Long Island and live here if they want to.

What are the biggest challenges to Long Island’s business community in 2026?
Long Island is a tremendous place. It’s also a very high-cost area, and it’s expensive not just to live here but to do business here. We’re still dealing with high inflationary pressure and higher interest rates.
One of the major things that is different now than it was in 1926 is that for the business community on Long Island, it is more challenging to hire talent. One of those main reasons is because employees need to be able to afford to live where they work. Companies need to be able to find employees that can afford to live there.

Why has the LIA become more focused on affordability?
With Long Island, you have a high-cost region. If we are being real, it’s always going to be a high-cost region. So, the key for the LIA and all the other stakeholders is to cultivate and nurture an economic system here where people can get jobs that are high-paying, that are highly sought after, that allow them to live in a place like this. We have seen, especially since the pandemic, prices have just skyrocketed. Housing and childcare, particularly.

People want to be able to go to work but also be able to afford childcare. If they can’t, that means they’re not going to work in a lot of cases. That’s why childcare has become so important. When employees are priced out, they don’t want to work here or live here.

What are your hopes for the organization going forward?
We’re at a time when the country is focused on the next wave of emerging industries, whether it be AI, life sciences and pharmaceuticals or clean energy. One of my top priorities is trying to make the LIA a more forward looking and more innovative organization and helping put Long Island at the forefront of those emerging industries.

It's good for our businesses and economy if we're still advocating for investments in infrastructure. It's still important that we're pushing for more reliable, affordable energy because Long Island has high energy costs.