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Photo credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa | Ben Youdim, owner of Beltrami Ltd. a men's clothing store. (January 2010)

Long Island's private sector had 5,400 more jobs in June than it did the same month a year ago, marking the third month in a row that the local economy has added jobs. But the growth overall continues to be weak and led by sectors with lower-paying jobs.

In the May period the economy added 700 jobs, revised up from the previously reported 500, according to New York State Labor Department data released yesterday. And in the April period it added 5,000 jobs. June's 6.7 unemployment rate was unchanged from May, but remains considerably above the 4.6 percent of June 2008, the start of the recession on Long Island.

"It isn't as dynamic a growth as we would like now," said Gary Huth, the department's principal economist for Long Island. "But each month is a further confirmation that we are moving further ahead."

The trade, transportation and utilities sector, which includes retail, led job increases in the June period - expanding by 6,200 jobs from a year ago. The retail sector, which was hit hard during the recession, drove most of the new jobs in the category. But its continued strength is uncertain.

"Long Island has done very well in terms of consumer spending in the first half of this year, as indicated by trends in sales tax revenue accruing to Nassau and Suffolk counties," said Pearl Kamer, chief economist for the Long Island Association. But she added, "The pace of job growth remains extremely modest on Long Island, and unless there is faster job and income growth here, it may be difficult to sustain the recent pace of consumer spending."

Some local retailers reported increased business and hiring.

Debbie Blakla, the manager of Libutti Diamond Jewelers in Huntington, estimates that the store's sales were up 30 percent in the first six months of the year compared with last year, and the store has added another employee, bringing the staff to 10. She attributed the increased sales in part to the store's focus on value-conscious customers. In fact, it now features a new, more moderate line of engagement rings.

"People are still looking to get engaged, but they want quality and value," she said.

At Beltrami men's clothing store, also in Huntington, owner Ben Youdim said that sales were ahead 20 percent in the first six months of this year compared with last year, and he has hired a part-time employee for sales who joins the tailor he already employed.

He attributes the increased sales partly to the appeal of his better-to-moderate clothing lines and to the fact that he allows people who can't come during regular store hours to make appointments.

While growth is welcome after the job market had contracted for close to two years, Kamer worried about the continuing rise in lower-wage jobs in sectors such as retail and health care and the continuing losses in the higher-wage professional and business-services category and in financial activities.

The state lost 8,500 jobs in the June period. But its unemployment rate inched down to 8.2 percent in June from 8.3 in May. State data, unlike local data, is seasonally adjusted.

Long Islander
April 15, 2010 By Danny Scrafel

Whoever said 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' obviously never met Ben Youdim.

After more than a quarte-century owning a menswear store in Grat Neck, he moved Beltrami to Huntington village last June, and he said he's been pleased with wha he's seen so far. Customers from Great Nek and the surrounding hamlets are making the tip to the village.

"Customers who have discovered me have become repeat cusomer, and I see that we're going to be good neighbors here," he said.

After graduating from college in 1978, Youdim was hired by Neiman Marcus. He went through their management training program and became an assistant buyer before he branched out on hs own.

Youdim opened his first store at 10 Bond Street in Great Neck in September 1980, and later expanded to 12 Bond Street a few years later. He then moved to 100 Little Neck Road before finding his way to 315 Main Street in Huntington last June.

"Once you pass Great Neck, there is really no town, per se, with a downtown to speak of other than Huntinginton," he said. "I like the fact that people do come to this town from all around the surrounding area... everybody I know said something about a favorite restarant they have here."

Most of what he sells at Beltrami is Italian-made or Italian clothing produced in Canda, where "after Italy, they make some of the finest clothing in the world," Youdim said.

Shopping at Beltrami is designed to be acomlete on-stop experience for men of all shapes and sizes. Along with the suits, sport coats and ties, Beltrami features selections of Jack of Spades-brand denims, casual pants and T-Shirts, sweaters and button-down shirts.

Greek-educated tailor Emmanuel Dritsas, who has worked with Youdim for 1 years, does on-site alterations, which are included with any purchase. Connections with several design houses allow the store to offercustom clothing available in less than four weeks.

Setting up for his spring collection, Youdim said natural colors and fibers are big this season, along with wrinkle-resistant clothing and high-twist dress pants. Flat front trousers are being favored over and forgiving pleated pants, he added.

"It all has to do with the way the garment fits. Men do work out, and they want to show their physique," he said. "They want to show they have time in the gym."

A new are of interest is asual, colorful shirts that one can wear untucked, Youdim said. Detailing in the collars, sleeves and underneath the bottom of the shirt provide a stylish flair, and many of the colors in whichn there shirts are offered are vibrant nes that many probably have not have worn in a while. That diversity of choice is what Belrtami is all about.

"We are all about having everything for  man, from T-shirts to tuxedos and everything in between," Youdim said. "Evening wear, tuxedos, tuxedo accessories, shoes T-shirts, underwear, socks... a man can comehere and get everything he needs for A to Z."

Newsday
February 14, 2010 By ANDREW SMITH

Photo credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa | Ben Youdim, owner of Beltrami Ltd. a men's clothing store. (January 2010)

At a time when credit was hardest to find, Long Island's small and mid-size banks bucked the trend and lent more money while lending nationwide shrank, a Newsday analysis shows.

Through the first nine months of 2009, the period that most experts believe was the worst of the recession, banks across the country made $227 billion less in commercial loans than in the same period in 2008, a decline of 15.1 percent, according to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

But banks based on Long Island performed quite differently. Commercial and industrial loans, the source of many small- business loans, were up $71.9 million, or almost 6 percent.

Overall lending, including consumer loans, showed a similar disparity. Nationally, it declined by $639 billion, or 8.2 percent, while on Long Island it was up by $2.4 billion, a 5.1-percent increase.

Local bankers say their performance largely reflects the region's economy - although some worry it could still sag further - and their own practice of avoiding speculative lending in favor of focusing on existing businesses.

"It's not sexy," said Stuart Lubow, chairman, president and chief executive of Great Neck-based Community National Bank. "It's not exciting, but it's nuts-and-bolts businesses."

As the economy tries to rouse itself, the availability of credit to businesses is important. It's what allows some businesses to expand, whether it's by hiring more people, adding more space or buying more stock. Many businesses can't grow if they can't borrow.

And it's important to banks, too. Business lending makes up about a quarter of local banks' business, and that percentage is even higher nationally.

Some businesses can't borrow simply because banks are less willing to make loans to marginal customers - and because regulators are applying pressure to keep it that way.

"In commercial lending, we expect banks to provide documented analysis of repayment capacity and collateral support, in addition to the borrower's ability to make timely payments," FDIC chairwoman Sheila Bair said in a speech last month. "We do not want banks to compromise pricing, covenants or other terms to meet loan production goals."

In the midst of that atmosphere, banks also are dealing with prior bad loans and setting aside more money to protect against future losses. Every dollar they set aside for that is a dollar they can't lend.

"They had to pull back on lending," said Douglas Shaw, senior vice president of Suffolk County National Bank in Riverhead. "You need to back up your operation with a certain amount of capital."

Others agreed.

"Certainly, that's going to have an effect on our underwriting standards," Bank of America spokesman T.J. Crawford said of rising bad loans. "We've seen a deterioration in small businesses' ability to pay us back."

Still, he noted that lending by Bank of America, based in Charlotte, N.C., and the bank with the most assets in the nation, is up overall, and the bank remains committed to lending to small businesses that qualify.

Fewer bad loans in past
On Long Island, local banks didn't have to reduce their lending, in part because they made fewer bad and speculative loans than banks in other parts of the country. And a half dozen newer banks were fresh sources of credit. "We weren't involved in the bubble economy," Lubow said.

Some regional banks have reduced construction and land development loans. That's partially because there isn't much construction taking place in a severe recession, but some bankers say it's a risky type of loan to make.

Construction is "very sensitive to economic cycles," said Michael Vittorio, president and chief executive of First National Bank of Long Island, based in Glen Head. If they're not solid projects, they're vulnerable to cash-flow problems, he said. Banks elsewhere got into trouble making speculative loans to developers who did not have buyers or tenants in place.

Another factor that enables regional banks to lend is that they have more creditworthy customers, bankers say.

"We make loans because our customers still qualify," said Douglas Manditch, chairman and chief executive of Empire National Bank, based in Hauppauge. The availability of credit from Long Island banks says more about the market than the banks serving it, he said.

"It's not any different here than Wisconsin or Nebraska or North Dakota," Manditch said. "All banks want to make loans."

Easier to lend on Long Island
Not only is the market different here, so far the economy has been, too - and that's another factor. Even with unemployment up to 7 percent on Long Island, that's still much less than the national rate of 10 percent. That and the lack of speculative construction has resulted in a healthier market, making it easier to lend.

As a result, said Bethpage Federal Credit Union president and chief executive Kirk Kordeleski, "banks and credit unions that made it through this cycle will be able to continue to lend."

Some, however, caution that Long Island hasn't necessarily dodged the worst - it's just going to catch it later.

Vittorio noted that unemployment is creeping up. Manditch said the high rate of foreclosures on Long Island is "scary."

Things will worsen, and there will be fewer qualified borrowers, said Joseph Ficalora, chairman, president and chief executive of Westbury-based New York Community Bank, the largest locally based bank. "We are in a protracted period of depreciation," and small improvements in the economy don't change that, he said. "I'm going to suggest there is more risk on the horizon than reward in regards to real estate."

If that risk becomes reality, credit will shrink here, too, he and others said.

"A certain degree of humility in this business is always appropriate," Vittorio said. "We're not better than anyone else. Things can change rapidly."

Applying for a loan? Make friends with your banker
The one thing it seems small businesses need to get a loan from a bank -- more than a good credit history, even -- is an existing relationship with a banker. Not only do bankers say they're willing to lend to struggling businesses if they know enough about their ability to repay the loan, but a sampling of small businesses' experiences shows the same thing.

Three Long Island banking stories

Owner. Ben Youdim
Business. Men's clothing
Sought. $50,000
Youdim got a line of credit last year from Citibank to help him move his high-end men's clothing store, Beltrami Ltd., from Great Neck to Huntington. He said he's sure he wouldn't have gotten the credit if he hadn't had accounts with the bank for more than a decade.

Owner. John Mangione
Business. Marketing firm
Sought. $250,000
Mangione tried and failed with three banks to get a $250,000 line of credit to expand his Johnny Sax Marketing Solutions in Ronkonkoma, even though he had an income-producing building in Deer Park to offer as collateral.

"At the end of the day, you need to be hugging and kissing your banker," said Mangione, 51. "I understand that. I preach that in my own business."

Mangione said he raised the money he needed from private investors, but he's working on establishing a relationship with a bank.

Owner. Craig Mehlsack
Business. Limo service
Sought. To keep existing line of credit
Mehlsack for years has had a line of credit with HSBC, his regular bank, he said. Indeed, the bank offered it to him about six years ago and encouraged him to increase it a couple of years later, he said.

Mehlsack said he used it as an insurance policy for Top of the World Limo, the company he owns in Kings Park with his wife, Tammy. In recent years, he said he's used it to pay the company's insurance premiums.

"It's a personal loan to my business," he said.

But his ability to make that loan may become restricted, because he said HSBC has frozen his personal line of credit while it reviews whether he's qualified -- even though he said he's never missed a payment.

If banks are doing this to other business people, Mehlsack said it will hurt the ability of the economy to recover.