Guest Spot: 10 minutes to shape Southold’s future

If you run a business in Southold Town or the Village of Greenport, you know that our local economy is as fragile as it is beautiful. Whether you operate a generational farm, a seasonal restaurant, a marine trade business or a year-round retail shop, the hurdles to keeping your doors open are mounting.

At the Southold Town Economic Development Committee, we hear business owners’ frustrations daily. We hear about the near-impossibility of recruiting and retaining qualified employees. We know that the lack of affordable workforce housing, limited public transportation and intense competition for seasonal staff are squeezing your margins. We see how unreliable internet, wastewater system limits and a lack of scalable commercial space hinder your growth.

But to push for concrete legislative action and secure necessary funding, anecdotes are no longer enough. We need hard data.

That is why we are asking every business owner in Southold to take 10 minutes to complete the 2026 Annual Business Survey.

This isn’t just another bureaucratic form destined for a filing cabinet. It is a targeted, 14-question survey designed to pinpoint exactly where local government needs to intervene.

We need to know if the current town zoning code is preventing you from expanding. If you operate in a downtown hamlet, we need to know if a shared municipal parking system would allow you to increase your interior footprint.

As we look toward the future, we need your input on whether a dedicated Business and Entrepreneurship Center — offering grant navigation and workforce training — would genuinely support your business over the next three years.

The town cannot fix what it cannot quantify. If we want policies that actually support our peak seasons and protect our year-round economy, we need every sector represented in this data.

We know your time is your most valuable asset. That is why we made this survey fast, direct and accessible online at https://tinyurl.com/southoldbiz.

Business owners, please take 10 minutes today to tell us what you need. Your feedback will help guide our advocacy and inform decisions about the future of Southold’s business community.

Ms. Giuliano and Mr. Romanello are co-chairs of the Southold Town Economic Development Committee.