About the LIA

About the LIA

The Long Island Association (LIA) is the largest business organization in New York, and the leading organization in the Long Island region. Founded in 1926, the LIA’s membership now comprises over 5,000 businesses, labor unions, colleges, universities, not-for-profits, government agencies, and civic groups, which employ two-thirds of Long Island’s workforce.

The LIA’s mission is to lead the region’s development, bringing together disparate factions within the community to forge regional solutions to Long Island’s problems. The LIA also acts as an umbrella business organization, providing products and services designed to assist the growth of businesses large and small. The association is lead by a 60-person board of directors, which includes the chief executives of many of the Island’s principal businesses, universities, and other organizations.

Over the years, the LIA has spawned separate organizations to focus full-time attention on specific issues, including the Long Island Better Business Bureau; the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau; the Long Island Housing Partnership, which builds affordable housing; the LIA Health Alliance, which provides health insurance options for small businesses; the Long Island Works Coalition, which provides collaboration with the educational community for workforce development; LISTnet, which focuses on the information technology industry; and the Millennium Centers for Convergent Technologies, which is developing a high technology research program.

The LIA is the organization looked to both on and off the Island to articulate Long Island’s needs and its future direction. It works closely with organizations throughout the state and the country to positively influence public policy and to ensure a prosperous future for the region.

Members of the LIA enjoy a wide array of benefits, from participation on active committees addressing the major issues facing the region; to the regional general interest magazine, Long Island, which is co-published by the LIA; to networking events large and small; to major events that attract former Presidents of the United States, as well as other nationally-known and respected speakers; to a variety of unique publications that provide special insight into Long Island’s economy.