James T. Madore

Newsday economy and business reporterjames.madore@newsday.com

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Journalism is about serving the community.

For me that time-honored maxim was never truer than during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every story matters because it can potentially help someone to lead a better life.

Thousands of non-essential businesses were forced to shut down for months as governments tried to slow the coronavirus’ spread. Employees were laid off and entrepreneurs faced the real possibility that their dream of a thriving company would be extinguished.

In the pandemic’s early days, Newsday and the Long Island Association business group launched a webinar series to help small business owners.

Each week, hundreds tuned in as representatives from the U.S. Small Business Administration and New York State government, along with lawyers, accountants and college professors, shared their expertise and answered questions from the audience. I moderated the discussions, with the goal of getting as many questions answered as possible in 30 minutes.

I also wrote nearly every day about pandemic business-relief programs such as the federal Paycheck Protection Program loans.

Desperate entrepreneurs on Long Island and around the country called or sent email messages asking for help. I tried to respond to each one, often suggesting sources of reliable information that didn’t charge a fee.

A couple of years into the pandemic, a chamber of commerce president asked me why I cared whether an individual small business lived or died. The reason is that I started and ran a small newspaper in New Hampshire during my middle school years through freshman year in college.

The Stoddard Crier was a free weekly serving summer visitors to the Granite State’s southwestern corner. The first edition in 1979 was a single sheet printed on an old mimeograph machine owned by my father. There were three articles, all written by me, and one advertisement for the local marina.

The Stoddard Crier was largely a one-man operation with me producing the articles, selling ads and laying out the pages. My mother helped distribute the seven editions each summer. In 1984, the last year of publication, the Stoddard Crier had a weekly circulation of 4,000 and turned a modest profit.

My experiences with the little paper gave me a better understanding of the ups and downs of starting and running a business. They also taught me the importance of journalism to the community – that every story matters because it can potentially help someone to lead a better life.

James T. Madore's Work

  • Retirement home to relocate from Yonkers to Uniondale as part of a $75M expansion
    James T. MadoreJuly 31, 2025 5:00 am
  • Port Washington retirement community gets new name, more amenities
    James T. MadoreJuly 30, 2025 3:03 pm
  • Developer of proposed LI extended-stay hotel wins more tax breaks
    James T. MadoreJuly 25, 2025 5:00 am
  • Tomato prices expected to rise at LI restaurants, stores after trade deal ends
    James T. MadoreJuly 22, 2025 5:00 am
  • Gas prices fell in June — but inflation rose on food, rent and daycare costs in New York area and LI
    James T. MadoreJuly 16, 2025 5:00 am
  • Linda Yaccarino, who resigned as CEO of Elon Musk's X, made her mark on LI
    James T. MadoreJuly 10, 2025 5:00 am
  • Packaging company seeks tax breaks for second Hauppauge factory
    James T. MadoreJuly 8, 2025 5:00 am
  • $250M in IDA tax breaks generated nearly 46,000 Long Island jobs, state finds
    James T. MadoreJune 27, 2025 4:17 am
  • LI couple sues financial adviser with troubled past over $202G in lost retirement savings
    James T. MadoreJune 25, 2025 5:00 am
  • State adds $440M to loan program, 6,000 businesses could get help
    James T. MadoreJune 20, 2025 5:00 am
  • SBA to claw back up to $4.6B in PPP loans after independent review found problems
    James T. MadoreJune 18, 2025 5:00 am
  • Leonard Lauder, philanthropist who globalized family cosmetic business, dies at 92
    June 16, 2025 7:32 pm
  • State wants back $4.1M in COVID-19 grants to businesses, arts groups
    James T. MadoreJune 12, 2025 5:00 am
  • Consumer prices on LI, in NY area, rose at their slowest rate in more than a year in May, report says
    James T. MadoreJune 11, 2025 3:01 pm
  • Commack firm repays $119G in tax breaks over failed job pledge
    James T. MadoreJune 11, 2025 5:00 am
  • Tech company plans $21M expansion in Hauppauge, to add 25 jobs
    James T. MadoreJune 5, 2025 5:00 am
  • $1.8M LI expansion planned by medical, defense manufacturers
    James T. MadoreJune 4, 2025 5:00 am
  • CEO pledges 500+ jobs in Long Island factory expansion
    James T. MadoreMay 29, 2025 5:00 am
  • LI electronics maker seeks more tax aid amid expansion plans
    James T. MadoreMay 28, 2025 5:00 am
  • Foreign tourists canceling LI vacations might make for a cruel summer
    James T. Madore and Lee MeyerMay 27, 2025 5:00 am

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