HIA confidence in LI hedged by gas prices

A panel of business leaders at the Hauppauge Industrial Association's executive breakfast meeting Thursday morning was bullish about the Long Island economy, saying it foresees rising home values, higher employment and company expansions.

Then a question arose about energy prices, and the bullishness suddenly gave way to grave uncertainty.

Five-dollar-a-gallon gas prices in the near-future are a possibility, conceded Patrick McCormick, a partner at the Bohemia-based law firm Campolo, Middleton & McCormick. At the outset of the discussion, McCormick said his "confidence rating" for the Island's future was 7 to 8 on a scale of 10. But, he added, "I'm trying not to let what's going on in Wisconsin and the Middle East influence things."

In a question-and-answer session, McCormick acknowledged the unrest in a handful of Middle East nations and its impact on energy prices was "a problem": "That has to factor into everything we do. I don't think that now anybody can predict what will happen."

Joe Perri, chief executive of Islandia-based Gold Coast Bank, lamented that more than three decades since the oil shocks of the 1970s, little has been done to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

While the current Mideast turmoil threw cold water on the optimism the panel expressed, the approximately 100 people in the audience at the Melville Marriott - polled before the meeting began - said they were confident about LI's economy. Their confidence rating averaged out to 6.1 on a scale of 10. That is higher than the 5.0 confidence rating registered in December in the HIA's annual economic survey mailed to 5,500 business leaders. About 200 responded to the questionnaire.

Theresa Sciarrone, HIA director of operations, summed it up: "We're cautiously optimistic," she said.