Oakdale · Bohemia · Town of Islip, New York
The Oakdale-Bohemia Chamber of Commerce is being organized to give the businesses of two hamlets a shared voice, a shared calendar and a reason to know each other. We are building the founding membership now.
Where things stand
01 Now
Gathering founding members and a working board. This is where we are today.
02
New York not-for-profit corporation, bylaws, bank account and federal recognition as a 501(c)(6) business league.
03
First mixer, member directory and a calendar for the year.
What a chamber does
Oakdale and Bohemia share a school district, Sunrise Highway, Oakdale-Bohemia Road and the Oakdale train station. Sayville, Bayport-Blue Point, Ronkonkoma and Islip each have an active chamber; the two hamlets between them do not have one that works across both. It shows in what the neighbors have: the mixers, the street fairs, the holiday events and the quiet phone call to the Town when a member needs one.
A chamber is a membership organization, run by its members, funded by modest dues. It exists to help member businesses find customers and each other, and to be the place the community turns to when it wants to work with local business.
Monthly mixers, member referrals and a directory that puts every member business in front of every neighbor.
Shop-local campaigns, a shared events calendar and a spotlight on the businesses along Montauk Highway, Sunrise Highway and in the Bohemia industrial parks.
One voice for two hamlets with the Town of Islip, Suffolk County and the Connetquot school district on the things that affect local business.
Street fairs, holiday lights, scholarships for Connetquot students and the kind of events that make a place feel like a town.
The area
Oakdale
Oakdale sits where the Connetquot River meets the Great South Bay. Idle Hour, the Vanderbilt mansion that became Dowling College and now waits for its next owner, is the house on our seal. The Connetquot River State Park Preserve, the marinas and restaurants along Shore Drive, the Oakdale train station and the shops on Montauk Highway give the hamlet its shape.
Bohemia
Settled by Czech immigrants in the 1850s and named for their homeland, Bohemia is now one of the Town of Islip's largest business corridors, with roughly 16,000 jobs in its ZIP code: the industrial and office parks along Veterans Memorial Highway and beside Long Island MacArthur Airport, plus the shops and restaurants on Sunrise Highway and Lakeland Avenue.
Connetquot Central School District
All of Oakdale and nearly all of Bohemia, along with Ronkonkoma, are in the Connetquot district: about 5,400 students in ten schools, with the high school in Bohemia and Oakdale-Bohemia Middle School in Oakdale. That district, its families, its teams and its graduates, is the community the chamber is for. A member scholarship and a business-education partnership with the district are on the first-year list.
Coming up
Sep
10
Thu
Thu, September 10, Thursday to Saturday 6 to 10 pm, Sundays 2 to 6 pm to September 27 · The Spot at Oakdale Yacht Club
Oakdale Yacht Club Free Weekly through September 27 Details
Sep
12
Sat
Sat, September 12, 10 am to 2 pm · Connetquot River State Park Preserve
Friends of Connetquot Free, register ahead Details
Sep
13
Sun
Sun, September 13, 10:30 am · Connetquot River State Park Preserve
Friends of Connetquot Details
Sep
18
Fri
Fri, September 18, 5 to 7:30 pm · Bayard Cutting Arboretum
Bayard Cutting Arboretum $85 Details
Founding board
A chamber needs a founding board of five to nine people willing to meet monthly for the first year: business owners from both hamlets, someone from the school community, a resident or two. No experience running a nonprofit is needed. The organizing work is already underway; what is needed is people.
I am interested in the boardJoin the list
Leave your name and we will be in touch as the chamber forms: the first meeting, membership levels and dues, and how to get involved. No commitment yet.
Prefer email? Write to charles@callcharles.com.