Southampton Village Business Owners Eye Forming New Chamber

The Town of Southampton has a Chamber of Commerce that was established in the early 1950s and now has about 450 members. It has an office on Main Street and claims to be the largest chamber on the East End. It sponsors numerous events throughout the year.

But some Southampton business owners and members of the village board think the chamber, while doing a fine job, does not focus enough on the village. As a result, they are forming a Southampton Village Partnership Committee — a successor to the Business Revitalization Committee, which never really got off the ground — to concentrate specifically on the village, its businesses and its culture.

“The Southampton Chamber does a great job,” Roy Stevenson, a Southampton village trustee, told Dan’s Papers. But, he said, some in the village had been thinking of organizing a chamber exclusively for the village.

The Business Revitalization Committee was supposed to perform that role. But, Stevenson, owner of Stevenson’s Toys and Games, says in the village, some did not like the word revitalization.

“It sounds like you’re dead,” Stevenson said.

A prime idea of the Southampton Village Partnership is to help keep businesses open during the winter season, when many store owners pack up and leave till tourists and summer residents return in the spring. He said initial plans are to schedule some spring events and to create a website that would be comprehensive and interactive.

Stevenson said he believes the group needs $50,000 to get the village chamber started. He said about $10,000 has already been committed, and another $10,000 “would get us off the ground.”

“The village government is not funding this, nor do I think they should,” Stevenson said.

Long Island, and the East End in particular, is looking forward to the U.S. Open golf tournament, set for June 18-21, at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.

The Open draws thousands to Southampton and the rest of the East End, packing hotels, motels and restaurants. It is one of Long Island’s most high-profile events.

Stevenson said his group hopes to organize some events prior to the Open, but perhaps not during the Open “when things are crazy.”

Others said to be involved in the effort are village trustee Roy Coburn, John Betts, owner of Shippy’s Restaurant, and Dede Gotthelf, owner of the Southampton Inn.

Gotthelf, who has owned the Southampton Inn since 1997 and ran a financial consulting firm before that, said in an interview with Dan’s Papers that the world has changed dramatically in the last few decades with mass communications of all types. The village of Southampton, she said, needs to drive home a message of its own.

“We need to be able to exchange information to tell people the best places to eat” and seek out cultural events and entertainment, Gotthelf said.

“Southampton village needs its own voice,” she added.

The job began, she said, when village business people talked about a revitalization committee. “So let’s get it finished,” Gotthelf said.

Westhampton Beach and Greenport host aggressive chambers of commerce, and their success over the years sparked Stevenson and the others to pursue a chamber for Southampton Village.

But, Stevenson said, “We need cash.”