Riverhead chief can't wait to join jobs effort

The announcement of a new effort to spur high-tech jobs on Long Island wasn't even over Monday morning when Riverhead Supervisor Sean Walter crashed it and pledged his support.

"We're done with the ski mountains and the drag strips," Walter said of past stillborn attempts to develop the Calverton Enterprise Park, the former Grumman factory that's been under town control for more than a decade. "It's time to get serious."

Walter arrived, slightly breathless, at Stony Brook University's Center for Excellence in Wireless and Information Technology, where Sen. Charles Schumer and the heads of Stony Brook, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory were announcing collaborations not only on research, but also on turning that work into well-paying high-tech jobs on Long Island.

Walter said the town had fumbled its efforts at economic development because of a lack of resources and expertise. "We cannot get out of our own way," he said, as Schumer and the research leaders looked on, bemused.

Later, a still-enthusiastic Walter said he raced to Stony Brook when he heard about the announcement. "It fits perfectly with what we're trying to do," he said, adding that the town board is committed to the effort. "This partnership could be great for us."