LI builders group loses key executive

At a time when the construction industry is facing its steepest downturn in decades, the Long Island Builders Institute finds itself without a paid public face who can go out and tell the organization's story to town and civic groups.

Michael Watt has stepped down as the institute's executive vice president, one of the organization's few paid officials and the man who acted as spokesman and liaison to the outside world.

Watt, who served in the post for about two years, acknowledged that his departure "seemed strange" at such a critical time for the LIBI, but added: "I really just want to go back to focus on more Long Island-centric projects. It was just time to move on. I wasn't getting as much accomplished as I'd like." Some of that, Watt said, had to do with the slowdown in building.

Ira Tane, president of the 500-member LIBI, said he has received "a handful" of unsolicited applications for Watt's job.

A search, Tane said, will hopefully conclude by summer's end.

A replacement is critical, Tane said, because neither he nor other LIBI officers are able to get to town and civic meetings on a regular basis. Tane is president of Benchmark Home Builders Inc. in Huntington Station.

Watt said he would like to revive the dormant New Long Island Partnership, an organization formed more than a decade ago to drive economic development on the Island. The partnership fizzled after Nassau County, one of the members, declined to pay its dues, citing economic hardship.

"We are at a very dangerous crossroads," Watt said. "We need to step up efforts to keep the companies we have here. As costs continue to escalate, they become ripe for picking" by other states.