MICHAEL DUBB

Principal, Co-Founder,
Beechwood Organization

BY MAUREEN TRAXLER

Last June, in time for Belmont Stakes Week, builder and businessman Michael Dubb opened the doors to Anna House, a 7,500-square-foot childcare center at Belmont Racetrack designed to care for up to 80 children. The center, which was completed in only seven weeks after its official groundbreaking, will service children whose parents work odd hours on the backstretch at Belmont and Aqueduct racetracks.

"Every child deserves the benefit of safe, reliable child care," says Dubb, who dabbles in thoroughbred racehorses. "Winning my first stakes was a thrill, but watching the kids enjoy Anna House is even more thrilling."

Dubb is past president and current chairman of the Belmont Child Care Association. He strongly believes that "when you provide a place for children, you give them a good foundation." Through his and his company's generosity, he donated the materials and labor to construct the center, and he says, "We want to raise the bar high for other racetracks to follow suit."

Michael Dubb co-founded Beechwood Organization with Les Lerner in 1984. Since then, Beechwood has developed over 45 communities and built over 4,000 units of market rate and affordable housing. His community developments, like Country Pointe in Smithtown, include features such as a clubhouse, basketball court, weight room, and swimming pool. The Arverne by the Sea mixed-use community in The Rockaways has a downtown area with senior citizen apartments, a charter school and green areas. Dubb comments, "I try to create a sense of community."

And it's that sense of community that motivates Dubb, who says he has "a desire to use my gift of construction to help people. It gives me great pleasure."

During his service as the Long Island Builders Institute, president, Dubb spearheaded the building of a home from "soup to nuts," for a Wantagh family that has a paralyzed son. Three years ago, a Mineola family whose son was left blind and severely handicapped after a premature birth contacted him. The boy's mom couldn't recall how she had met Dubb, but curiously she had kept his name with her son's medical bills for some years. Moved by the circumstance, Dubb donated the construction of a 450-square-foot addition to their home, including a beautiful new bedroom for the boy, a handicap-access bathroom and a very large kitchen for the entire family.

"Thank you so very much," the boy's mom wrote to Dubb. "You have taken a huge burden off our shoulders and have given us the ability to care for our son at home in his wonderful new surroundings."

Active in several professional, civic and community organizations, Dubb is a two time past president of the Long Island Builders Institute and was appointed by the New York State Senate to serve on the Real Estate Board for the State of New York. Dubb established and serves as chairman of Long Island Homebuilders Care, a charitable foundation that provides construction projects and renovations for those in need on Long Island. He considers the Institute's charitable arm a way for "Long Island's home builders to utilize their talents to help the community."

When it comes to helping others, Dubb says he has "a passion for children." In addition to his assistance in opening Anna House - including the negotiation of a location with the New York Racing Association, filing applications with the Town of Hempstead, and spearheading the child care center's construction - Dubb co-founded Children's Medical Lifeline, a nonprofit group that brings children to the United States from around the world to receive life-saving surgeries. He often gets personally involved, like introducing a Russian child to American football and taking him to a football game.

Dubb serves on the board of directors for the Suffolk Y, and has been honored as Man of the Year by the American Cancer Society and the Family Service League, a comprehensive social services organization specializing in services for families in time of need. He is an associate trustee of North Shore Hospital at Manhasset. One of his major contributions to nonprofit and community organization boards, he remarks, is his "ability to mobilize people for fundraising efforts" - Dubb employs many people in the construction industry and has contact with other professionals.

"I feel I lead by example," says Dubb, who participated with "Team Beechwood" in CancerCare of Long Island's sixth annual "His and Hers for Life" walk and 5K run. The Beechwood team raised over $46,000 in donations for CancerCare of Long Island through a matching gift program implemented by the Beechwood principals.

By profession, Dubb shows his creative vent, and he has used his creativity to initiate his company's gift program to benefit local nonprofits. Dubb has rallied Beechwood employees to purchase furniture from model homes and resell the pieces as a fundraising project. Through these efforts, his employees raised and donated over $50,000 to the American Cancer Society and Family Service League.

"Our donations are important to the people they help, but they are also important in building a better larger community," comments Dubb.

In addition to owning thoroughbred racehorses, Dubb enjoys skiing, tennis and golf. He lives in Jericho with his wife Rosalie and their three children.