After 14 years as director of the New York State Small Business Development Center at SUNY at Stony Brook, Judith M. McEvoy is bringing her wealth of experience to Suffolk County as the new Commissioner of Economic Development.

She was named commissioner by Suffolk County Executive Robert J. Gaffney in September, approved by the Suffolk County Legislature last month and officially began her new job on October 28.

"I was extremely pleased and incredibly excited about working with Suffolk County and the County Executive, Robert Gaffney," said McEvoy. "I have great expectations that my background all these years will serve the county. I bring to it the same excitement that I felt for the university," she said.

As the commissioner, McEvoy will be in charge of carrying out the department's mission of "encouraging businesses to expand, retaining existing jobs and attracting new business." The office "also supports tourism and cultural affairs activities and promotes Suffolk County as an excellent place to live, work and play."

McEvoy sees her role with regard to the building industry as dealing with brownsfield redevelopment and encouraging smart growth. She said that she was aware of a commitment on the part of the County Executive for affordable housing.

The remediation of brownsfield properties and the subsequent redevelopment is a part of her charge that she is very interested in pursuing. She's also looking forward to working with Suffolk's towns to develop smart growth concepts.

"I intend to bring a new sense of cooperation taking the County Executive's lead in promoting cooperative efforts to address the issues. I think cooperation is what I have always brought to every job, that sense of not trying to do something alone but bringing people together," said McEvoy.

Being a lifelong resident of Suffolk County, McEvoy recognizes the importance of industries such as tourism, technology and biotechnology. "Long Island is in my blood, salt water is in my blood and Suffolk County is in my blood," she said. "I know the different industries that thrive. I've seen this island grow, I have seen this university just blossom," she said enthusiastically.

As director of the Small Business Development Center, McEvoy was responsible for developing and implementing programs that fulfilled the goals of the state both on a state and federal level. She was in charge of all aspects of management and direction of the center including budgets, personnel and integration into the community.

"In the past 14 years we have assisted over 10,000 small businesses solve problems, access information and capital, resulting in over $160-million going to some of these businesses," McEvoy explained, during an interview that took place in her Stony Brook office a little over a week before she was scheduled to begin her new post in the county.

When she started at the Small Business Center, its staff consisted of McEvoy, and a business advisor and secretary. When she left her post last month she was working with 16 people including eight full time business advisors and she was in charge of two satellite offices in Southampton Town, one at Town Hall and the other at Long Island University at Southampton; an office at Brookhaven National Laboratory; and at a site at the Long Island Business & Technology Center in Great River at the former Grumman site.

When she contemplates leaving her colleagues at the Stony Brook center, McEvoy is reminded of a plaque that reads, "Make new friends, keep the old, one is silver, the other is gold."

"These people here are golden," she said, adding, "Their eyes and ears on small business is going to be very important to me because all big businesses were once small businesses. You can't do anything alone, you have to use the resources that you know of and you use the best of the best to get done what you needto get done," she said.

Prior to her 14-year tenure at the Stony Brook center, McEvoy was director of the Small Business Council at the Long Island Association. She held the position from 1985 to 1988 and was responsible for the functioning of all the standing committees including energy, environment, transportation, tax policy, housing and the World Trade Club.

McEvoy believes that the committee issues that were pertinent then on Long Island, like transportation, energy and the environment, for example, are still the key issues of today. As commissioner of economic development she intends to move the county forward by focusing on the issues and on the areas of the economy that are key.

"Technology is our replacement for the defense industry. I'm up to my eyeballs in technology businesses," she said, explaining the value of her work in small business at Stony Brook and how it will transfer to the county.

She plans to work tirelessly in her new post just as she has throughout her career. When McEvoy was hired at SUNY Stony Brook she held an associates degree and was asked to complete a Bachelor's Degree. She didn't stop until she procured a Master's Degree in Public Administration.

"That's my personality, that's what I'm going to bring to the county," said McEvoy.

Her career outside the home began when she took a post as an administrative assistant for the Suffolk County Legislature in 1981.

Even before she entered the work force and was at home raising her family, McEvoy was an active housewife who was always involved. "I was always involved in PTA. I just never sat still," she said.

Throughout her career she has been involved in numerous professional activities on Long Island and is particularly focused on women's issues and plans to continue working with women in her new position. "I was asked by the County Executive to continue my particular dedication to women owned businesses," she said.

She is a past-president of Women Economic Developers of Long Island and currently a legislative chair of the organization, she is a member of the National Association of Women Business Owners, she is a conference administrator for Suffolk County's Women's Business Enterprise Coalition and a member of Long Island Business and Professional Women.

The energetic public servant has been recognized on numerous occasions. She was named "achiever of the year" by Long Island Business and Professional Women and given the Women on the Job's Woman of the Year Award as well as being honored as small business advocate of the year by the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Her favorite thing to do during her spare time is "to work." However, there is one other activity that she enjoys and that is to go out on her boat. "When we go out in the water it's the only thing that calms me down," she said.

The new commissioner of economic development is the mother of three children, two boys and one girl and she is "extremely proud" of her family. "They all have their masters degrees," she said, explaining how her oldest son is involved in private banking, her second son, the vice president of sales for a Chicago company and her daughter, an FBI agent. She and her husband, Ed McEvoy, the executive director of the Art League of Long Island, are the proud grandparents of two grandsons.