Small Business Success Story - Port of Egypt

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Each year the New York Small Business Development Center recognizes outstanding small businesses in a variety of ways.  This Success Story from the  Stony Brook SBDC appears in our 2016 Annual Report. 

The Lieblein Family 
Port of Egypt
Stony Brook SBDC

Port of Egypt, located on Southold Bay, is a full-service marina offering boaters a wide range of amenities including boat service, parts, storage, and dockage, and is well known for carrying the prestigious brand of Grady-White boats. Family owned and operated with 10 employees, the company was founded in 1946 by the Lieblein family. Katie Sepenoski, a member of the family, is the Operations Manager and has run the business since 2003.
Katie worked tirelessly with the Stony Brook SBDC to submit an application to the New York Rising program after Super Storm Sandy. The business experienced flooding, wind damage and an extended power outage when the hurricane hit and there was substantial damage to the property, buildings and docks. The business was awarded an initial grant of $89,632 in June 2014 to offset some of the storm-related costs. While the existing dockage system had withstood many storms in the past, it was necessary to make improvements to withstand future storm surges. 
In 2015, a year after the initial application was awarded, Advisor Gifty Oduro-Ostrander discussed with Katie the possibility of applying for mitigation assistance under a separate category of the NY Rising program to cover the cost of hardening the docks. Katie worked with the SBDC to complete the application and the company was awarded $100,000 for mitigation and $10,367 for other eligible expenses in July 2016. The business has received the maximum assistance possible under the New York Rising program - $200,000 to date. Now that the business and site have returned to normal, Katie continues to work with the SBDC for continuing business advice and support.

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