HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., Jan. 19, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The executive board of the Association for a Better Long Island has elected as its next president, Jan Burman, President and CEO of the Engel Burman Group. This marks the second time that Burman will lead a group that represents some $15 billion in commercial, retail, industrial and residential properties throughout Nassau and Suffolk.
Mr. Burman stated, "Let's be clear, business as usual is dead and is never coming back. Long Island is at a crossroads. It will either direct its own economic future, leveraging one of the best educated work forces in the nation to reinvent our economy or it will become a region at risk, one that failed to appreciate that you can't wait for Washington to bail us out of the recession. I believe there is now a growing realization by our municipal leaders that vision, combined with affirmative and sustained action, is the only means we have to protect and strengthen Long Island."
Burman is president of a Garden City based full service real estate company that owns and develops industrial, office and residential properties on Long Island and throughout the eastern seaboard. Today he may be best known for his role in creating the Bristal Assisted Living Communities across Long Island and the New York area, dramatically raising the bar for a retired generation that wish to remain in the region while enhancing their quality of life.
Mr. Burman began his career as a certified public accountant working in the tax and audit departments of Touche Ross & Co. In addition to serving as President of the Association for a Better Long Island a decade ago he is a recipient of the Developer of the Year Award from the Commercial Industrial Brokers Society of Long Island.
Burman's legacy revisited
Ed Blumenfeld, of Blumenfeld Development Group, an ABLI founding member and a member of its executive board, said, "Jan has long recognized the role of the real estate industry to prime the economic pump of Long Island, generate needed taxes and provide a foundation for our orderly growth. More important, his prior ABLI tenure demonstrated his unique skill at creating public-private consensus for progressive real estate concepts that would strategically direct our region. That skill is needed now more than ever."
ABLI Executive Director Desmond Ryan explained, "The economy, energy and the environment are the topics Jan is focusing on as the platform for his ABLI term. I would also suggest demographics, departure and direction because we need to understand why an entire generation of Long Islanders is threatening to leave the region because our young people do not see economy or affordable housing policies that would keep them here."
Mitchell Rechler of Rechler Equities and immediate past ABLI President, concluded, "Jan Burman enjoys enormous respect inside and beyond the real estate community. His appreciation of Long Island's challenges and potential are unmatched and his skill at forging alliances that benefit the common good has been demonstrated time and again. As a result, ABLI will continue to be a force for progressive action during his tenure."
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