With the recent departure of Kim Kaiman, the executive director of the Town of North Hempstead’s Business and Tourism Development Corp., the town is looking at its options for the future of the agency, Carole Trottere, a town spokeswoman, said.
“We are looking at all options right now and have not made any decision,” Trottere said. “Right now, we’re looking at whether we can incorporate what the Business and Tourism Development Corp. under the Planning Department, but we’re just looking at all the options.”
Roy Smitheimer, the corporation’s deputy director, will take on Kaiman’s duties immediately following her departure, Trottere said.
Smitheimer is also a past president of the Port Washington Chamber of Commerce and ran unsuccessfully for a seat on the Village of Manorhaven Board of Trustees last June.
The quasi-governmental economic development agency, which was started in 2005, is tasked with drawing businesses and tourists to the town.
The town allocated $75,000 to the agency in its 2017 budget.
“They’ve really done some great work,” Trottere said. “And they’ve gotten a lot of grants and the film industry in the town has been revived.”
In 2015, the demand to film in town grew, and officials raised filming fees, adding a $500 fee to host large staging areas called “base camps” and a $100 hourly fee to film at town facilities.
In addition, film company’s pay a $500-a-day permit fee
The town collected $86,064 in revenue through permits for television and film productions
Kaiman oversaw the corporation’s grant program to beautify and revitalize business districts throughout North Hempstead.
Kaiman was hired to lead the corporation in 2014. Her husband, Jon Kaiman, resigned as supervisor in September 2013, when he was appointed to positions under Gov. Andrew Cuomo after 10 years as the Democratic town supervisor.
