Business group chooses a leader

Despite a rocky start, the Hewlett-Woodmere Business Association, which was established through a merger of the Hewlett Business Association and the Woodmere Merchants Association, is moving forward with a new president and a reconstituted executive board.

The 63-member organization was founded late last year, and began operations, with Hewlett resident Steve Anchin as its president, early this year. Under Anchin’s leadership, however, conflicts arose among members, and Joseph Gelb, the former president of the Hewlett Business Association, was invited to step in and quell the discord.

“Steve Anchin organized committees and did it effectively,” said Gelb, an attorney who has an office in Hewlett, “but there were personality clashes.”

Anchin, who works for Jan Kalman Realty in Woodmere, was asked to resign as president, and did so. He said that the merger could have been much better organized, describing the amended bylaws as “very incomplete,” but he added that the association has “tons of energy” that he thinks the members will harness.

“It’s a wonderful organization, but it was a lot more work than I thought and took more time,” said Anchin, calling his resignation a “bump on the road” for the association.

Following meetings in June and a vote for a new executive board, Jaime Wysocki, who owns Dance Express in Woodmere, was named the group’s new president. A native of Inwood who graduated from Lawrence High School and Molloy College, Wysocki has an indelible memory of her first day as the owner of a business — a school in Hewlett that she sold prior to opening Dance Express.

“In the summer of 2001, I sold my car to fund my corporation,” she said. “September 11, 2001, was my first day of business. Every student with the exception of one attended class that day, despite what was happening to our country. It was almost as if I had to be open for the sake of the children. It’s a day I will never forget.”

When Wysocki was 2 and had a case of “ants in her pants,” her mother enrolled her in dance class. At 5 she performed the first of many solo routines at a dance recital. Her idols were the legends Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Shirley Temple.