Events are good for business

Organizer is a relentless community advocate

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Deborah Orgel-Gordon has one of the most recognizable names on the North Shore.

The Glen Head resident served on the board of the Gold Coast Business Association for six years, part of that time as president. She’s no longer on the board, but is still a GCBA member, and uses that status and her administrative duties in local Facebook groups to advance the North Shore’s business community. Orgel-Gordon has organized many events, and now a new website has been created to bring them all together — northshorebiznetwork.com.

Over the years, Orgel-Gordon has worked to help residents and business owners get together. Happy Hour Fundraisers, Gold Coast Supper Club meetings and Network Power Luncheons are all events she has arranged. She invites people to enjoy a local restaurant or bar while networking and raising awareness of local eateries. She has also arranged cash mobs, during which she goes online and advertises a local business, encouraging residents to patronize it on a specific day.

These events have helped dozens of businesses and their employees. Now, with Orgel-Gordon’s creation of the North Shore Biz Network, a one-stop location that pulls all her events under one umbrella, it’s even easier for businesses and residents to benefit from these events.

Orgel-Gordon enlisted the aid of Glen Head’s Gracie Donaldson as the website’s promotions manager to help get it off the ground. Donaldson said she and Orgel-Gordon have been friends for years. Donaldson is excited to use her graphic design and social media marketing expertise to benefit the community.

“It’s really important for all of us who are either in business or are looking to grow a business to get out and meet each other and find like-minded people,” Donaldson said.

As a millennial, she wants to see other locals from her generation network in a professional and personal sense. Millennials are leaving the North Shore in droves, she said. She hopes that making business events more accessible will enable them to stay and thrive in the community.

Lawyer Jack Vilella, of Glen Cove, has run events with Orgel-Gordon for years and said they have been invaluable to the community. North Shore Biz Network will help the events expand. He said, however, that everything the website will accomplish will come down to Orgel-Gordon’s passion for the community.

“Deborah so loves what she does that that love is infectious,” Vilella said. ”Whether she’s doing a cash mob or having a dinner at one of the many great restaurants around Glen Cove, you get excited because she’s excited . . . Nobody loves community like Deborah loves community.”

Nonprofit organizations and charities also benefit from North Shore Biz Network’s services. Guardian Angel in Sea Cliff, which helps vulnerable women and children, has received money collected from these fundraisers. Barbara Costello, Guardian Angel’s founder and president, said that Orgel-Gordon has also done a substantial amount of advertising for Giving Tree, an annual event at the organization’s boutique. Proceeds go to families in need.

“She brings awareness to the needs of this particular site, and she’s a part of whatever events we’re running here,” Costello said. “She’s very committed to all local outreach programs — she’s committed to the community.”

“I want to make sure people are aware of all the organizations for people in need,” Orgel-Gordon said. “I want to bring awareness to those in need so the community can help them.”

While social media certainly has its perks, Orgel-Gordon said she hopes the website encourages people to go out and network face to face. When people make eye contact while they speak, she said, they exchange ideas more effectively and can use them to benefit those around them.