Thursday, October 1, 2026
Barbara Goldfeder, one of the co-managers of Coach Realtors, was recently sworn in as the new president of the Rockville Centre Chamber of Commerce. And with a new president comes new ideas.
Goldfeder, who has lived in Rockville Centre for nearly 45 years, has long been involved with the community. Late last month, Mayor Francis Murray swore her in as the new Chamber president, beginning her one-year term.
“We will be the Jewel of the South Shore,” Goldfeder said. “That’s our word. We sort of lost sight for a little while, and we want to make sure [the village] is back where it deserves to be.”
She said that being made President of the Chamber was a great honor. “When you work with a group of people as closely as I do with the Chamber and they give you that honor, it’s very flattering and it’s very exciting,” Goldfeder said. “And especially if you have ideals of what you want to do with the business district of this town, it’s great.”
Goldfeder said that the focus of her term as president would be on beautifying the village’s business district, something she said took a back seat in Chamber policies over the last few years. “So we’re going to make sure it doesn’t take a back seat anymore — it’s going to be a front seat,” she said.
Business in the village is strong, Goldfeder said, adding that the village currently has a business occupancy rate of about 95 percent.
“When you have a capacity like that and you have people coming in and shopping in our village and eating in our wonderful restaurants, this brings people to the village,” she said. “And people in the village spend money. And that’s what we’re trying to do — we’re trying to make all of our business owners prosperous.”
Goldfeder also said she hopes to create stronger working relationships between all of the various organizations in the village, such as the Kiwanis Club and the Lions Club. “When every organization works together and you have that cohesive working relationship, you can get an awful lot done,” she said.
But Goldfeder stressed that her priority would be the beautification of the village business district.
“I think the big thrust of the Chamber this year is beautification of the village,” she said. “We intend to work very closely with the mayor to get that accomplished. I consider it the jewel of the South Shore, and we’re going to make sure that it is the jewel of the south shore.”
