Graduating from the Pratt Institute in 1979, Lin worked for several Long Island and Manhattan architectural firms before going out on her own. Lin is part of nationwide growth in business ownership among women and minorities. One in eight women-owned businesses in the United States was owned by a woman of color as of 1996, according to the National Foundation for Women Business Owners. Indeed, as the old century fades away, the economy in Nassau and Suffolk is on a more solid footing than it has been in decades. Last year, job growth was the strongest in a decade, rising 2.5 percent, or 28,000 jobs.
Consumer spending is strong.
Home sales are brisk. Office construction is booming. Long Island MacArthur Airport is expected to grow, with other airlines following the decision by Southwest Airlines earlier this year to make the Ronkonkoma airport its first and only New York metropolitan area destination. Long Island statistics look better all the time. Yet there are warning flags.