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Politics & Government

Lynbrook Resident Participates in Forum with President Obama

Adam Berkowitz was selected to attend a town hall forum on job creation in California.

One Lynbrook resident had the chance of a lifetime this past week.

Adam Berkowitz was selected to travel to Mountain View, California on Monday to take part in a town hall forum entitled “Putting America Back to Work”, hosted by social networking site Linkedin, with President Barack Obama to discuss job creation. He was one of 16 Linkedin users -- the only participant from New York -- chosen to ask the President a question on the country's current job climate.

A 1991 graduate of Lynbrook High School and longtime resident, Berkowitz is a co-founder and managing partner of StocknGo.com, which is an online retail site. He is also the president of the Lynbrook Lacrosse Alumni & Friends Foundation -- a group that raises money and funds scholarships for Lynbrook High School students.

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Patch had a chance to catch up with Berkowitz after the forum to ask about his experience. Check out what he said below:

Patch: Tell us a little bit about the Linkedin town hall forum.
Adam Berkowitz: The Linkedin Town Hall Forum with President Barack Obama was focused around the subject of job creation and putting America back to work. The town hall had questions from a live audience, but also included a representative mix of questions submitted by Linkedin members through a specially created group for the event.

P: How did you get involved?
AB: Linkedin has 120 million members and they conducted a thorough search to determine which 16 of those members would best represent the universe of all their members. I was contacted by Linkedin because they felt that my business history and current role would be a great fit for this forum. I am one of two co-founders and the managing partner of StocknGo.com, which is an online retail site that focuses on selling health and beauty aids, hair care, household products and more. Initially, they did not disclose that this involved meeting with President Obama. Only after they required the initial candidates to answer four questions and reviewed our answers did they tell us this would include a meeting with the President. I was then alerted that I was chosen to participate.

P: What was it like participating in a forum with the President?
AB: Participating in the forum was a great honor. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity and an informative panel.

P: What question did you ask the President?
AB: The question I posed to the president was the following: "With the consistent changes in taxes (primarily increases), insurance premiums on the rise, as well as extending unemployment benefits, how am I supposed to plan, budget and forecast for my business in such an unstable economic environment?

P: How did he respond?
AB: He did not ultimately answer my question due to lack of time. However, upon meeting him and shaking his hand, I did have enough time to ask him if he knew of StocknGo.com and passed him a business card. I told him to buy something and we can use a presidential endorsement. He took my business card, placed it in his pocket and said he would.

P: If you could ask the President another question, what would it be?
AB: After shopping at StocknGo.com, did he tell 100 friends they should shop there as well? Just kidding, but we are a small business that is growing at a rapid pace, and can use his and the rest of America's support. Especially people from my hometown of Lynbrook!

P: Do you think you represented Lynbrook well?
AB: Absolutely. I was the only candidate selected from the State of New York, specifically Long Island and Lynbrook. I was 1 of 16 selected out of 120 million members. Following the event, I was interviewed by CBS 5 in San Francisco, Entrepreneur Magazine, Examiner.com, as well as a few others.

Find out what's happening in Malverne-Lynbrookwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

P: What did your family and friends from Lynbrook think of you participating in this event?
AB: My family and friends were very proud and supportive.

P: What has this whole experience taught you?
AB: Having been an entrepreneur for years and currently building StocknGo.com, I truly believe that success always comes when preparation meets opportunity. I have been an avid Linkedin user for years and that experience has taught me that even a guy who was born and raised in Lynbrook and is now raising a family here should always think and dream big. Seize the moment when you have the chance.

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