Sam Angiuli Honored for Dedication to Staten Island
By Danielle Wiseman, The Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
Sam Angiuli has been surrounded by entrepreneurship his entire life.
Angiuli was born into a family of small business owners. His paternal grandfather, after whom he was named, emigrated from Italy and successfully started a well-known car dealership on Staten Island.
Photo by Vinnie Amesse
“My grandparents were the poster children for the ‘American Dream,’” says Angiuli. “They came here with nothing in their pockets and started their own business, where they were involved on the Island for many years.” He recalls his grandfather encouraging him to help out with the family businesses at an early age, instilling that same entrepreneurial spirit within his grandson.
Angiuli’s father, Gary, went down a similar path as Angiuli's grandfather. Upon graduating from law school, Gary founded his own law firm on Staten Island, which has been operating for over thirty years. Moreover, the maternal side of Angiuli’s family has an extensive history on the Island; one with deeply-rooted relationships and achievements in the business, judicial, and not-for-profit sectors.
Angiuli graduated from Syracuse University with a triple major in Finance, Marketing, and Political Science. He started his career in the Sales and Analytics Department at Bloomberg L.P., specializing in Commodities, Foreign Exchange, and Economics. He remained on Wall Street for several years, where he excelled in the financial technology world. However, the spirit that his grandfather passed down to him, combined with the influence of his father’s success, sealed his inevitable fate: starting his own business.
“Being an entrepreneur was always in my blood. Dad and I had this idea to come together and combine our specific skillsets,” he says, looking back on their initial plan. “We decided to create an investment and development company based in Staten Island, right where the family history lays.”
Thus, The Angiuli Group was formed, and subsequently, an iconic Staten Island duo. “My father is my partner,” says Angiuli. “He’s the CEO of the company, but he’s also my best friend. We have a great relationship, and I owe so much of my success to him and to my mom.”
The Angiuli Group, launched in 2014, invests in, develops, and manages various business and real estate endeavors around Staten Island, particularly on the North Shore. However, unlike many investment management companies, The Angiuli Group is community-based and actively prioritizes local small businesses.
“Everything we do is intentional, and our intentions are always rooted in the community,” says Angiuli, COO of The Angiuli Group. “We have to think, ‘How will this project best fit the area and the people who engage here? How will it benefit residents? Will it create jobs?’” These are questions that The Angiuli Group considers with every single investment that they undertake. Sam and Gary Angiuli, and their team, Skye Wright and Joanne Cippoletti, are constantly looking for ways to uplift the borough.
One of The Angiuli Group’s biggest projects is the revitalization of Minthorne Street, a previously vacant area in Tompkinsville. “Minthorne Street is our passion project,” Angiuli adds excitedly. “We took what was once this dead side street, and we ‘activated’ it. We worked with the community and created the opportunity for multiple local vendors to come in and start their businesses.”
Currently open on Minthorne Street are two restaurants, a co-working space, and The Flagship Brewing Company, of which Angiuli is also the CFO and partner. Minthorne Street’s fifth locale, a locally owned restaurant and social club, is scheduled to open soon.
Across from the Minthorne Street Building is the stunning Inspiration Plaza, which was also designed and developed by The Angiuli Group. “The concept for the plaza was inspiration,” says Angiuli. “Visitors could come in and see how other regular people started their businesses and leave feeling encouraged to do the same.” The 2,500 square foot recreational space sits atop the Minthorne Street parking lot and features vibrant colors, a garden along the outline of the plaza, and a striking art structure.
In addition to their work on Minthorne Street, which runs parallel to Bay Street, The Angiuli Group is also heavily involved in the evolution of the St. George, Tompkinsville, and Stapleton areas, also known as Downtown Staten Island. The company is invested in multiple projects along Bay Street, and they are crucial to the development of and to addressing needs in those neighborhoods.
“I love our community,” Angiuli exclaims. “I think that our stretch of the North Shore is one of the most unique places in Staten Island; it has so much to offer in variety. Each neighborhood has its own identity, and we don’t want to change that, we want to build upon it”.
For his accomplishments, Angiuli is being honored with a Louis R. Miller Business Leadership Award, which he will receive in the Established Businessperson category. The awards, which are presented by the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce and the Staten Island Advance, honor the memory of Louis R. Miller, a businessman and West Brighton resident who was also a community leader.
Angiuli is entirely entrenched in the Staten Island community, both on the clock and off. In addition to engaging with community members every day at his office on Bay Street, Sam is also on the Board of Directors for the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, the liaison for the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce Foundation Board, the incoming President of the Executive Club of Staten Island, a member of the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation, and the Chairman of the Downtown Staten Island Business Improvement District (BID) Formation Steering Committee.
Angiuli’s work on the North Shore of Staten Island, in combination with his family’s deep-rooted history, makes him the perfect candidate to lead the Downtown Staten Island BID Formation Steering Committee. A BID is an area where local stakeholders oversee and fund the maintenance, improvement, and promotion of their commercial district. Staten Island currently has four active BIDs, each uniquely uplifting and bringing value to their neighborhoods.
“We’ve been working with the city to formally create this district to best fit the needs of the local stakeholders,” says Angiuli of his work on the Downtown Staten Island BID. “I try to help in any way that I can. We’ve seen success in BIDs all over the city, and I think a Downtown Staten Island BID would be extremely beneficial to the people who live here.”
As passionate as he is about his business, Sam makes it clear that the most important thing in the world to him is his family and friends. He is married to his Tottenville High School sweetheart, Lindsay, with whom he shares two children, Aria and Luke.
Angiuli’s presence on Staten Island is irreplaceable. None of his days ever look the same, which is a testament to how many projects he juggles at one time. However, no matter how busy he is, Angiuli always gets through his work with a smile on his face.
“I’m fortunate to have a good relationship with many other business owners on Staten Island,” adds Angiuli. “The most important thing is to stick together and talk about each other’s needs. Community trumps competition, and the better we do as a community, the better we all end up.”
Current occupations/titles:
Chief Operating Officer of The Angiuli Group LLC
Chief Financial Officer of The Flagship Brewing Company
Legal Analyst at Angiuli & Gentile LLP
Past occupation/s and titles:
Sales and Analytics (Commodities, Foreign Exchange, and Economics Specialist) at Bloomberg LP
Hometown:
Richmondtown
Community involvement (please describe significant volunteer efforts or names of organizations you have been involved in):
President of the Executive Club of Staten Island
Board of Directors for the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce
Chairman of the Downtown Staten Island BID Formation Steering Committee
Member of the Staten Island Economic Development Corporation
The best part of my job:
Seeing our ideas and developments come to fruition
The most difficult part of my job:
There are a lot of moving parts in my business, and juggling them effectively to ensure our systems run smoothly is always the biggest challenge.
My life philosophy:
Do good. Never stop learning and growing. Work hard and with purpose. Create and innovate. Make a positive impact. Be understanding. Be tough but kind. Be yourself and don’t worry about what others think. Rock out and have fun. Find happiness and spread love.
Something that no one knows about me:
[REDACTED]
Personal interests and hobbies:
Music/Guitar
Travel/Experiences
I laugh at:
I try to find humor in all aspects of life, and I laugh as much as I can
I admire:
My family, my friends, and my team. All of the of the good things about me or in my life are a result of their love and support.