Sullivan County Partnership Goes Virtual

Amidst a global pandemic, the Sullivan County Partnership has continued to push forward for its members. The Partnership hosted its 26th Annual Meeting via Zoom on Thursday, October 1, 2020 at 5:30PM. Although the 200+ in person networking, delicious food and cocktails were missed this year, the Partnership remained committed to bringing value to its members with informative project updates, state of the Partnership and Sullivan County, insight on future projects, and a dynamic keynote speaker all within one hour!

The 26th Annual Meeting opened with messages from our video sponsors Advance Testing and Envision Architects. Since its inception in 1984 Advance Testing has been involved in almost every project on Route 17 from Wurtsboro to Hancock in Sullivan County. As a new member of the Partnership, Envision Architects is already involved in several projects with some of the largest employers in Sullivan County. As stated by Jim Smith, Founder/CEO of Advance Testing, “Sullivan County is going to continue and move forward with diversified projects from A to Z…”

Fred Stabbert, SCP Chair of the Marketing Committee, highlighted the perseverance, durability, and drive of business owners in Sullivan County. Like everyone else, the Partnership has had to adapt during the pandemic; working tirelessly to support existing businesses in Sullivan County, attracting new business to the area, as well as supporting its members.

“In spite of the COVID-19 pause in New York State, the future for Sullivan County remains very bright.” stated Jim Bates, SCP Chairman from 2018-2020. “We are seeing resurgence everywhere. There has been almost an immediate influx of individuals and businesses looking to relocate to our area from several metropolitan areas, as well as a resurgence of new and exciting projects, the likes of which Sullivan County hasn’t seen for a very long time.”

Randy Resnick, SCP Chairman 2020-2022, looks to move forward, grow membership, and make the SC Partnership and Sullivan County business community stronger. “As a result of COVID-19, the Partnership found it very important

to create its Disaster Relief Workforce Emergency (DRWE) Revolving Loan Fund program to assist small businesses in Sullivan County that experienced financial interruptions due to the pandemic.” Nine DRWE loans have been approved by the SCP Revolving Loan Committee, chaired by Mr. Resnick. The DRWE Revolving Loan Program process was designed by the SCP Revolving Loan Committee to move as quickly as possible. Once all proper documentation was submitted by the applicant, the application was reviewed and voted on by the committee within an average of three days. DRWE funds distributed to approved applicants may be used to solve immediate business needs such as payroll demands, rent, utilities, and insurance payments.

“As some restrictions were lifted and the economy began reopening, resuming construction projects and new construction ignited the comeback of Sullivan County” reported Marc Baez in his state of the Partnership address. “City dwellers soon followed, seeking temporary respite or permanent haven from larger urban areas.

Rental properties were quickly booked for the entire Summer, and real estate sales soared. This exposed operational vulnerabilities for business owners regarding broadband infrastructure weaknesses and the need to meet this increased demand. The County of Sullivan responded, forming an LDC that will oversee the expansion and availability of broadband to existing county facilities that will reach areas currently not served adequately if at all.”

The Partnership invited Jared Kleinert, USA Today’s Most Connected Millennial, as this year’s Annual Meeting keynote speaker. He too has been bitten by the Sullivan Catskills bug and is currently in the process of searching for sites to create a corporate retreat meeting space for his organization Meeting of the Minds. Jared emphasized that the future is now, and that Sullivan County can and should take advantage of current trends such as: greater flexibility to work from home, company culture transitions due to COVID-19, larger millennial base looking to purchase their first homes, all to bring

the Sullivan Catskills to the next level. Here at the Partnership, we remain bullish on the future of Sullivan County and will continue to push forward to promote economic development in order to benefit our members by enhancing the quality of life and improving the standard of living in Sullivan County.