She doesn”™t jump out of airplanes or train seeing-eye dogs, but Jill Varricchio has a passion that Hudson Valley municipalities could use more of:Â involvement from members of their business community.
After living in Amherst, Mass., moving to Newburgh in 1984 was more than just a rude awakening for Varricchio. She secretly wondered how long husband Jeff Klein would be willing to stick it out in what was considered by some to be one of the worst cities in the state. Back then, failed urban renewal and the loss of thousands of factory jobs left Newburgh desolate and crumbling. Not exactly the picture of the quaint college town Varricchio had left behind.
Varricchio and Klein started their promotional product business by going door to door. She immediately joined the chamber of commerce, hoping to get some emotional sustenance and link up with other business owners. While the couple longed for the comfortable environs of Amherst, there was something about the little city that held their attention and kept them plugging along.
“There were two chambers at that time, one in the western part of the county and the one right here in Newburgh,” said Varricchio, who decided to “jump in feet first ”“ why not make lemonade out of a lemon?”
Little by little, Varricchio and Klein outgrew their home office and needed space for their promotional-materials business, Concept Promotions. “We turned to Elizabeth Mansfield. She had a property down by the Newburgh waterfront,” said Varricchio. “It wasn”™t the choicest of spots, but she knew it was all we could afford. Everyone was worried. ”˜Is it safe?”™ they”™d ask. At first, our only neighbors were pigeons and prostitutes.”
As good fortune would have it, the couple”™s new business backyard started teeming with life of a different kind. “26 Front Street, a restaurant, was attracting tourists,” said Varricchio. “Others started showing an interest in making the waterfront a tourist attraction, and in the process, many city residents and business owners started realizing the potential at their doorstep. But it hinged on people being active and staying involved in the process.”Â
The realization that Newburgh could once again become one of America”™s best places to live, an honor it held during the 1950s, raced through Varricchio”™s head. “I discovered I was a ”˜stakeholder”™ at heart, but what does it mean?” asked Varricchio rhetorically. “It means I have a sincere interest in this city and actively play a part in its renaissance in any way I can. It”™s an exciting time for Newburgh and all the people who live and work here. Stewart International is going to create a lot of opportunities and jobs. Its expansion is definitely going to be a positive factor in Newburgh”™s revitalization. We may be sorry for what we wish for. Airports bring noise and traffic ”“ but it will definitely bring jobs and prosperity to this city and all the towns around it.”
When another chamber member learned Varricchio had been active in Junior Achievement, she was recruited for the SUNY Orange Foundation”™s board, which awards approximately $150,000 each year to students who want to advance after graduating high school. The emotional rewards are great, said Varricchio. “They have to be at the top of their class. The beauty of it is that it affords many kids with an opportunity for college who don”™t have the means to go,” said Varricchio. “We have a great, dedicated board, and Dr. Richards, the college president, stays involved. The best part are the letters we receive from students who have been helped through the program. It makes it all worthwhile.”
These days, the Newburgh-Beacon ferry and restaurants like Torches on the Hudson and the Blue Martini are Varricchio”™s business neighbors. The prostitutes have moved on.
“Watching how far this city has come since I first arrived back in the early 1980s and trying to help make it better ”“ well, it”™s amazing to be here and be part of it,” said Varricchio. SUNY Orange plans to put a new college campus at the foot of Broadway, opening its doors by fall 2008, a prospect that Varricchio looks forward to with unabashed excitement.
“We never planned to stay here,” she said. “But as time has gone on, I can”™t imagine living anywhere else. Newburgh has a vitality all its own, and I”™ve been watching it rebuild before my eyes. Working with the SUNY Orange Foundation and the fact that we”™ll soon have hundreds of students here is nothing I could have imagined happening when we first arrived.”  Working to bring Newburgh back to its former All-American city status is a concept Varricchio said is worth promoting.   Â
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