In the 56 years that Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress has striven to help make the area a better place to live, work and play, its president and CEO Jonathan Drapkin remains just as passionate about his backyard as he was “B.C.” ”” before Covid.
Saying the pandemic has changed the way people now conduct business, Drapkin started commuting to the office virtually when the lockdowns began; the nonprofit”™s former brick-and-mortar Newburgh office has been 100% virtual since March 2020.
“With our regional footprint, we”™ve found this has increased attendance for meetings, programs and conferences, as people don”™t have to travel,” Drapkin said, adding that staff meets via Zoom and communication is continuous through Slack.
Speaking at the Rockland Business Association”™s October luncheon at the West Nyack Inn on Oct. 21, Drapkin looked back on the county”™s past accomplishments and encouraged elected officials and business owners in the room to remember what he said the four things most Americans want most: a job, decent shelter, decent health care and a safe place to raise their children.
He encouraged New York”™s smallest county (which is comprised of five towns, 19 villages and assorted hamlets) to partner actively with Bergen and Orange ”” the counties on Rockland”™s border ”” since many employees commute from one area and work in another.
“We”™ve learned from Covid that it”™s okay to work somewhere else but call the county home,” he said.
Saying Rockland has grown exponentially in the last three censuses ”” among the highest growth in all of New York’s counties ”” Drapkin suggested a permanent committee be set up to deal with one of its most pressing issues: water.
He said he hopes to see leaders agree to meet once a month for an open and honest dialogue on the looming water crisis, which he hopes will include representatives from the Rockland Water Coalition and Suez North America among its members.
Pattern”™s staff is currently working on a new study, “Main Street ”” The Pathway Forward,” that aims to help businesses get back on track and in the black. It is expected to be released in December.
“Main Streets come in all shapes and sizes when you”™re looking at nine counties,” Drapkin said. “It could be the efforts of a Business Improvement District in a small section of a city, or the intersection of two roads in a hamlet in the northern part of the Hudson Valley .”¦ Our goal is to be a resource for all of them.”
The Main Street roadmap will incorporate the use of telehealth, remote work and virtual learning as well.
“One thing we know we”™re in need of is digital connectivity,” Drapkin said. “Access to broadband is not a luxury. It”™s a necessity.”
Drapkin knows that well, since he lives in Sullivan County, an area of the Catskills where connectivity is definitely a challenge. To that end, the New York State Public Service Commission is currently preparing an interactive map that will identify areas that are served, underserved and unserved.
After 15 years as executive director of the regional think tank, Drapkin plans to step down in December, but he says “retirement is not a word in my vocabulary ”¦. I plan to stay engaged and involved in the region.”
A search is currently underway for his successor.
