The new business boss says common sense and collaboration are strategies that make economic sense in current fiscal times.Â
“We have to look at what we”™re good at and go with strengths,” said MacEnroe, 53, who took office March 2. He added that the Hudson Valley region and Dutchess County in particular have a variety of strengths to turn to in stoking the county”™s economy, running the gamut from manufacturing to arts to agribusiness and ecotourism. And he said that teamwork locally and regionally can pay dividends.
MacEnroe is moving from his previous post as director of state governmental relations for Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) in Troy where he forged government-university-industry partnerships.
He said in accepting the top job at DCEDC he is coming to a place where the economy is already doing relatively well, compared to other places in New York and the nation. That Dutchess County has 11,000 jobs related to IBM manufacturing is relatively well known, but he added that some 150 other manufacturing companies are located in Dutchess County. “You may not have heard about them because they tend to be small, but they are producing interesting products,” MacEnroe said.Â
To help existing manufacturing thrive and attract new companies MacEnroe said it is important for state legislators to renew state Industrial Development Agency authorization and to create a revamped Empire Development Zone program.Â
He said that saving the 700 jobs at NXP Semiconductors in Fishkill was “challenging” but said no one had given up yet on finding a buyer for the plant. The company announced last September it would be closed by the end of 2009 unless it was sold. Â
High tech and green technology are the best chances Dutchess and the region have for generating manufacturing jobs, MacEnroe said, adding that a regional approach is best.  Â
“I would like to collaborate with colleagues in (Kingston-based) The Solar Energy Consortium and start to attract green energy sector companies in the mid Hudson Valley and into the region,” he said. He said the federal stimulus package and Gov. David Paterson are both emphasizing renewable energy as a path to economic growth, with the state preparing to mandate a higher percentage of New York”™s energy supply come from renewable supplies.
“That”™s a market we ought to exploit.” MacEnroe said. “We have a well-trained work force that can easily adapt to solar and wind. And in terms of going with our strengths, one strength is our location. It is prohibitively expensive to ship solar panel components halfway across the world. You want to be close to your marketplace and we think there will be a huge market in the tri-state area.”Â
MacEnroe said that not only startup American companies could work in the area, but that German companies already dealing in solar components are considering moving to this area. Â
But manufacturing is only part of the economic engine of Dutchess County. Agriculture and tourism are other strong components and here MacEnroe said synergy is possible, especially given the region”™s renown for artists and its key place in American history.
With proximity to tens of millions of people looking for something to do in their spare time, MacEnroe suggested that the Hudson Valley would benefit from “the staycation view of life. Instead of going to Chicago, you may stay here in the Hudson Valley and enjoy the things we have here.”
Citing the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, he called it “a jewel in the tourism crown” and raised the idea of the area becoming a gourmet”™s delight, with CIA grads settling in restaurants throughout the area, using fresh produce and meats from local farms.
“We have a foody culture,” MacEnroe said and suggested that with the CIAÂ grads: “On a per capita basis we have more interesting restaurants up and down the Valley than any other place outside New York City.”
The entire area will benefit from the 212-foot-high Walkway over the Hudson between Poughkeepsie and Highland and MacEnroe said that sometimes a city or neighborhood can benefit from “a little lucky charm,” such as what happened when the Dia museum opened a branch in Beacon. “Beacon just exploded” he said. Other areas in Dutchess County could duplicate the success. “You can always find a number of starting points,” MacEnroe said.
