Orange County Partnership”™s 22nd annual holiday and awards event was packed with business owners and political leaders.
The tone at Anthony”™s Pier 9 restaurant in New Windsor was more somber than in past years. The downhill ride is not over, many said, but nobody is giving up the ship.
Partnership President Maureen Halahan praised companies in business in the county for over a century, including WVT Communications in Warwick, Gillinder Glass in Port Jervis and Green Valley Onion Company in Pine Island. She didn”™t forget the new kids on the block, including Crystal Run Health Care, Advanced Coating Technologies, Orange County Choppers and others who have continued to grow, bringing new jobs to the county they call home, despite the slippery economy.
County Executive Edward Diana told the audience Orange County will continue getting the job done with less, but getting it done nonetheless. The county”™s proposed 2009 budget will result in no tax increase for taxpayers.
“I love and believe in Orange County,” Diana said. “Despite our falling house prices, despite the bad news we hear every day about Wall Street, we are going to make it through this crisis. Yes, we are facing difficult times. We have an amazing wealth of business leaders and the best chamber of commerce in the state. We”™re in a recession, but together we”™ll come out stronger because we”™ve got the tenacity to do it.”
There was also recognition for three stalwarts:
Ӣ The Quality of Life Award was presented to NewburghӪs Mount St. Mary College. In accepting, its president, Fr. Kevin Mackin, pledged to continue providing quality education and reminded listeners the college is an economic engine for the community, generating more than $150 million a year in revenue and salaries. He pledged the Mount intended to remain a cornerstone in the countyӪs economic viability.
”¢ The Spirit of Innovation Award went to Belsito Communications for its commitment to breaking news through its first responder communications network and for its dedication to getting the news out through various forms of media, including print, “which will always be with us in some way, shape or form,” said Belsito.
”¢ The Alliance for Balanced Growth Golden Shovel Award went to Crystal Run Health Care, which has grown from one to 10 locations, eight of which are in Orange County. Dr. Hal Teitelbaum”™s practice has more than 120 doctors on staff performing an array of specialties and employing more than 600 support staff in the county. And it”™s still growing. This time, it”™s building a new 127,000-square-foot building on Crystal Run Road in Middletown, which will eventually employ another 450 people. Teitelbaum”™s organization is the fastest-growing medical practice in New York State. But Teitelbaum told well-wishers, “Despite Crystal Run”™s success, I am first and foremost a doctor.” (He proved that earlier when one guest at the awards event took ill during the cocktail reception. Teitelbaum examined and stayed with the patient until the ambulance arrived.)
Keynote speaker David Sanger”™s take on the current state of the U.S. and its international relations was intently listened to by guests. Sanger has spent 20 years with The New York Times, the past six as its chief White House correspondent. Like others, he has compared Barack Obama”™s forthcoming presidency to that of FDR”™s, who took office as the country was in the midst of the worst economic crisis in its history and later became a wartime president as well. Obama will be walking into both situations. Â
Unlike Roosevelt, however, Obama will face a global economic crisis, one in which the U.S. finds itself $11 trillion dollars in debt to China. “That scenario would seem inconceivable to us 10 or 20 years ago,” said the seasoned reporter. However, it is all too real today, with Sanger predicting Obama will not only have to restore America”™s economic health, but regain its stature on the world stage. Further, he said Obama needs to change the mindset begun in the Clinton administration and continued by Bush II that “markets correct themselves; we”™ve learned if we do not regulate wisely, we can get into trouble pretty quickly.”
Sanger does not believe a bailout for the “Big Three” automakers makes sense: “Let them sink or swim. Both GM and Chrysler invested $465 billion into their own factories. They could have taken that same money and bought out Honda, Nissan and several other companies.”
Sanger, who noted Obama is surrounding himself with experienced people who are “more right-centered than the public anticipated (and) is going to have to deal with Iran, which is quickly becoming a force to be reckoned with.”
While the world stage has changed since Roosevelt was president, the basics remain: The economy is in recession; the U.S. is involved in military action in the Middle East; and Iran is possibly evolving into a nuclear power. “We have faced these problems before. It took a lot of hard work and ingenuity to overcome it. I believe we can find the wherewithal to do it,” said Sanger in closing. “I suspect we will end up with a country we will be more comfortable with.”Â
