It’s Time To Thrive | MTA may pull out of two counties

One thing I have witnessed during the Pandemic is that people seem to have two modes, frozen stiff or high speed action. I tend to lean towards the latter, because for me,  it’s the only way to move quickly out of COVID survival and into a thriving adaptation mindset. Much of what the Business Council is  focused on now and will continue to focus on in 2021 is just that: Helping our businesses  thrive in spite of obstacles.

Toward that end, we are working on a number of programs that will serve to directly engage our members, our municipal leaders, and our community. Next week, we are hosting a special presentation for Town Supervisors and Town and Village Board Members, which will feature a unique economic development campaign initiated by  Yorktown Town Supervisor Matt Slater and executed by Thomson & Bender, Inc.

As Yorktown’s first marketing campaign, “Destination Y: Up Where You Belong” is focused on promoting investment and relocation to Yorktown, and capitalizes on the documented exodus of businesses from urban settings to suburban communities, like ours. The presentation is designed to spark conversation and innovation among our municipal leaders, (who have all been invited, along with our Economic Development Task Force), which we expect to  generate actionable ideas to move our economy forward.

From a business member standpoint,  we are honing our industry-specific programming through the development of  Industry and Demographically oriented committees, which will create unique networking opportunities and collaboration among sector related companies. As this pandemic has shown us, there is strength in numbers and these committees will foster deeper industry  knowledge, education, and camaraderie, which will strengthen our ability to advocate across key industries. Initially, we plan to introduce committees representing the following sectors: Hospitality, Finance, Construction, Real Estate, Not-for-profit, Minority and women owned business, Finance, and Health and Wellness.

As part of our industry focused approach, we are developing advertising campaigns to promote and support the industries that have been hit the hardest by the pandemic, including restaurants and retail. If you are interested in being a part of this effort, please reach out to us.

Please keep up-to-date on the events we host monthly by visiting our Calendar of Events page HERE.

If you are a business owner and, like us, want to ensure that commerce in Putnam County moves from surviving to thriving,  then visit  our WEBSITE and join us in our efforts to keep Putnam County Moving Forward. We have levels of membership from $50-$5,000 all tailored to supporting you and the entire Putnam County Business Community.

Setting aside their party line differences, the county executives of Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam and Dutchess warn that unless there’s immediate financial help for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), it might be forced to end service to two Hudson Valley counties and decimate service in three more.

The county executives have joined forces in a push to get politicians in Washington to untie the government’s purse strings and come up with immediate federal aid to save the MTA, and specifically the Metro-North Railroad, from financial collapse. Their warning about services is in a letter sent to the White House and congressional leaders.

The county executives, Democrat George Latimer of Westchester and Republicans Ed Day of Rockland, Steven Neuhaus of Orange, MaryEllen Odell of Putnam and Marcus Molinaro of Dutchess are urging President Trump, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to provide $12 billion in federal aid to the MTA beginning right away.

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