Hudson Valley Small Business Meeting Talks Successes and Struggles

There are more than 26.5 million businesses in the United States, and this month, a few of them from the Hudson Valley came together at SUNY New Paltz to highlight their successes and discuss solutions for their struggles.

There was a gathering of Hudson Valley entrepreneurs at SUNY New Paltz as the Hudson Valley economic development corporation hosted a talk about the impact small businesses are having on the valley’s economy early last week.

Business owners discussed the balance between the successes and struggles they’ve faced and how to face adversity and triumph alike.

Some say that although their businesses are successful, they are still trying to find ways to bring their products to larger markets.

As it turns out, these business owners may be getting their wish. Universities like Mercy College have decided to expand their business programs.

Mercy College is expanding its graduate business programs at Dobbs Ferry and Bronx campuses. The programs to be enlarged include Masters of Business Administration, Masters of Organizational Leadership, and Human Resources Management.

The expansion will begin this summer. Mercy’s most in-demand feature is its MBA Turbo Program, which allows students to complete their degree in one year with an accelerated start. Turbo students attend free classes in an integrated form for about a month and can earn class waivers totaling 21 credits. New Turbo programs have begun at the Dobbs Ferry campus and will commence in July at the Bronx Campus and in August at the Manhattan Campus.

In addition, OandR has donated $5,000 to Leadership Rockland to help support the operation of the 10-month-long community leadership development program. The program, now running for almost 26 years, has trained more than 600 Rockland residents in civic and governmental engagement and may be able to help small business owners in the future.

“The modern entrepreneur is asked to be so many things, you can’t just be good at your business. You also have to be great at social media, you have to be an excellent story teller, you have to be resourceful when it comes to financing and even just equipment purchases and things like that,” co-founder of Gravity Ciders Patti Wilcox said at the New Paltz gathering.

“And so I think that the modern consumer wants to educate themselves and that’s really a wonderful thing, and it’s opened up a lot of opportunity for craft production, but it also puts a lot of stress on the entrepreneur,” she concluded.

The EDC plans to host more networking events for local business owners in the coming months.