To the People:
What a difference a year makes! This timeless adage could not be more true in Sullivan County today.
Just one year ago there was no Resorts World Catskills or YO1 Nature Cure. Also, Kartrite Indoor Water Park is now nearly completed, Entertainment Hotel is under construction, and the Eldred Preserve project, Hampton Inn project, and multiple housing projects are all in the making.
Today our unemployment rate at 3.9% is the lowest it has been in 28 years. It is lower than the New York State average and lower than the United States figures.
Who saw that coming?
We did.
There have been completed investments of approximately $1.5 billion dollars with much more to come. Sales tax collection is up over $3 million dollars from this time last year.There has been job creation in the thousands, with more to come.
For the first time in decades fully employed workers are seeking better jobs than their current one in a significant way. We have gone from a labor surplus county to a labor importer.
And we still need over 800 new employees to fill anticipated openings in the very near future. While that creates its own set of challenges, which we must certainly address, I much prefer it over where we were just three years ago.
This is just one example of growing pains we must overcome in order to experience the full return of a vibrant sustainable Sullivan County economy.
Yes, housing, schools, workforce training, infrastructure are among many critical areas we continue to work on.
Yet, I remind everyone that collectively we are methodically addressing each one relative to what growing resources allow us to do.
It took forty years to completely bottom out. Now we are well into our comeback story. It is not perfect and no one claimed it would be.
And there remains those, including some in the media, that will focus on every negative thing that can highlight.
Unbelievable!
It is clearly obvious that the Sullivan County economy is thriving. Those are not just words, the actual numbers speak volumes. Most all businesses are busier than they have been in years and we are only at the very beginning of this remarkable journey.
Hang in there folks there will be a lot more to come in 2019.
Sincerely,
Marc Baez
President, Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development