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The Big Apple will soon be home to the Hudson Valley’s apples and other fresh fruits and vegetables as a new Route 209 marketing corridor is developed.

“Distribution is the lynchpin to the whole thing,” says Todd Earling, executive director of Hudson Valley AgriBusiness Development Corporation, which will be overseeing the new effort to bring local produce into the heavily-populated metro New York area.

“The corridor itself is really a model to take the micro to the macro,” he said.

The effort recently received an economic boost with a $350,000 federal grant to develop the Route 209 food corridor. Congressman Maurice Hinchey recently held a press conference to announce the grant and the development of the food corridor.

The plan is anchored on the south with cold storage units owned by Gillette Creamery and in the north by a food processing center at the former IBM cafeteria in Tech City. The processing area will be occupied by Farm to Table Co-Packers, a co-operative group that had been operating from a site in Poughkeepsie that is about to be closed.

“We have a flexibility to do any product that comes out of this region,” says Jim Hyland, president of Winter Sun Farms, and co-organizer of Farm to Table along with Lou Roels of Pikas Farm Table in Big Indian.

“We really have the flexibility to work with any food product.”

Currently, Winter Sun freezes local vegetables when they are harvested, and delivers throughout the area and in Manhattan in winter months, when farms are dormant. About 15 to 20 farms provide produce says Hyland. Pikas creates frozen soups and quiches using local products.

“We both needed a kitchen and there’s a glaring need for cold packing services, so we decided to partner up,” says Hyland, who currently stores frozen vegetables in Milton and distributes in Manhattan, local colleges and farmers markets in New Paltz. By operating as a CSA he is guaranteed income by members, but he believes there is a huge, untapped market in Manhattan, where consumers are willing to pay more for high-quality products.

A recent marketing study by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets demonstrated an enormous demand among New York City consumers for locally grown food. The study found an estimated $860 million worth of unmet demand for local farm products in the New York City market.

Hyland has already been in talks with local farmers who are excited about the opportunity to expand sales and bring their produce to the Tech City location where Farm to Table Co-Packers can create new products, such as tomato sauce and applesauce in the retrofitted kitchen. The Rondout Valley Growers Association, as a group, has been very supportive says Earling of the AgriBusiness Development Corporation

“Farmers can use another market where they can sell their vegetables,” explains Hyland. “Farmers are great at doing things to survive….but during the season they’re going full bore to make it work. It’s not like at the end of the day in August they’re going to pump out 500 jars of tomato sauce. But they can drive to Tech City and drop off their excess vegetables and we take it from there.”

Farm to Table Co-packers can help with everything from product development, distribution, and going through the red tape of meeting food regulations. Hyland also sees the site as an opportunity for food entrepreneurs. He cites food such as pickles, granola, salsa and pesto as possible products. Although there is currently no plan to build a store at the site for local consumers, it is a possibility for the future.

“This is a new model of incubator kitchens,” says Hyland. “It’s a much better way to go.”

Although distribution plans have not been finalized to get the products into the metro New York area, Hyland believes there is no need to reinvent the wheel. Gillette Creamery currently distributes products in the region and recently expanded. The old creamery site will be used for the refrigeration element of the Route 209 Food Corridor says Hyland.

“This is an opportunity to take advantage of the local demand that’s out there.”

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A renewed effort to demand prevailing wages on projects that receive tax breaks is being put forth as part of the state’s new budget, renewing tensions about the controversial proposal between unions and business proponents.

“Our history with a forced prevailing wage mandate was not successful,” says Lance Matteson of the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency which implemented a prevailing wage requirement for about two years,. “No projects to which the policy would have applied were closed. Basically, it was an experiment that did not work as hoped.”

But the prevailing wage effort ensures that local laborers will be used on projects, says Todd Diorio president of the Hudson Valley Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents 28 local unions in the Hudson Valley.

“We hate to see these projects come to this area if someone from North Carolina comes to do the work,” he says. He adds other projects in Ulster's IDA, which did not have the prevailing wage requirement, also did not close.

The effort to put the new law into the state budget means that prevailing wage would apply to all projects that receive support and tax credits through Industrial Development Agencies.

Although Ulster halted its prevailing wage effort, a few agencies in western New York currently have the requirement.

“It’s a job killer,” says Craig Turner, senior director of public policy for the Buffalo Niagra partnership, which covers eight counties in the western most part of the state. “People should be wary. This is a very slippery slope, as this bill is telling private sector employees what they should be paying employees.”

Turner says the prevailing wage demand would offset the fiscal benefits of IDA. He says the tax benefit often reduces project costs by about 15 percent, but the prevailing wage increases project costs 28 percent.

“No one would use the IDA if they had to make this trade,“ he said. “It just doesn’t make good business sense. I think the IDA would cease to be relevant to the private sector.”

The state’s prevailing wage is computed as an hourly rate, plus benefits for a region.

In the Hudson Valley, many rates are tied to the lower region, which includes New York City. Yet some have are based on northern counties, and a few even have niches carved out for specific territories.

A painter would receive $26.39 an hour, plumbers in the area make $41.44 (although that rate includes most of the area counties and Walkill and Shawangunk prisons, it does not apply to the remainder of the town of Town of Shawangunk, and Towns of Plattekill, Marlboro, and Wawarsing.) Diorio, who is in Labor, says that prevailing wage is currently about $28 an hour, plus benefits, which he estimates are $18 an hour. He says the prevailing wage creates a level playing field, which reflects the costs of living in an area.

“It’s hard for a New York contractor to compete against a contractor to who comes from down south . If you’re living in North Carolina, $15 or $16 is a living wage. In Orange and Ulster, it’s not a living wage.”

Local IDAs have not yet taken a stance on the prevailing wage issue, but Turner is hoping business pressures will keep the prevailing wage for IDA projects from being a part of the state budget.

He believes the IDAs are critical to keep the state viable.

“You look at other states around the country and they’re rolling out the carpet. New York does not do that. It is difficult to work with, and work in,” he said. “There are programs that work, that mitigate the cost of doing business in New York state. The IDA is a very good tool for economic development and it helps us to compete against others states that are vying for the same jobs.”

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“The flush of catching up to Ford and General Motors, coupled with a boom in demand, led Toyota's leaders to put sales growth above quality. Senior leaders became focused on becoming first in sales with a 15 percent share of global sales. This meant that new products had to be introduced more quickly, new plants had to be opened more rapidly, and supply networks had to be expanded more aggressively. We're now seeing the consequences of those decisions.” - Learning from Toyota's Stumble by Steven Spear

Another automaker that lost its credibility was Audi.  “Volkswagen AG’s Audi luxury brand spent 15 years rebuilding U.S. sales after sudden-acceleration incidents in the 1980s almost wiped out demand, a possible sign of the difficult times Toyota Motor Corp. faces.  Audi’s U.S. deliveries plunged 83 percent by 1991 from their peak in 1985 following recalls of the German automaker’s 5000 sedan. A class-action lawsuit in 1987 by Audi owners seeking compensation is still being fought.” Audi 1980s Scare May Mean Lost Generation for Toyota  by Andreas Cremer and Tom Lavell.

Toyota was the industry example of how to run a manufacturing business at optimum performance.  When they upheld Lean principles of the customer first in on all levels of their processes it was reflected in the quality of their product.  Not just in production, but design and marketing.  This Lean philosophy was translated into profit, brand loyalty and an impeccable reputation.  They were truly a lean enterprise.  I fear that they have now become just another automaker.  Toyota is reexamining what made them great.  However, it will still take years to recover from the brand damage now done.

Toyota is a clear example of what not to do when you have a successful business model.  All companies can be what Toyota was and hopefully will become again.  Before this recall Toyota had 15 percent of the global market.  Amazing.  On a local level, think of what is would be like to increase your market share just by doing things Lean.  If you were able to set up best practices, reduce or eliminate mistakes, full utilization of staff, etc. how would that help you become an industry leader?  The question to ask yourself is am I the Toyota of yesterday or the Toyota of today?  This applies for service business too.  Which one are you?

Croll Productive Synergy has been helping diverse businesses create customized efficiency systems in the Hudson Valley.  By “creating the shortest path to success”,  Croll has been able to facilitate improved workflow systems, allowing clients to save time, focus on revenue generating tasks, prioritize for maximum cash flow,  effectively delegate and, consequently,  increase profits.  To learn more visit www.crollproductivesynergy.com.

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“I’m at the whim of everything right now - the Congress, the president, the sugar prices, the chocolate prices,” says Carl Krause of Krause’s Chocolates in Saugerties. “I’m getting jerked around a bit, as far as I’m concerned.”

At Alps Sweet Shop, which has been in business since 1922, making it the oldest chocolatier in Dutchess County, business continues to rise with each announcement touting the health benefits of chocolate. But outside forces are taking a toll.

“I’m not happy with the commodity speculators,” says Alps owner Terry Craft. “Oil went flat and they turned attention to us. Cacao has gone bezerk. My raw ingredients have gone up 56 percent in the past 10 months. It’s insane.”

Both owners are hoping their Valentine’s Day turnout will be strong.

They are now prepping as much as possible for the onslaught, but with fresh hand-dipped strawberries the specialty at each store, it means a lot of work right before and during the holiday.

“Strawberry specials go like crazy,” says Krause. He expects to dip 500 pounds of the fruit, and was obviously glad when the price just went down $1 a pound, indicating another crop was coming to harvest.

At Alps people will be hand dipping around the clock. Last year Craft had four people working 24-hours a day for three days, but they still ran out at the Fishkill and Beacon stores. This year there will be six people at all times.

“It’s a process,” he says modestly.

Because Valentine’s Day is on a Sunday, it is difficult for the candy makers to gauge demand.

“We’re competing with everybody for that dollar - the movie theaters and the restaurants,” says Craft. “The best for us is when Valentine’s Day is on a Wednesday.”

Of course, as almost all business owners in the Northeast know, weather also plays into the equation.

“If it snows, people don’t come out,” he says and timeliness is essential. “Nobody’s coming in the day after for hearts. It’s done.”

At Krause’s, there’s been a long-standing reputation of waiting in a line that wrapped around the outside of the store to secure a purchase. But Krause expanded the store so people can wait inside, thinking it was the right thing to do. However, he laughs explaining that now people don’t see others waiting outside so they may think business is slow.

Despite the challenges and demands, chocolate making is a multi-generational business in the region.

Krause’s family got involved when his grandfather, a German immigrant, opened a store in Manhattan in 1929. Despite being in heart of the Great Depression, it succeeded.

“Those who came from Germany in the 1920s had lived with a collapsed currency, they had really terrible economic conditions,” says Krause. “They were good at saving money and everything. He (his grandfather) had to be extremely good with his money. It’s rubbed off.”

Krause’s father bought the Saugerties site in the early 1970s, and renovated a rundown building to today’s showroom. When a nearby mill closed, the family bought the parking lot, which has become a necessity.

Krause keeps the family recipe in a locked safe, and is only now teaching his son, age 11, some of the ways of making candy.

“My grandpa obviously did a good job making the recipes,” he says. “I’ve put my whole life into fine tuning and tweaking these things. I never did a down-grade in any ingredients, it’s always an upgrade.”

At Alps, the store has proprietary rights on all its centers and truffles and while Craft consults and teaches throughout the country, he won’t divulge the secrets.

“We use basic formulations to get going.”

When he first came into the store - “I’m the classic marrying-the-boss’s-daughter story” - he had elaborate plans to upgrade and change things with an artisan flair. A few years in, he learned his lesson.

“You don’t fix what isn’t broken,” he says. “We have three generations coming in for the same product - the same caramel or novelty bunny. If someone comes in with his grandson and I don’t have what he had as a kid, I’m in trouble.”

Although the couple’s two dogs obviously won’t take over the family business, numerous nieces and nephews spend their college breaks working in the stores, and some have expressed a deeper interest in the operations.

And despite being around the sweet stuff every day, each owner still loves chocolate. Kraus admits to being a bit of a chocoholic, and has a few pieces every day, with dark caramel - one of the company’s best sellers, being his favorite.

For Craft, plain dark Swiss truffles, with their smooth insides, are the best.

But more than the taste, each owner has realized the challenges and opportunities of owning the stores are really what make it worthwhile.

“I figured it out, after a long bunch of years, this is the way it should be” says Kraus. The multiple demands - from purchasing supplies, to fixing machinery and making candy - fit his skills and personality. “It’s kind of what I’m cut out to do.”

Craft also likes the responsibility.

“I think there are greater challenges these days to survive,” he says. “But it’s the most rewarding thing. You’re accountable for your own decisions and you sink or swim on your own decisions.”

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“There are penalties for being out of compliance,” he said. But also important is the fact that a non-profit’s reputation can be ruined.

“You take years and years to build up a reputation, and it can disappear in an instant,” he warned.

Like businesses, non-profits are strictly regulated. Those that are incorporated, have property or conduct charitable activity within the state must register with the Attorney General’s Charities Bureau, as well as the Department of State, IRS and the state tax department.

The registration allows not only the AG office to follow a charity, it’s also a source of information for everyone from funders to watchdog groups and the press. All records are public.

Some groups, such as religious and educational organizations, as well as PTAs, are exempt from registering, however Garin suggested - in a better safe than sorry approach - to talk with his office to verify exemption status.

“We’re here for you.”

Groups that hire professional fundraisers have very specific requirements, including filing papers stating how long the contract is for.

“We don’t want some of those professional fundraisers to purport to raise funds for you…but your contract was only six weeks long.”

Outside professional fundraisers are a source of scrutiny for his office said Garin, who is the charity’s attorney for the Poughkeepsie Regional Office.

Professional fundraisers, and everyone they hire, must be listed with the Attorney General’s office. One common problem is outside fund raisers who promise money will be spent locally, but in fact a huge percentage of the funds is spent elsewhere, used to offset the fundraising effort.

“We don’t want the community to be misled, even if it’s for charitable organizations,” he said.

Charities are big business in the area. In the Hudson Valley, 1,700 non-profits are responsible for infusing $6.5 billion annually into the economy, all of which should be used to better the area.

“Charities are here for the community,” Garin told the audience, which consisted largely of representatives from area non-profits. “They are not here for your sake or yourself.”

He told of a Sullivan County arts group that started with the best of intentions, raised community funds and bought and renovated a home to create an office. It soon went defunct, and a few years later, the board president had the title transferred into his name, and planned on selling the property, at a huge profit for himself.

Another board member called the Attorney General’s office to question the appropriateness of the action, and the personal transaction was ultimately halted.

“Your assets belong to the community,” explained Garin. If an entity becomes defunct, assets are passed to another similar cause in the community.

Board members have special responsibilities, he warned, and it requires following through on anything that raises a personal red flag or if there are any signals that something may be amiss.

“You may think, (as a board member) the most important thing you can do is to help raise money,” he said. “But you watch that charity’s integrity …. That’s the most important thing.”

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Politely ask Sam Simon - who grew up on farm and saw his widowed mother struggle to make ends meet - why he retired from a lucrative medical practice and then bought a dairy farm he cuts to the chase: “What you’re really asking is ‘Why am I crazy?’”

Indeed, that’s one way to put it.

But the retired orthopedist explains that he truly loves his Holstein cows, and the chance to do some genetic work with them appealed to him. He didn’t expect to become an advocate for an essential industry that is struggling. But that’s what he also did.

A founding member of Hudson Valley Fresh, a non-profit cooperative of five dairy farms in Dutchess and three in Orange counties, Simon’s passion is evident. It is one of the reasons he, and his wife Gail, received this year’s Community Service Award by the Dutchess County Chamber of Commerce.

“I was humbled and touched by it” he says of the award, “but I always look at the community as having a lot of people with great vision, passion and energy.”

But few have spent the past 11 years really studying the fading dairy industry - in the mid 1970s, Dutchess County had 300 farms. Now it has 21 - and then doing something about it.

“They’re disappearing because they can’t sustain themselves,” he said. “There needs to be a sustainable wage for their product, not erratic price structuring.”

Simon talks about the price farmers get for their milk, which is exactly the same today as it was in the mid 1970s, with no inflation adjustment.

“That’s what crazy,” he says in a passionate voice, angered over the injustice of those being undermined while producing a high-quality product.

“These farmers work so hard - it’s shameful, really shameful,” he says.

In the past few years, farmers average about $1.20 a gallon for their milk. In 2009 it was $1.05. It currently costs $1.70 to produce a raw gallon of milk at the barn, says Simon. The co-op price is guaranteed at $1.85, and last year it generated $130,000 for the eight members.

But only a small percentage of the co-op members’ milk goes to Hudson Valley Fresh, which has grown about 25 percent per year for the last several years. When it started they sold 200 pounds per week, and they now sell 100,000 pounds per week, but the farms produce 300,000 pounds. (A pound of milk averages eight gallons.)

The remainder is sold to larger dairies, which use the high-quality milk to mix with, and offset the problems of, lower-grade milk. He explained that milk has a somatic cell count, which is similar to a human’s white blood count as a barometer of health. Premium milk has less than 200,000 somatic cell count. The milk from Simon’s farm averages an 80,000, overall the co-op averages 125,000. Some big dairies produce milk with a count up to 400,000.

“You want to know here your food is coming from in this world,” says Simon. “These Hudson Valley Fresh farms are your neighbors…they produce what they love and they have a healthy product. In comparison, one county in California - Tulare County - produces more milk than the entire Northeast.”

Additional facts are staggering. The average dairy product that is consumed in the Northeast travels 1,200 miles. The region consumes 40 percent of the dairy in the country, but only produces 15 percent. Most of the milk comes from west of the Mississippi.

In comparison, Hudson Valley Fresh products travel an average of 60 miles. It is processed exclusively at Boice’s Dairy in Kingston and is distributed from south of Albany to Manhattan and in some parts of neighboring states.

When they first went to stores, Simon had to promise to buy back any milk that didn’t sell, so there was no risk to the storeowner.

“The big dairies pay for shelf space. We couldn’t do that.”

Adams and a few other stores were willing to sell the product, and the demand just continues to increase. Currently about 8,000 gallons are delivered in the area every other day.

Local farms would like to join Hudson Valley Fresh, but first the existing members need to sell more of their own product to remain viable.

“We want to first use 70 percent of our milk, before we start adding other (local) farms,” Simon explains. And he is quick defends all the farmers who are working.

“It’s a pretty complex profession, “he says. “The farmers who are surviving are bright people, good managers and very hard workers. There‘s no such things as a lazy farmer and no such thing as a dumb farmer - they went out of business a long time ago.”

As for the future of dairy farming, he’s uncertain.

“If Hudson Valley Fresh grows and survives, I’m optimistic we have a chance,” he says. But if the deep fluctuations of price, determined by Chicago cheese and commodity people continues, we can’t survive.”

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Competing chants of “drill now” and “no fracking” echoed through the rain and wind-whipped landscape of Albany last Monday as hundreds of proponents and opponents of drilling for natural gas in New York state took their cause to the streets and their elected officials.

On one hand, landowners expressed a need to secure additional revenue from their land. Supporters encouraged using New York’s natural gas to offset the damaging effects of coal, and the moral obligation to provide the natural gas from local sources, rather than importing it in from other areas.

Opponents said the process is environmentally dangerous, can pollute ground water systems and will disrupt land use and infrastructure. There are also concerns about safely disposing the water contaminated by the process.

The issue is at the forefront as plans to drill in the Marcellus Shale, which stretches throughout the southern part of the state, into the Catskills, are being reviewed. A draft generic environmental impact statement has been released by the state DEC, and is currently being reviewed. The Marcellus Shale drilling involves hydrofracking, which is a horizontal process that requires high pressure water, treated with chemicals, to blast apart the rocks to get to the natural gas.

Both sides tried to be heard on Monday.

“Albany is just not listening to us,” says Don and Joan Dawson of Afton, which is east of Binghamton. As a business owner, Don has been struggling to keep his Afton golf course viable. “Our area has been hard hit.” The revenue he could generate from drilling can make the difference between keeping his doors open or shutting them for good, leaving 26 workers unemployed.

“I consider myself an environmentalist, a steward of the land,” he says. “I’ve done my research and I’m 100 % in favor of this.”

Opponents have different sentiments. Nancy Reynolds and her husband own 185 acres in Chenango County. Although she and her husband signed a contract allowing drilling on their land, and received $50 an acre, plus a percentage of royalties, they believe they were misled.

“Once we realized it was awful, it was too late,” she says, explaining that her calls to a company lawyer in Texas were rudely dismissed. Their lease in non-negotiable she realizes.

But the more she finds out about the fracking process the more she opposes it. Her concerns about water quality prompted her to drive from her home in Manhattan to Albany to oppose the drilling.

“It will become an industrial site,” she says. “All the beautiful New York countryside won’t be there.”

Although the weather did not cooperate, both sides of the issue claim victory for the rallies they held.

The pro drilling speakers whipped the crowd of about 300 into a church revival atmosphere.

“We need jobs. The Marcellus will give us jobs - the Marcellus will bring our communities back,” they said to effusive cheers of support.

“They’re painting us a greedy, lazy people,” said one speaker. “I see hard-working farmers.” The crowd’s final chants of “drill now” and “jobs now” were shouted toward drilling opponents, who had gathered on the west lawn, but who ultimately retreated inside because of the weather.

“It was confusing and circus like, but we made out point,” said Ramsey Adams of Catskill Mountainkeepers, who estimated about 800 opponents came to Albany, but the confusion over locations and weather left many people scrambling.

“I believe this is the biggest environmental issue that ever faced New York state,” he said. Opponents’ lobbying efforts were effective, he said, since many legislators were unaware of hydrofracking process.

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In the swirling steam that rises from your coffee cup could be the ghosts of warblers flitting among the orchids, orioles sipping nectar from spectacular bouquets in the treetops, and thrush flipping up leaves on the forest floor.

Bridget Stutchbury

Birding expert and consultant for Birds and Beans Coffee

Bill Wilson is an unrepentant twitcher. It has nothing to do with his caffeine intake or the “Birds and Beans” company he is marketing online and via niche markets in New England and New York State. (“Twitching,” by the way, is a term that  originated in the 1950s, when it was used to describe the nervous behavior of Howard Medhurst, a British birdwatcher. It is especially used to someone who may travel long distances to “tick off” seeing a wide varieties of birds). In fact, it was Wilson’s observations about what seemed to be happening to the song bird populations summering in the Northeast, but who migrated to Central and South America for the winter, that got him thinking about going into the coffee business.

Coffee, Wilson explains, is most naturally grown as part of the underlayment of a tropical forest. It prefers the shady condition down below the canopy. When it is grown in this traditional manner, the beans ripen at their own slow pace, yielding ripe red beans over a rather long growing period. This manner of cultivation is both small farmer-friendly and earth- friendly, which is where the birds come into the picture.

Wilson was among those birding enthusiasts who noticed that many of the Northeast’s most beloved songbirds - robins, thrushes, orioles, vireo, titmouse and the like – had dwindling seasonal populations.

“We had been living in England for some years,” he explained. “ When we returned to (the Boston area), we started to realized that there just didn’t seem to be as many birds around as there had been when we left.”

His curiosity  was heightened and he began to explore what might be happening.

“I loved coffee and I loved birds and being out in nature,” said Wilson.

What he discovered was that, while it is no big secret that global agri-business, with its emphasis on the cheapest possible way to produce the biggest crop, it was less well-known that that business model was ruining, not just the birds’ winter habitat, but a whole traditional economy for the coffee farmers of Central and South America.

Coffee bushes are not native to Central and South America, Wilson explained, but over the past several centuries they have fit unobtrusively into a wide ecological niche in the region’s tropical forests.

“Coffee originated in Indonesia and was spread around to many other good growing regions by the Dutch, mainly,” said Wilson.

As such, it thrives in a specialized forest environment. The shrubs do not fix nitrate into the soil, so planting it among native plants that do allows shade coffee growers to not use any of the chemical fertilizers that are the hallmark of agr-business, sun grown plantations. Nor does coffee planted under the “rustic canopies’ need herbicides.  So, while it might seem that even the largest multi-national coffee growing consortiums would find it more economical to keep to the traditional shade grown practices (if only to save on fertilizers and herbicides), it simply wasn’t so.

That, said Wilson, is because coffee grows more slowly under the rustic canopy than it does in the sunshine; the berries do not ripen within a short period of time; and the planting and husbandry manpower needed to grow coffee in the shade make it less desirable as a cash crop than large factory farms. These operations not only cause huge tracts of native forest – and bird habitat – to be destroyed, they pour poisons into the ecosystem. And more birds either die or are dramatically weakened in their winter homes every single year.

“Every year, there are fewer surviving birds – and fewer birds in good enough shape to even make the migration back to our region,” said Wilson.

The factory farms hurt more than just the birds, he pointed out. They are making it increasingly difficult for local farmers to survive, as well.

“When you buy certified, organic, fair trade coffee, you are not only supporting migratory bird populations, you are supporting local farmers and a whole way of life,” he explained.

 Wilson, whose professional background is in marketing, began to think about whether there might be a sustainable market for Fair Trade beans that were also grown under certified organic, bird-friendly conditions.    

“It gets down to thinking about what people want in food…and how much work they are willing to put into getting it,” he explained. “I’ve also been in business for a long time, but I realized that this would be a real push.”

According to Wilson, 16 million Americans identify themselves as “bird watchers.”  His research indicated that about 9 million of those bird watchers also were avid coffee drinkers. Maybe there was a way to build a brand that would fuse these two ‘loves’ together. If that was possible, he reasoned, a coffee company could be created that would provide customers with excellent, high quality, fair trade organic coffee, the sales of which actually supported both earth and bird- friendly farming techniques and a sustainable way of life for local coffee producers.

“When we piloted the idea in 2008, we found that a company in Canada had already taken the name ‘Birds and Beans,’” said  Wilson. “So we approached them (David and Madeline Pritchard) and ultimately saw how we could cooperate.”

There was another issue” Wilson was a marketing pro – not a coffee roaster. The solution was to seek out a high quality roaster in the Northeast that would like to provide the roasted beans. They found Carmen and Bob Garver, proprietors of Wicked Joe Gourmet Coffee in Brunswick, Maine.

What remained, he noted, were people who actually were experts on the birds. Enter Ken Kaufman, Bridget Stutchbury, Scott Weidensaul and Wayne Petersen – all giants in the world of American and Canadian birding. The experts have been on the road for Birds and Beans this year, talking to local Audubon Societies and other groups interested in learning more about the inter-connections of traditioanlly grown coffee and the continued health of song birds in the Northeast.

These are also the groups who Wilson works with to get the coffee sold. What has been happening is pretty amazing. Besides the birders – who often pool shipping costs and order from Birds and Beans together – requests for the coffee have been coming in from food co-ops and organic food stores (like Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s in the greater Boston area).

Locally, Birds and Beans coffee is available at :

Nature's Pantry - Newburgh and Fishkill
Cornwall Community Co-op – Cornwall
Near & Natural Market – Bedford Hills, Westchester County
Table Local Market – Bedford Hills, Westchester County
Otto's Market – Germantown, NY
Audubon CT – Greenwich CT (just over the border)
Wild Birds Unlimited – Saratoga Springs, Ithaca, Johnson City
It can also be ordered online at: www.birdsandbeans.com.

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The Annual Report to the Membership on Issues and Opportunities in the New Year was presented by Al Samuels, Rockland Business Association President/CEO, on January 21 at the Nyack Seaport to roughly 134 of the RBA’s 1,000 members.

Although the sense of foreboding amongst the business community in Rockland County continues to be a presence, Samuels’ presentation highlighted both the good and the bad while offering possible solutions to lagging business and critiques of state policies which affect the economy. Samuels noted that while Rockland’s economy will likely not thrive in the way it had from the mid 1990s up through 2007, it is in better shape than the majority of New York state counties.

Since the beginning of 2008 there has been a 24 percent net income decrease in the average household. A small sampling of businesses in attendance showed mixed results to the recession but both were negative. Alex Vizueta, VP of Sales and Marketing at the ALS Group and a new member of RBA, said his business saw a 3 percent decrease over the last year. Mike Beckerle of Beckerle Lumber reported a 17 percent decrease in sales over the last year, but he added that other businesses in his industry were hit harder.

Samuels stressed both the responsibility Rockland businesses have in resuscitating the local economy and the role local government plays in enabling businesses to achieve this. Instead of looking to the state to fix the problems Rockland faces, Samuels said that the county ought to come up with money on its own to incentivize new business growth. He suggested that Open Space Acquisition programs, for example, be put on hold in favor of programs which immediately benefit the business community.

Samuels criticized Excelsia Investment Advisory’s proposal that New York state offer tax credit to businesses two years down the road as incentive to come here, saying that it is neither enough incentive, nor is it guaranteed that the state will even be able to afford it come 2012.

With New York leading the country in emigration of young people, Samuels asked RBA members to consider where the next generation of Rockland will come from. Over 2,000,000 educated young people leave New York to look for work. He griped over Rockland’s middling public schools which led the state in public education 45 years ago and stressed the need for renewed incentives for young, middle class families to move to the county. Along with business growth comes the ability to donate to charity but Samuels pointed out that a community full of people in need is unsustainable. “We’re never going to become Miami north,” he quipped.

Samuels docked ACORN for thwarting a business plan in the Bronx which could have produced 2,200 jobs calling it “insanity” and “an affront” that so many jobs vanished because the grassroots advocacy group wanted higher salaries and more benefits in the community. 

With 15 new RBA members in attendance, Samuels noted that this was the first event with so many first time members present. Among the new members was Michael Hirsch, founder of Disgusted Taxpayers of Clarkstown Political Action Committee. Stony Point Town Supervisor William Sherwood and Rockland County legislator John Murphy were also present. Indignant and all fired up, Hirsch criticized Samuels for introducing politicians as dignitaries saying “they are not; public servants is what they are.” Hirsch’s comments were curtailed by Samuels who said that the Q&A section is not a campaign platform. The line between politics and business was blurry however throughout Samuels’ presentation.

The event, which was sponsored by DHS Systems, LLC, was one of many such meetings to come throughout the year. For information about attending future events or RBA membership, visit rocklandbusiness.org.

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A pilot financial effort that Ulster County initiated in November, to help businesses through struggling times, has now expanded to a statewide effort.

“This is our time to shine,” Marjorie Rovereto, president and CEO of Ulster Savings Bank says of the Ulster plan to help small businesses that are struggling with reduced cash flow.

A collaborative effort among seven area banks, each putting up $150,000 has created a pool of over $1 million to help the county’s small businesses seriously hurt by the current economic slow down. It’s geared for established businesses that may not meet traditional loan criteria because of stricter regulations, yet they remain viable. Loans could be used for everything from inventory expenses to meeting payroll and rent.

“This is all about keeping people employed in our community,” said county executive Mike Hein.

The collaborative program, which is fully funded by the private institutions, has the backing of the Small Business Administration and will be administered by the New York Business Development Corporation. Called “Credit for Success,“ the increased access to capital should aid companies who have seen a decrease in revenue, or are just struggling to stay afloat in these trying times.

“Old-fashioned commercial lenders look at tax returns and financial reports,” Glenn Southerland of Catskill Hudson Bank explained of traditional loan criteria. “But ’09 is going to be a difficult period based on cash flow. This is a program that gives us the ability to rely on historical (performance) as well as projections that we can really get our arms around.”

The seven-year loans will have a variable interest rate of prime plus 2.75 % and most will range from $25,000 to $150,000, although there is room for a larger loan amounts.

“In banking you live by exceptions,” said Patrick MacKrell, president and CEO of the NYBDC, who was credited with ensuring this countywide collaborative effort was crafted correctly. His organization oversees a similar program that provides access to capital statewide.

“(But) The local banks know where the values are and where the opportunities are,” he said. Ulster is the first county to offer the collaborative local program, but it can be replicated elsewhere, he said.

Eligible companies must be based in Ulster County, have been recently declined for a traditional loan, and also develop a business plan with a counselor from local Small Business Development Corporation.

“Anything we can to help the program, we will do,” said Al Randzin, SBDC counselor who is well aware of the need for these loans. “We’re on the front lines and get the calls of desperation,” he says.

MacKrell explained that many small companies have been using zero-interest credit card rates, and rollover to new cards when the balance came due.

“It made a lot of sense - until the music stopped,” he said. Housing equity lines, a traditional stop-gap measure for many merchants, are also drying up, since most home values decreased after the housing bubble burst.

“We’re collectively ready to take a swing at things we can’t handle individually,” said MacKrell. All banks in the county were invited to participate, said Hein. (Because of legal restrictions, credit unions could not join the effort.) The seven banks which stepped to the plate include: Rondout Savings, Walden, Catskill Hudson, Provident, TD, Sawyer Savings and Ulster Savings.

“Over the decades, every time you have a need, you go to your local bank. These banks have been significantly honorable and generous to these communities.”

By keeping the effort local, it’s expected to be streamlined and accessible.

“It’s a little bridge, a little help,“ said Lance Matteson of the Ulster County Development Corporation. “This shared risk model is not a new one, but we’re trying to prove it can function at the local level.”

Hein explained this program it was a double win for the county, because it will not only keep people employed and contributing to the community, but it will also keep them off of public service programs, such as unemployment he said.

“Access to capital starts the whole engine moving.”

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