DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE

Well Holy New Year, Batman, It’s 2023!

Where the heck did 2022 go?

The year flew by. With COVID restrictions eased, everyone was back to business and attending in-person meetings and events. For our Associations, all of our events were sellouts, and early sellouts at that. Unfortunately, we had to turn away members who wanted to attend because of capacity issues.

Our annual dinner with Rick Zolzer from the Hudson Valley Renegades provided a more humorous presentation than we normally have from our speakers. With some funny anecdotes as well as a few typical in-between-innings games, Rick entertained all in attendance.

July’s golf outing was so overbooked that we tried to get morning and afternoon flights, but that was not available to us. The golfers had a great day as usual at Trump National.

The Lobster Bake provided a terrific networking opportunity along with delicious food catered by Wayne Hall of T&M Deli. It was wonderful to see our members talking and laughing with each other, something I truly missed during COVID.

Our last event was the Holiday Get-Together and Charity Event at the Powelton Club. Again, it was a sellout crowd and through the generosity of our members, we donated more than $15,000 to our three local charities: Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, Hospice of Orange and Sullivan and Make a Wish of the Hudson Valley. Thank you to all of our members who supported these worthy organizations!

At the CCA office, we have some new faces dedicated to providing top-notch service to our membership. While Millie Rodriguez celebrated her fifth anniversary with CCA, we welcomed Lisa Ramirez as Vice President of Communications and Vincent Rouhotas to our office staff. I am proud of how our team works so diligently to support all our members.

With our membership renewal this year, we are offering a Diamond Sponsorship that includes the annual dues; four full page ads in On the Level, our quarterly magazine; tickets to the Spring Dinner, Lobster Bake and Holiday Get-Together, as well as a foursome in the Golf Outing. The response to this offering has been overwhelming and I thank each of our Diamond Sponsors!

If history repeats itself, 2023 will be another year of sell outs at our events. To ensure you are included at the events, look for the e-mail or letter and respond immediately. Attendance is limited to how many folks the venue can accommodate and rarely can exceptions be made. I hate to have to turn anyone away.

Here is the 2023 schedule so you can’t say you didn’t know:

● April 27: Annual Spring Dinner at the Powelton Club with Orange County’s own Alan Mack, a hero and decorated pilot from the Afghanistan conflict speaking about his experiences.

● July 24: Golf Outing at the beautiful Trump Hopewell Junction Golf Course.

● Sept. 7: Lobster Bake at the Local 17 Pavilion.

● Nov. 27: Holiday Get-Together and Charity Event, again at the Powelton Club, where the holiday decorations will take your breath away.

I try to make our events fun and informative with plenty of networking opportunities for all. Our speakers are industry professionals anxious to share their knowledge and experience with us. You can walk out of these functions with some pointers to help your business as well as a business card or two.

Speaking of sharing information, Lisa puts together a bestin-class quarterly magazine that goes not only to members, but to government officials and economic development professionals as well. We are your voice with elected officials to make them aware of the concerns and needs of our members. Our economic development partners continue to be a source of work for our membership in the region.

Invite your fellow contractors, suppliers and business professionals to join our Association. If you have someone interested or that you think we should contact, please let Vinny in our office know and he will promptly follow-up.

I hope 2023 is a healthy and prosperous year!

All best wishes,

Alan Seidman

Alan Seidman Executive Director