TRR photo by David Hulse Yulan wearin' the green Clad in green and gold, the Eldred Central School Pep Band became the Eldred Central School marching band for St. Patrick's Day. For more on the 29th annual Yulan parade, click on the picture.

Sullivan is okay and getting better

By DAVID HULSE

MONTICELLO — In shambles for so long, Sullivan County’s economy now needs more help to run and Legislative chair Rusty Pomeroy on Wednesday evening planned to recommend financial incentives designed to lure new people to Sullivan.

He said the heart of his address is workforce development, but not in the traditional training mold. "In the next 12 to 18 months we’re going to be creating a minimum of 400 to 500 new jobs and I’m talking about jobs; jobs separate from the Concord, Alan Gerry’s Woodstock project, the Mamakating [resort] projects or a casino."

Without minimizing still existing economic challenges, development officials are already saying jobs are going unfilled in Sullivan. Pomeroy says the county should take an active role encouraging people to relocate here and he has identified four key areas for improvement: infrastructure, housing, education and child-care.

Sullivan in recent years has begun work on the infrastructure issues including multi-year bonding of highway construction, improvements at the county airport and its surrounding industrial park; the Emerald Corporate Park in Rock Hill and 911 service. Beyond these he is recommending an infrastructure needs survey to determine "what we have and what we need."