Developing jobs aim of JEDI

Supermarket for Goshen among goals

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Philip Dropkin, chairman of the Joint Economic Development Initiative, stands at the entrance Monday to a 60-acre property owned by the Village of Goshen. Dropkin?s group hopes to develop the industrially-zoned site located on Route 17M across from the Orange County Department of Public Works.TOM BUSHEY/Times Herald-Record

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Published: 2:00 AM - 01/16/13

GOSHEN ? Philip Dropkin does not carry a lightsaber or wear a gray robe, but the force is with him.

Dropkin is the chairman of a Goshen business development group called the Joint Economic Development Initiative, or JEDI. He may be using his power to score a major Goshen victory: landing a supermarket through his connection with Sullivan County developer Butch Resnick.

Resnick is in talks with customers of his Mountaindale supermarket supply business interested in opening a grocery store in southern Orange County, particularly Goshen, said his attorney Steve Vegliante. Superstorm Sandy's effects on some of Resnick's customers ? supermarkets in the tri-state area ranging in size from bodega to large chain ? delayed the process, he added.

Resnick will be following up on the leads, Vegliante said.

"There's a lot to signing a supermarket," Vegliante said. "Hopefully we will get something done."

Wanted to bring in jobs

Finding a supermarket wasn't at the top of Dropkin's mind when he organized JEDI. He wanted to bring jobs to his hometown.

A few months before Dropkin formed the group, Orange County lost an approximately 1-million-square-foot Macy's distribution center and 1,200 jobs to West Virginia.

Macy's was eyeing a tract of land nicknamed Echo Lake in the Town of Goshen in addition to Hudson Valley Crossing in the Town of Hamptonburgh.

Dropkin approached Maureen Halahan, the president and CEO of Orange County Partnership, about setting up an informal economic development group focused on Goshen. Halahan, instrumental in bringing in business to the county and arranging for companies to receive state and local incentives, became a member.

Brainstorming each month

The 10 to 15 group members ? including village Mayor Kyle Roddey, town Supervisor Douglas Bloomfield and real estate agent R.J. Smith ? meet monthly in the Partnership's conference room and brainstorm about economic development possibilities. They sometimes have high-powered visitors including Orange County legislators, town supervisors from Warwick and Chester and business leaders.

Most of the group's members have some type of say in the approvals process for commercial development, helping bring everyone together the next time a large project targets Goshen, said Meghan Taylor, the partnership's director of business attraction.

The group members are working on re-branding a village-owned property formerly used to store dirt.

The 60-acre industrially-zoned site can accommodate up to 200,000-square-feet of development, Smith said.

Roddey said it's a good location for commercial development because it's removed from the downtown village area.

"There's no aesthetic impact," Roddey said.

jdinapoli@th-record.com

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