The five counties that make up the Lower Hudson River Valley are Orange, Rockland, Dutchess, Ulster and Putnam Counties. Orange County is the county with the greatest population and Putnam County has the least population.. Except for Putnam County, each county has one dominant enclosed regional mall.

In Orange County, The Galleria at Chrystal Run in Middletown is the only enclosed regional mall in the county and serves as the anchor for a concentration of box retail that stretches along Route 211 across the towns of both Middletown and Wallkill. The strong regional nature of this corridor is due to its’ location at the intersection of I-84 and Route 17, both of which are limited access highways. Although access to the retail is only via the exit at Route 17 for Route 211, I-84 provides the ability to extend the trade area significantly from east to west. The second regional retail corridor is centered around Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley & Harriman, NY along Route 32 at the intersection of Route 17 and Route 6 at I-87 (NY State Thruway). Woodbury Common is one of the largest concentrations of outlet stores in the world. Due to its proximity to New York City, Woodbury Common is a major destination for foreign tourists. Tour buses make daily trips from New York City and Woodbury Common employs a staff of interpreters along with providing on site currency exchange and foreign shipping services. With the regional draw created by the outlets, conventional big box retail has also located in this corridor. The third regional retail corridor in Orange County is located in Newburgh at the intersection of I-84 and I-87 (NY State Thruway). Route 300 both north and south of I-84 and Route 17K are the two arterial streets that have concentrations of regional retail with exits from both I-84 and I-87 (NY State Thruway). Community retail corridors exist in New Windsor along Route 300 and Route 32; along Route 17M and Route 94 in Chester at the exit for Route 17; and in Monroe along Route 17M. Grocery and convenience retail in the county can be found in Montgomery at the exit on I-84 for Route 208; along Route 17M in Middletown; at the Thruway Shopping Center on Oak Street in Walden; along route 94 in Warwick; near the intersection of Route 94 and Route 208 in Washingtonville and along Route 52 in Pine Bush.

Rockland County benefits from the regional access provided by the 14 miles of I-287 (NY State Thruway) that runs east to west across almost the entire southern portion of the county. The eastern end of I-287 (NY State Thruway) in Rockland County is in Nyack where the Tappan Zee Bridge crosses the Hudson River at its widest point in New York State, connecting to Westchester County on the eastern banks of the Hudson River. The Tappan Zee Bridge is the northernmost of the three Manhattan area toll bridges. Located 13 miles from the northern tip of Manhattan, the Tappan Zee Bridge is the only major crossing of the Hudson River between the George Washington Bridge (I-95) 16 miles to the south and the Hamilton Fish Newburgh Beacon Bridge (I-84) 32 miles to the north. The regional nature of this section of I-287 (The NY State Thruway) also benefits by being the northern terminus of the Garden State Parkway at the approximate east – west mid-way point of I-287 as it crosses the county, providing direct access to Bergen County NJ, the most populous county in New Jersey. As I-287 (The NY State Thruway) exits the western end of Rockland County in Suffern, NY it continues south into Bergen County, New Jersey as I-287 or continues north into Orange County, NY as I-87 (NY State Thruway). Given this strong regional road network, the strongest regional retail corridors in Rockland County are located along I-287. These include the 2,200,000 square foot Palisades Center at the intersection of Route 303 with I-287 (NY State Thruway) and Route 59 in West Nyack, the only enclosed regional mall in Rockland County. No ancillary retail exists surrounding Palisades Center given the lack of available sites as well as the fact that Palisades Center is anchored by a strong combination of fashion department stores and typical big box power center tenants. Two and ½  miles to the west of Palisades Center on Route 59 in Nanuet & Spring Valley, starting at the intersection of Route 304 and continuing two miles west past the intersection of Route 59 with I-287 (The NY State Thruway) is the other large concentration of regional retail  that is anchored by the Shops at Nanuet, a 750,000 square foot open air lifestyle project.  Community retail corridors exist in Orangeburg along Route 302 near the interchange with the Palisades Parkway; along Route 59 in Suffern & Tallman and along Main Street in New City.  Grocery and convenience retail can be found along Route 202 / 9W in West Haverstraw and Stony Point and along Route 202 both east and west of the Palisades Parkway in Mt. Ivy and Garnersville.

Dutchess County has one major regional retail corridor which is Route 9 as it runs through Fishkill, Wappinger Falls and Poughkeepsie. Starting at the intersection of Route 9 with I-84 on the southern end of the corridor and continuing 11 miles north, the Route 9 corridor is home to all types and sizes of retail. Big box stores, grocery stores, convenience retail, restaurants of all varieties and everything in between are all located along this section of Route 9. Poughkeepsie Galleria, the only enclosed regional mall in the county is also located on Route 9, eight miles north of I-84. Given the unusual 11 mile length of retail along Route 9,  the corridor is unique in that it is home to regional, community, neighborhood and convenience retail all at the same time. Route 44 and Main Street in the city of Poughkeepsie is filled with an eclectic mix of retail, grocery and restaurants. Grocery and convenience retail is also found in LaGrangeville along both Route 82 and Route 55 where each road has an interchange with the Palisades Parkway; in Hopewell Junction at the Route 55 & State Highway 9 intersection;  along Route 9 in Hyde Park just north of the border with the city of Poughkeepsie and in both Red Hook and Rhinebeck on Route 9 in the northeast corner of the county.

Ulster County has one major road on which all regional retail serving the county is located. Route 9W, south of the interchange with Route 209, is home to the 765,000 square foot Hudson Valley Mall as well as a large concentration of big box retail. Community retail can be found along Route 299 at the interchange with I-87 (NY State Thruway) in New Paltz; as well as along Route 209 in Napanoch & Ellenville. Grocery and convenience retail is provided at Kingston Plaza on Plaza Road in Kingston; along Route 9W in Highland and in Saugerties along Route 212 at the interchange with I-87 (NY State Thruway).

Putnam County has the least amount of retail of any of the five counties in the Lower Hudson River Valley. With no major enclosed regional mall, there is only a small concentration of big box regional retail in Brewster that is located on Route 312 at the interchange with I-84. Most major regional box retailers are not located in Putnam County. Route 6 and Route 52 in Carmel represent the only community retail corridor in the county and Route 22 in Pawling represents the only other corridor in the county with a major grocery store.

Major grocery operators in the Lower Hudson River Valley are Stop & Shop, Price Chopper, Shop Rite, Hannaford, Tops and Aldi.

Orange County’s economy benefits from a strong infrastructure system with three interstate highways,  an international airport and a strong railroad system.. The intersection of I – 84 and I- 87 in Newburgh is the epicenter of this system. I – 84 runs east to west from Scranton, PA through Connecticut to I-90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike) and the Boston Metro market. I 87 (the New York State Thruway), runs north to south and is the longest intrastate/interstate highway in the Interstate Highway System. To the south, it originates in the Bronx, New York and ends to the north at the Canadian border. I -86 / NYS Route 17 intersects I – 84 in Middletown and further augments the infrastructure system by providing easy access to markets to the north and west. Stewart International Airport, located in Newburgh, is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. The airport’s air cargo facilities provide an important element in the supply chain options available to Orange County businesses. Two major commercial rails carriers service the county. Norfolk Southern Railway operates approximately 21,000 route miles in 22 states including all major eastern container ports. CSX serves nearly 2/3 of America’s population through its network covering 23 states. Both rail services are strategically located near I – 84, I – 87 and Stewart International Airport. This diverse transportation network is the primary reason for companies locating in Orange County as it efficiently facilitates both the production of goods and services as well as the distribution of finished products. Major industry clusters include advanced manufacturing, healthcare/pharmaceuticals, distribution, food and beverage, and software development.

Rockland County, located just 16 miles northwest of the George Washington Bridge, is bounded by the Hudson River to the east and New Jersey to the south. Except for the five boroughs of NYC, it is the smallest county in New York State in terms of land area. With excellent access to NYC, Northern New Jersey and Westchester County via the Palisades Parkway, the Garden State Parkway and the Tappan Zee Bridge, this close proximity to these dense and expensive markets is one of Rockland County’s greatest economic assets. Major economic clusters include life sciences (biomed & biotech), financial services, and advanced manufacturing of electrical, chemical and mechanical components. Of particular emphasis are the life sciences. Rockland County is part of a seven county region (Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess and Putnam) that has been branded NY BioHud Valley. The state of New York offers economic incentives to life science companies to locate in any of these seven counties. This marketing effort has been very successful, with over 80 life science companies currently located in the NY BioHub Valley. Rockland County currently has 16 such companies, which is the second largest concentration of any of the seven counties except for Westchester County which has 32 companies.

Dutchess County has long been associated with IBM, which in 1948 built its first plant in Poughkeepsie. In 1962, IBM expanded its’ presence in Dutchess County by purchasing 450 acres of farmland in East Fishkill to build a massive state-of-the-art microelectronics complex for manufacturing microprocessors, research, and development. In 1983, IBM expanded again with the acquisition of an additional 160 acres of contiguous land in East Fishkill. By the late 1980’s IBM employed over 24,000 people in Dutchess County at its’ facilities in Poughkeepsie and East Fishkill. During the mid 1990’s IBM began having problems which resulted in layoffs that reduced employment in Dutchess County to less than 9,000. Although devastating at the time, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. IBM shed over 15,000 jobs, but it left a vast infrastructure of high tech friendly real estate that civic leaders aggressively marketed along with the highly trained and educated former IBM employees. New companies began to relocate to these former IBM facilities and put to work this unique and highly available workforce. The result was a more diversified high tech economy that was not vulnerable to the ups and downs of a single large employer. Today the county has a favorable mix of large corporations,  innovative startups and small to medium businesses that are attracted to the region by its highly educated workforce and its’ low cost of doing business relative to other areas of NYC Metro. In 2015, the county’s economic base was diversified even further as IBM decided to exit the semiconductor manufacturing business and sold its East Fishkill (and Burlington, VT) manufacturing facilities to Global Foundries, the world’s second largest semiconductor manufacturer. Global Foundries continues to operate that facility today with similar employment levels that existed before the sale. This sale further reduced Dutchess County’s reliance on any single large employer while maintaining a high level of technology employment. IBM has maintained its Poughkeepsie plant which employs over 4,000 and manufactures main frame computers. As the northern most suburb of NYC, Dutchess County provides employers with proximity to major consumer markets, diversified industries and top talent without extraordinary operating costs. Dutchess County is serviced by nine train stations along the Harlem and Hudson lines of MetroNorth. The express train from Beacon to Grand Central Station takes 75 minutes. Helicopter service, utilized with surprising frequency by Dutchess County businesses, is just 22 minutes to Manhattan from Hudson Valley Regional Airport. Dutchess County’s world class colleges and universities, including Marist College, Vassar College, Bard College, and the Culinary Institute of America draw talent from around the world. These schools collaborate with the local business community to create cutting edge programs in technology, healthcare, advanced manufacturing and specialty food production to insure a highly skilled workforce moving forward.

Ulster County suffered a similar economic downturn as Dutchess County due to IBM’s downsizing, but has had a more difficult time recovering. In 1954 IBM bought a 200 acre dairy farm in Kingston (Ulster County) and ultimately built out a 2,500,000 square foot manufacturing and research campus that would employ 7,100 people up until the early 1990’s. But IBM’s sudden problems in the mid 1990’s caused the campus to shut down entirely in 1995. In 1998 IBM sold the entire campus to a privately developer, but efforts to bring in one or more large employers to the campus have been unsuccessful. The campus, known today as Tech City, is about 40% occupied with a range of office and industrial tenants. Efforts to attract life science and technology tenants to Tech City has been difficult due to an ongoing 20 year environmental remediation program by IBM due to activities from IBM’s historic use of the site. Those cleanup efforts are nearly complete and the hope is that with the environmental issues behind it, Tech City will be able to attract knowledge based industries that want to take advantage of facilities that are available at well below replacement cost. Economic Development since the IBM plants’ closing have been focused on keeping the existing industry clusters of manufacturing and distribution strong while at the same time expanding with organic growth in life sciences and technology. Today, Ulster County nurtures a “creative ecosystem” that is home to a large and diverse population of artists and craftspeople, working in many different styles forms and disciplines. Kingston is ranked 5^th in the nation in art establishments per capita and 6^th in the nation for “best places to live for artists”. This “creative ecosystem”, combined with the county’s small town atmosphere, has made Ulster County an appealing alternative for tech savvy Millennials who want to grow their businesses while at the same time enjoying their lives  in a more relaxed and affordable environment then in an urban center. Ulster County has been successful in attracting millennial entrepreneurs from startup and early stage tech companies that with today’s technology, can easily do the majority of their work remotely from Ulster County, but can also be in NYC within a few hours whenever the need may arise. Promoting these same lifestyle benefits has also proven successful with Ulster County’s efforts in working with the NY BioHud Valley program, with more than a dozen life science companies now operating in the county.  Although these technology and life science companies are small in terms of each companies employment numbers, they  are proving that Ulster County’s efforts to make itself a cluster for these industries is a viable strategy.

Putnam County has the smallest employment base of any county in the Lower Hudson River Valley. Several factors account for this. Much of Putnam County is in the New York State Watershed, which prohibits development in large portions of the county and adds a higher level of restrictions to developable lands then would be found in non-watershed counties. The employment base is strongest on the eastern side of the county. This is due to the fact that the western side of the county is more residential in nature as a result of its’ geography and scenic boundary along the Hudson River but also because of the lack of any significant commercial transportation network. Although the Taconic State Parkway is a limited access highway that runs north and south through the west side of the county, only passenger cars are permitted. Without a roadway system that has the ability to handle commercial vehicles, the west side has been limited to development that is mostly residential in nature. The area surrounding the intersection of I-84 and I-684 in Brewster represents the largest  concentration of private employers in the county. I-84 traverses 13 miles in a generally north south direction through the county and provides access to the west across the Hudson River and to the east to into Connecticut and Massachusetts. Although I-684 runs only three miles into Putnam County while terminating at I-84, it provides critical access to all of Westchester County and NYC, 56 miles to the south. Other than healthcare providers, there are very few large private employers in the county. The most significant private companies in the county employ between 100 and 200 employees with the majority of companies at fewer than 100 employees. The largest industry segment is manufacturing, across a wide range of disciplines, with a fledgling life sciences sector. Metro North provides commuter rail service from the east side of the county via the Harlem Line and from the west side of the county via the Hudson Line. Both the Harlem and Hudson Lines provide weekday service to Grand Central hourly and every 25 minutes during rush hour, with a travel time of approximately 1 hour 25 minutes.

The United States Military Academy at West Point (USMA), commonly refered to as just West Point, is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located in West Point, New York that is the world’s foremost military academy. Located in Orange County, the academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, 50 miles (80 km) north of New York City. The entire central campus is a national landmark and home to scores of historic sites, buildings, and monuments. The majority of the campus’s buildings are constructed from gray and black granite with a consistent Norman architectural theme. The campus is a popular tourist destination complete with a large visitor center and the oldest museum in the United States Army.

Candidates for admission to West Point must both apply directly to the academy and receive a nomination, usually from a member of Congress or the President and Vice President of the United States. Students are officers-in-training and are referred to as “cadets” or collectively as the “United States Corps of Cadets” (USCC). Tuition for cadets is fully funded by the Army in exchange for an active duty service obligation upon graduation. Approximately 1,300 cadets enter the Academy each July, with about 1,000 cadets graduating. Upon graduation, each cadet receives a bachelor of science degree and is commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Army, with a requirement to serve a minimum of five years on active duty and three years in the Inactive Ready Reserve. It is the stated goal of the USMA “to educate, train and inspire the Corp of Cadets so that each graduate is a commissioned leader of character to the values of Duty, Honor, Country and prepared for a career of professional excellence and service to the Nation as an officer in the United States Army”.

West Point was originally built in 1778 as a military fortress that was of key strategic importance during the American Revolution. At the time of its construction, George Washington called West Point “the most strategic military location in America because whoever controlled the Hudson River would win the war”. Washington chose the location because the land where the fort was located is a “point” on the “west” bank that jutted out into the river making it one of the narrowest points in the river’s 300 mile length. This narrow crossing allowed Washington to erect chains and barriers between the east and west banks that prevented the British from being able to proceed downriver to New York harbor. Also, from the high perch along the cliffs of the west bank of the Hudson, American soldiers were able to easily attack the British ships as the struggled to change direction. Fortress West Point was never captured by the British, despite  treason by the fort’s commander, Major General Benedict Arnold in 1780. West Point today is the oldest continuously occupied military post in the United States.

In 1802 President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation establishing The United States Military Academy at West Point (USMA) converting West Point from strictly a military base to the academic and military institution it is today. George Washington, Alexander Hamilton and John Adams were strong proponents of the legislation to establish the USMA, desiring to eliminate America’s early reliance on foreign engineers and artillerists, these founding fathers urged the creation of an institution to the art and science of warfare. Colonel Sylvanus Thayer, known as the “father of the Military Academy” served as Superintendent from 1817 to 1833. He upgraded academic standards, instilled military discipline and emphasized honorable conduct; all cornerstones of today’s West Point. Aware of the concerns of the founding fathers about foreign engineers and artillerists, Thayer made civil engineering the foundation of the curriculum. For the next half century, USMA graduates were largely responsible for the construction of the bulk of the nation’s initial railway lines, bridges, harbors and roads.

The list of West Point graduates who have gone on to become household names is endless. During the Civil War there was Ulysses S. Grant who commanded all Union forces and who went on to become the country’s 18^th President as well as William Sherman, known for his scorched earth policy that led to what became known as “Sherman’s March to the Sea”. On the confederate side both Robert E. Lee, commander of all Confederate forces, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, the best battle commander in the Confederate Army were both West Point graduates. During the American Indian wars following the Civil War, the most notorious cavalry commander of that time was George Armstrong Custer, known more for his stunning defeat in 1876 by Indian Chiefs Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse at Little Big Horn in what became known as “Custer’s Last Stand”. In 1917 General John J. Pershing was appointed by President Woodrow Wilson as commander of the American Expeditionary Force in Europe during World War I. Pershing was a graduate of the West Point Class of 1886. During World War II there was Dwight D. Eisenhower who was Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe and also went on to become the 34^th President of the United States. Other well-known generals from World War II who were West Point graduates include Omar Bradley, George S. Patton, George Marshall and Douglas McArthur.

Although General Douglas McArthur is probably best known for his role in World War II, it is his service after World War I in 1919 when he became Superintendent at West Point that may have had the most lasting impact. During his tenure leading the USMA, McArthur created the formal doctrine at West Point known as “The Cadet Honor Code” which simply states “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal, or tolerate those who do.” For the last century those words have been lived by all West Point graduates and that tradition will continue long into the future. A great legacy not only for McArthur but for the United States Military Academy at West Point as well.