Table of Contents
Cover Story:
Putting All The Pieces Together
County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef keeps Rockland in his sights
as he looks ahead to the Governor's race.
Feature Story:
Everybody's Going Downtown
What four of the county's villages are doing to encourage economic
development.
Feature Story:
The Expo's Coming!
Annual Business-to-Business event partners RBA with Mahwah Regional
Chamber of Commerce.
DEPARTMENTS:
Economics Roundup
• What's Your Investment Behavior?
• Taxes and Long-Term Care Insurance
Business Roundup
• HVCFI Accepting Applicants
• The Fine Art of Advertising
Retail Round-Up
• It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
• New in Town
Ask the Expert
• Human Resources
• Legal Matters
• Workplace Hotline
• Information Technology
Invest in Your Community
• Make-A-Wish Foundation
• JCC-Y of Rockland's Capital Campaign
• Other News
Odds & Ends
• From The Publishers
• PR Patter
• Reaching Out to Small Business
• Rockland Joins the Empire
• Big News for Local Small Businesses
Dedicated Section:
Rockland Business Association:
The President’s Desk
Empire Zone designation, grant programs drive new opportunities for
business.
The Investor Hotline
Avoid these three common mistakes
RBA Happenings
• Other News
• Committee and Council Info
• Calendar of Events
• New Members
Invest
in Your Community:
Capital Campaign to raise $25
million for new Jewish
Community Campus of Rockland
By Adrian Burke
There’s an ambitious capital campaign taking place right now in the county to help build what will be the largest non-profit center in the county. The brand new Jewish Community Campus of Rockland, a $25 million undertaking, will have major benefits to Jewish non-profits, but it will also add to the quality of life for all Rockland residents and business owners alike.
The new campus, which is located in the former Champion Paper site on West Nyack Road in West Nyack, will have 135,000 square-feet of program space on the 15-acre site. “This is a very exciting project,” says Barry Kantrowitz, who is the President of the Jewish Community Campus. “In fact, I think County Executive Vanderhoef might have said it is the largest non-profit project ever undertaken in the county.”
The JCC-Y of Rockland, which provides cultural, recreational
and social programs for thousands of Rockland residents, will occupy
the majority of space at the new building, along with the Jewish
Federation of Rockland County and its beneficiary agencies: Center
for Jewish Education of Rockland, Jewish Family Service of Rockland
County, Inc., and the Rockland Jewish Reporter.
Some of the new facilities being planned include a childcare center, a special
needs program for 3-to-5 year olds, an expanded fitness center with swimming
pool, an expanded senior center, an art studio, a Kosher Cafe, a ball field
and more.
The first stage of the campus is scheduled to be open by March 2007, says Micki Leader, Vice President of Special Projects and one of the capital campaign organizers.
The campus will help promote the purpose of each of these vital organizations, as each one becomes part of a united Jewish whole.
“When we started out, the Y only had one room. At the time, we all agreed that we needed a great big building, with a pool and a gym—and I am still on the same bandwagon, but now I don’t have a 3-year-old learning to swim; he’s now a 23-year-old,” laughs Leader. “So we are coming full circle. My motto is ‘if you don’t ask, you don’t get.’”
A Unique Community
Rockland County’s Jewish community is very unique. Currently more than
100,000 Jews reside in Rockland County, which is more than one-third of the county’s
total population and almost 2% of the entire Jewish population of the United
States.
“We’ve received enormous help and cooperation from the town of Ramapo in our present location,” said Leader. “But the space is just too small for us.”
The former campus, which served over 10,000 children, adults and seniors, was in only 27,000 square feet. “We have over 1,000 kids in sports programs, but we still don’t have our own gymnasium or fields,” says Barry Kantrowitz, one of the partners in Kantrowitz Goldhamer & Graifman. The physical facilities serving this population were literally, as Kantrowitz put it, “bursting at the seams.”
The new location, just off I-87 in Clarkstown will be almost five times the the present facilty’s size. “We have been very well received by the Town of Clarkstown,” said Kantrowirz. “They are a wonderful new host.”
The JCC-Y is very important to Rockland, and not just to the Jewish community, said Kantrowitz. “We serve everybody, from kids to seniors—and it’s open to everyone. Still, we do have to talk about the Jewish community, which is very large in Rockland, and although we currently have a community center, it’s not big enough to serve the county’s Jewish population, let alone the rest of the community.”
Reaching the goal
According to Linda Russin, president of the JCC-Y Capital Campaign,
the official goal is $25 million dollars. “This will be
the largest, most extensive campaign in the history of Rockland's
Jewish community,” says Russin.
At present, they are more than halfway toward that goal. Four major donors have pledged one million dollars or more each—including the Chazen family, Lewis family, Josephs family, and the Eisenkraft and Goldstein families. Significant dollars will come from the sale of the current home of the JCC-Y, Jewish Federation of Rockland, Jewish Family Service of Rockland, The Center for Jewish Education of Rockland, The Rockland Jewish Reporter, HUVPAC and Hadassah. The building is under contract and is scheduled to close in March, 2007.
According to Russin, most of the additional funds are projected to come from state grants, private foundations, and the community. "We’ve requested funds from New York State and—considering the overwhelmingly positive impact our new campus will have on Rockland County—we are very optimistic about receiving funding. We hope to raise about $8 million from individuals and business donors within our community."
Getting the word out to Rockland’s
business community
Micki Leader is also involved in getting out the word. She recently
worked on producing a five-minute video
featuring Supervisor Thom Kleiner, State Sen. Thomas Morahan, Prudential’s
Matt Rand and Rockland Toyota’s Neale Kuperman among others,
to help drum up interest within the business community for supporting
the center.
“It’s part of the Business Outreach, visiting as many companies as we can to acquaint them with the work of Jewish Community Center and the development of the new campus,” says Leader. “We are asking the business community to be a part of this effort.” Leader notes that the new Empire Zone designation will go far in attracting new businesses to the County and posits that The Jewish Center will also add an essential addition to the quality of life here.
“With these new businesses will come new residents, who want and demand the quality of life and programming that Jewish centers provide.”
“Our hope is that Rockland businesses will want to be
supporters and builders of this great endeavor,” says Leader, “so
that when people walk in the lobby and see a donor’sname
on our Founders’ Wall, it may be their bank, or their water
company, or their electric company. Then it’s truly a center
for all.” RBD
How can Rockland businesses become involved?
Rome wasn’t built in just one day, and the Jewish Community Campus won’t be either. However, if everyone pitches in, brick-by-brick, dollar-by-dollar, we can all contribute to bringing the dream of the expanded campus to life. The center, with its cultural, recreational and social programs, will breathe life into the community as a whole, and offer the employees of Rockland businesses a higher quality of life.So, how can businesses help and get involved? Monetary donations are fabulous. Though, in order to create a community campus, goods are necessary too. That is, the Campus will need what all buildings need, such as granite, carpeting, desks, water fountains, sinks, toilets, you name it! Maybe your company has something that they need? Remember, whatever your faith, donations are an equal opportunity tax break!
Maybe you have something of value that can be auctioned off at the center’s opening reception? For example, Steve Dachs of Mortgage World Bankers, Inc. in New City already donated $20,000 worth of sportswear for the ambitious event. “Giving back to my community is a family tradition,” said Dachs, “but of all the local causes I could find, this one offered the most potential to add to the quality of life of its residents.”
There are many ways to be a part of this impressive campaign. To find out more, contact the Jewish Community Campus of Rockland by calling Tammy Sabat, the campaign coordinator, at (845) 362-4400 ext. 173. RBD
