Accelerator brings significant new businesses to the county

Continental Organics and Mediacom offer the promise of 300 new jobs Goshen — Two new businesses nurtured by county agencies are expected to bring in hundreds of new jobs at a time of economic distress. The Orange County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) counts two groundbreakings this past fall among their most significant accomplishments in 2011. Continental Organics will open a $2.4 million aquaponics, hydroponics, and aquaculture facility in New Windsor — the biggest of its kind in the Northeast — with the promise of 140 new jobs and a focus on hiring military veterans. Mediacom, the nation’s eighth largest cable television company, will build a $41 million facility in Blooming Grove with the promise of 250 new jobs and an additional 150 positions in the next few years. Continental Organics is the first graduate of the Orange County Business Accelerator. Its facility will be located on the grounds of the former Belle’s Catering Hall. The IDA is the county’s lead economic development agency and offers incentives for the construction, equipping, and maintenance of certain projects and facilities. It partners with the Orange County Business Accelerator, Orange County Partnership, the Hudson Valley Economic Development Council, and the Orange County Chamber of Commerce. The IDA created the Business Accelerator in 2009 in partnership with county government. The accelerator incubates start-up businesses, providing entrepreneurs with the tools, services, counseling and support necessary to grow a young business. In the first two years, the accelerator has recruited 18 clients to its office space, and more than 70 people work out of the building at any given time. They’ve hosted 68 educational and networking events since opening and serve as a resource center for those looking to start or grow a business in the county. For more information visit www.orangecountygov.com.