Degliomini and Hilgersom
BETHEL – All six panelists at the Sullivan Renaissance annual conference over the weekend agreed that the county’s people are its primary asset when dealing with the hospitality industry.
From the early days when the county was in the heart of the Borscht Belt hotel circuit to the present, when a Las Vegas-style gaming casino and resort will be built at Kiamesha Lake, they all said the people who work in the field make the difference with their dedication and welcoming personalities.
Alan Gerry, who founded Bethel Woods Center for the Arts 10 years ago, said the casino-resort project is “a real game changer. We can’t screw this thing up,” he told the conference.
“We have made our livelihood on the tourism business and we have been the hosts up here with Grossinger’s and the Concord and all the other hotels and now we have an opportunity to do it again,” Gerry said. “We can’t screw this thing up. You have to take the opportunity, you have to smile, you have to say ‘thank you,’ you have to say ‘come back again,’ you have to say ‘good morning,’.”
“We need a trained workforce,” said Charles Degliomini, the executive vice president of Empire Resorts, which will be building the casino-resort project. It will employ 2,400 people and “we need a trained workforce.”
The company is working in tandem with SUNY Sullivan to make that happen. College President Dr. Karin Hilgersom said the school will be working with Disney trainers to teach future employees for the county’s renaissance.
Dr. Gerard Galarneau, president and chief of the medical staff at Catskill Regional Medical Center, said it is the facility’s employees, their dedication and will to serve the community, that has helped it grow.
Dr. Patrick Dollard, president of The Center for Discovery, said he said county residents are dedicated at what they do.
Catskill Mountainkeeper Ramsay Adams said Sullivan is “the gateway to the Catskills.”
