Approximately 350 business executives, county and municipal officials gathered on June 6 at the Barn at Villa Venezia in The Town of Wallkill to honor local farmer and entrepreneur Nick Fitzpatrick, the Orange County Partnership’s 2023 Most Valuable Partner award recipient, whose influence on the county’s economy was valued by Partnership officials in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Fitzpatrick, President of Aden Land Holdings of Montgomery, NY, leads the multifaceted family-run enterprise that includes Aden Brook (Farm), Aden Land Holdings, Aden Aggregates and the fast-growing Aden Logistics.

Maureen Halahan, President and CEO of The Orange County Partnership, said Fitzpatrick’s contributions to the county’s economy made his selection a unanimous choice by the Partnership’s Board of Directors.

Halahan told the gathering, “If you are worried about where the next generation of great leaders are coming from, stop worrying,” as she pointed to the 2023 MVP award winner. “Nick simply gets things done and it has been an honor to watch him develop his skills,” she said.

Fitzpatrick in his acceptance speech, talked about how his firm relocated from Sullivan County to Orange County more than two decades ago and how welcoming municipal officials and residents have been and continue to be to his family-operated companies.

“We live in such a great place. I actually think one of the best places in the world,” he said. “The people of Orange County are diverse, accepting of everybody and of high character. I found everyone in this county to be very welcoming, not only to me, but to others that I have introduced to the area. We have something really special here."

Also, part of the program, Conor Eckert, Vice President of Business Attraction for the Orange County Partnership, provided a market update that featured four key trends: the need for infrastructure investment, the growth of the Clean Energy Sector, a strong development pipeline with a host of developers seeking land or municipal approvals for speculative projects and the requirement by corporations to attract and retain workforce talent.

He stressed that providing qualified workers will be critical in the county’s attraction of advanced manufacturing, semi-conductor supply chain and green technology companies in the future. He said there is a “global competition” for talent and those communities that prioritize the attraction and retention of an educated workforce “will win the day.”

The Orange County Partnership is working with educational institutions in a number of counties to address the workforce issue.

The Partnership is experiencing momentum in our economic development approach and our efforts and has actively working with companies, both foreign and domestic, on undertaking projects in Orange County. At present, most of the development leads are in the manufacturing and industrial sectors.