Here’s another response to a Reg-Star letter, this one from the more well-meaning John Porreca, a former Alderman (and Common Council President candidate).
My friend John is correct that many businesses are gone today from the area, but for the record his dates are slightly off.
For example, Knickerbocker Cement closed in 1966, which was 44 years ago, not 30 years ago. Likewise, the Atlas closed in 1974-75, which was about 35 years ago. Some of the other businesses he mentions closed even longer ago, others more recently. And not everyone remembers all of these businesses fondly.For example, many older residents complained about the reek of the Glue Factory back in the day. And even Cappy Pierro once said (to one of my relatives, outside a public hearing) that he remembered the “brown snow” from Atlas and Knickerbocker, and that he wouldn’t support any project if it was going to bring that back.
The big difference with many of these businesses is that their owners didn't live here, which made it a lot easier for them to leave. There are other businesses which did come here during the past quarter-century, such as HAVE, Inc. -- which makes a real effort to employ local workers and whose owners have permanent roots in the County.
The hard reality is that with labor so much cheaper overseas (whether in China, Mexico, or elsewhere), we are not going to re-create the Eisenhower Era economy no matter what. We have to focus realistically on the assets and features of our area that will provide lasting employment, without trashing the health and businesses of people who are already here.
The way to do that is to build patiently an economy based in locally-owned, smaller businesses -- so that if one business goes away, the loss can be sustained, and those jobs realistically replaced.
My father was born in Pittsfield, where the big employers were GE and its affiliates. When “the GE” closed, an entire thriving city died, and the company left behind PCBs in playgrounds, yards and the Housatonic River.
That’s what happens when one puts all of a town’s eggs into one or two big corporate baskets. If you take that basket away, all the eggs cracks. It’s not a safe model for long-term growth.
When I last ran into John, it was in a Greenport building supply store. Hudson used to have such a store, across from the train station, but it left for Greenport. I have to wonder: Where were our local leaders and paid economic development experts then? Could they have figured out a way to keep Dunn’s in Hudson?
At least an independent business, Strongtree, which roasts and ships coffee all around the country, and also serves coffee to locals and Amtrak patrons alike, had the initiative to move here from the West Coast into the empty Dunn’s building. They saw an opportunity and took it.
We ought to celebrate these business which came here, rather than looking back 30, 40, 50 or more years to a past which simply isn’t coming back, no matter how hard we close our eyes and try to live in the past.
