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A Roundup of Recent Ulster County Business-Related News, Views, and More

April 29th, 2026

Over here at Ulster Strong we’ve been kicking off some exciting changes. If you’re a long-time reader, you already know that Ulster Strong was formed back in 2021 in order to support smart, sustainable growth for Ulster County’s economy. What we’ve learned over the past five years has been discouraging - Ulster County’s economy is in deep trouble. There are some encouraging bright spots - businesses that continue to grow, good projects that are moving forward, and new energy brought by new members of the community. But many of the danger signals are flashing red.

We’ve seen wages fail to keep up with rising costs. We’ve seen far too many businesses make the difficult decision to close. And we’ve seen so many opportunities pass us by while our communities struggle to develop the consensus needed to act.

In the face of these challenges, Ulster Strong believes that there has never been a more important time to engage in the work of economic growth. So we’re doubling down on that mission. Tony Marmo and Meagan Bianco - two tireless advocates for Ulster County businesses who helped get Ulster Strong off the ground - are stepping back. In their place, a new Executive Committee including Don Tallerman, Stewart Meyers, Dan Ahouse, Samara Daly and Bill Calderara is stepping forward. We’ve engaged Tim Weidemann, former director of the county’s economic development department, to help reactivate our advocacy agenda and to position the organization for future growth. And we’re eager to re-engage with you, our readers and supporters.



We encourage you to follow along here and on social media to hear more about Ulster Strong 2.0. In the meantime, here’s your monthly dose of business news and economic development stories, brought to you as always by Ulster Strong…

REMEMBER: you can always find this and other recent Ulster Strong Business Bulletins on our website at ulsterstrong.com

(Pictured: Ulster Strong member Bill Calderara, President of Ulster Savings Bank, and Nadine Ferrero , host of In The Know With Nadine videocast, celebrate Ulster Savings remarkable 175th anniversary.)

This newsletter includes the following:

The future, made locally: How a $1 million advanced manufacturing lab at the former IBM site is reshaping the regional talent pipeline

Kingston Planning Board OKs 42-unit Frog Alley housing project

Rolling Stone Magazine Launching Inaugural Festival, Stateside, In Kingston July 4th

SEQRA Reform is Essential to Address Our Housing Crisis

Ulster County gains population from higher income earners, while other counties lose people, report shows

Silvia owners plan a tavern, cafe, and hotel in Woodstock

State agency OKs Archtop Fiber’s $125M expansion plan for broadband



Important Message from Ulster Strong About Our Local Farms

Happy 2nd Anniversary to Kingston Social!

IBM seeks to bring next-gen quantum computing to Mid-Hudson Valley

DATA BITES

When students walk into the Gene Haas Manufacturing Futures Lab at iPark 87 in Kingston, they step onto the same floor where IBM once shaped the future of computing. Today, rooms full of cutting-edge technology set the stage for a new generation preparing to shape the future of manufacturing.

The $1 million lab opened in April as the centerpiece of the Ulster BOCES Career Academies. It’s the latest chapter in a workforce strategy that connects local high school students directly to industry-leading entities like Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and startups like a Brooklyn drone maker that wants to transport human organs by air.

The lab houses a coordinated measuring machine, a laser cutter and engraver, multiple five-axis milling machines, and robotic arms that can feed and unload the machines on their own. By design, it all mirrors a modern shop floor.

"Once you handle the metal once, no matter what it is that you want to reductively do with that piece of metal stock, you don't have to handle the metal again by hand," said Peter Harris, Ulster BOCES's assistant superintendent of Career Pathway Programs. The robotic arms prepare students for a workplace where they will share tasks with machines.

“When I talk to my partners at Snap-on and Lincoln Electric, what they’ll tell you is the next generation of learners needs to expect that when they’re doing something like welding, they should expect to be manipulating the welding puddle at the same time as a robot or cobot is manipulating the welding puddle,” Harris said.

The path to helping students work hand-in-robotic-arm on advanced manufacturing tasks was a long one. The lab is the third generation of an Allendale and Haas-backed program at Ulster BOCES that began more than 20 years ago. Today, it is being shaped to do far more than train machinists.

The city’s Planning Board unanimously approved on Monday a 42-unit mixed-use project on Frog Alley at the site of a former dry cleaning operation next to Deising’s Bakery. Construction could begin as soon as this fall, officials said.

The project, owned by Coby Lefkowitz, is planned to feature one studio unit, 17 one-bedroom apartments, 18 two-bedrooms, four three-bedrooms and two live-work units in a Dutch-style “rowhouse court” setting with pedestrian and bicycle public areas between the buildings containing the units...

Under the city’s form-based code, the project will have to provide five “affordable” units, which are defined by the city as 80% of the area median income, and two workforce units, which are defined by the city as 120% of AMI.

Since the project has secured funding from Ulster County, it will be required to have five units priced at 60% AMI and one at 80% of AMI.

The Governor’s 2027 Executive Budget proposes to reform the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA), which Ulster Strong believes is essential to combat Ulster County’s housing crisis.

Hochul’s proposal would exempt housing projects on previously-disturbed lands from the lengthy and costly SEQRA process. It would not change zoning and permitting requirements, ensuring that the environment and community character are still protected.

According to the Citizens Budget Commission, SEQRA increases the cost of new housing in Ulster County by $40,000 per unit. In addition, SEQRA ignores the social benefits of housing, leaving the impression that these projects are somehow harmful to our communities, rather than the lifeblood that sustains them.

These challenges explain why Ulster County has failed to keep up with demand for affordable housing; it is simply too costly and complicated to build here. A 2006 study estimated that 6,600 new units were needed by 2020. Only a tiny fraction of those units were ever built, and when demand spiked during the pandemic, the dramatic shortage contributed to skyrocketing prices.



Building more housing is the solution. Nearby New Rochelle proves it: by adding 4,500 new units, the city held rent increases to just 1.6% since 2020, compared to 54% in Ulster.

Now is the time to act. Join forward-thinking local leaders like Mayor Noble and Supervisors Costello, Hartner, Parete, Pecora, Sofranko, and Stoeckeler in supporting common-sense SEQRA reform that will help break the cycle that’s putting housing out of reach for Ulster County residents.

The Hudson Valley has suffered significant population loss, while Ulster County has some growth fueled by higher-income earners moving in, according to the latest report from Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress.

The report said that Ulster County was an outlier in the Hudson Valley region. It was the only county to gain population from migration, a total of 279 people, and it gained $169.1 million in adjusted gross income, by far the highest of any county in a nine-county region, the report stated. The report surveyed a nine-county region: Ulster, Columbia, Dutchess, Greene, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, and Westchester counties.

The average incomes of those moving into and out of the region continued to show that gentrification was affecting some of the northernmost counties, including Ulster, the report said.



For example, households moving into Columbia County brought an average income of $114,885, while those moving out earned $95,936. In Ulster County, those moving in earned $113,328, while those leaving had an average income of $79,598, the report stated.

Owners of the upscale Woodstock restaurant Silvia are aiming to open two new businesses in the buildings that most recently housed Gemela. The larger space at 43-45 Mill Hill Road is slated to become The Penny Tavern, while the smaller building will become The Penny Cafe, according to Silvia co-owner Craig Leonard. Leonard told The Overlook the pair are scheduled to open May 1, with the cafe focused on grab-and-go items and the tavern offering lunch and expanding into dinner and bar service.

The restaurant plans come alongside movement on a long-discussed lodging proposal next door at 39 Mill Hill Road, the former Woodstock Automotive gas station site. Leonard told The Overlook he has secured Planning Board approval for a two-and-a-half-story, 17-room hotel, following public comment that included concerns about traffic, privacy, and building height. The hotel concept has been under review for years, including earlier hearings that weighed requests for variances for a taller structure and a higher room count.

The Public Service Commission has approved a $125 million plan by a town of Ulster-based fiber-optic company that would allow the firm to borrow $115 million to expand broadband service in the region.

In a news release, the PSC said it conditionally awarded Archtop Fiber LLC request to restructure the company in order to receive the loan for its expansion plan.

“Specifically, the companies commit to invest at least $125 million in New York over the four-year period from 2026 to 2029 to improve infrastructure, extend their high-speed broadband network, and improve customers’ service, including upgrading switches, firewalls, and other electronics at local market offices and hub sites; passing approximately 94,800 addresses; performing data center upgrades benefitting all Archtop Fiber customers; and deploying new interconnection facilities to interconnect New York markets without the need to rely on third-party circuits,” the PSC said.

Ulster Strong is deeply concerned about the impact of the hard frost earlier this month on our region’s apple, peaches and cherries crop. Many of our local orchards and farms—cornerstones of Ulster County’s agricultural economy—are especially vulnerable during this critical growing period. Weather events like this can have lasting consequences on yield, revenue, and long-term sustainability.



These small, family-run businesses operate at the mercy of the elements. Moments like this highlight both the fragility and the vital importance of our local food system.

We urge our community to support our farming community: visit local farm stands, plan orchard trips this season, and continue investing in the farms that make our region unique. Your support truly makes a difference.

Next month, Kingston Social celebrates two years in Uptown Kingston. Co‑owned by Samara Daly—one of Ulster Strong’s Founding Board Members—alongside her business partners, Helena Palazzi and Anne Sanger, Kingston Social has become a welcoming café, mercantile, and art gallery.

Kingston Social is deeply grateful for the support of neighbors, weekenders, and visitors from near and far.

Join the daytime celebration on Saturday, May 9, with treats, giveaways, and a joyful toast to Year Two.

IBM has unveiled plans for a new quantum computing facility at its Poughkeepsie campus. The facility is roughly 511,000-square-feet where the company intends to assemble and manufacture its next-generation Starling quantum systems, in what some county officials are calling one of the most significant investments in Dutchess County’s history.



The proposal, presented before the Town of Poughkeepsie Planning Board, calls for the demolition of two existing buildings totaling 161,000 square feet to make way for the new facility on the southwest corner of the property. When complete, the building would bring IBM’s total Poughkeepsie footprint to between 3.5 and 3.9 million square feet across 45 buildings. The projected workforce for the new facility is approximately 200 employees.