In a letter sent to company employees obtained by the Ellenville Journal, Hydro Aluminum North America provides a timetable for the site's shutdown. It reads, "We anticipate the cessation of operations will commence on or about May 14, 2007, with complete cessation of the extrusion operations to occur by, on or about June 30, 2007."

With regards to employee layoffs, the letter goes on to explain that those moves will be decided "depending upon our production schedule," but will occur during the same period between May and June of 2007.

Interviews with various employees revealed that a significant number of Hydro employees come from beyond Wawarsing's borders with many coming from as near as Accord and some as far away as Middletown, Livingston Manor and even Pennsylvania.

Of the 262 jobs that will be lost, an estimate by company employees places the distribution of jobs at 60 percent from within the Town of Wawarsing and 40 percent coming from outside the town. If those numbers are accurate, the number of Wawarsing residents who will be left without jobs this summer approaches 160.

* * * In the week and a half since officials announced that the company's extrusion facility would be closing, people have been talking about what the surrounding community will do once the doors are shut on the aluminum manufacturer.

Comments in private and public spaces have been lamenting the loss of the jobs as another hurdle that the area must overcome while others have been searching for answers to some tough questions.

Ellenville Village Manager Elliott Auerbach is one of the area's officials who has been coming to grips with the closing of Ulster County's last large manufacturing facility. "We are not the manufacturing center that we once were here. So the question is, where do we go from here?"

Part of the issue, Auerbach explains, is answering questions having to do with perception. He asks, "How do we reshape people's expectations?"

* * * In an article that appeared in the Times Herald-Record on Sunday, March 11 Auerbach was interviewed about Ellenville's role as a possible growth area for Orange County residents who do not wish to pay Orange County prices for homes or services.

When asked to elaborate, Auerbach said, "Is it a bad thing that Ellenville becomes a 'bedroom community' for Orange County? I don't think so. You have people who are making good money and realizing that the commute is worth it for our prices."

The only drawback that Auerbach sees is with regard to residents being less involved in local organizations. "If you have someone working in another place all day are they going to want to come out and volunteer for the PTA or other local clubs."

With regard to future economic development initiatives, Auerbach says that he thinks more effort should be placed into the fields of health, technology, education, agriculture and the arts as possible new avenues for the area's growth.

The municipality's arts effort was bolstered with the appointment of Judy Sigunick as Visual Arts Director for the Village of Ellenville at Monday's Village Board meeting. Mrs. Sigunick and her husband, Phil, were instrumental in organizing last year's 10x10x10 and AWE (Artists in the Windows of Ellenville) art exhibitions. And Mayor Jeff Kaplan announced that the farm and craft market he proposed will meet every Sunday starting on June 10 of this year.

With various initiatives being explored by the municipality, questions arise as to what the larger governmental bodies (county, state, federal) can do to assist the area. And while Auerbach assures that, "there is a dialogue occurring between us [Ellenville] and our bigger representatives," he is also quick to raise concerns about waiting for external help saying, "As it stands right now there is no one we can rely on but ourselves."

COMMENTS about this article (4)