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Think Dutchess
phase. A case in point is the Silo Ridge Field Club, which recently broke ground on a $500 million development in Amenia. Silo Ridge, a joint project of the Discovery Land Company and Stoneleaf Partners, includes 245 residential units and an 18-hole golf course across 670 acres—80 percent of which will be preserved as open space in perpetuity.
Fueling the growth of Dutchess County is exceptional transportation and communications access. The county is served by two Amtrak stations, as well as nine stations along the Harlem and Hudson lines of Metro-North. The express train to Grand Central Station takes just 75 minutes from Beacon. The county is also intersected by the Taconic State Parkway and I-84, which connect the Massachusetts Turnpike and New York State Thruway. Gap, Inc., for example, has capitalized on the road network by building a massive, 2.5-million-square-foot distribution center in Fishkill that serves the entire Northeast. The company recently invested an additional $96 million in the facility and committed to creating 1,200 new jobs.
Dutchess County also boasts a robust telecommunications infra-
structure, including dark ber (optical cable that is currently in place but not being used) and reliable, redundant power, with competitive utility rates that are essential for growing indus- tries like big data. IBM and CyrusOne are among the companies that have majordatacentersinthecounty.Other related assets include the New York State Cloud Computing and Analytics Center and Marist’s Institute for Data Center Professionals.
Businesses looking to expand or relocate to Dutchess County can tap into a range of state and local incentives, as well as the county’s expedited permitting and review process. A recent example of a company that was attracted to Dutchess is Hudson Valley Lighting, which will transform a 260,000-square-foot building into its new headquarters for research and development, manufacturing, and distribution.
Hopewell Sports Dome Ventures, which includes celebrity investors like music executive Tommy Mottola and actor Richard Gere, recently capitalized on the availability of prime property along the I-84 corridor to build the Sports Kingdome, a $25 million indoor
eld sports complex—one of the largest in the United States.
One of the reasons that Dutchess County is so appealing to businesses and residents alike is that it places a high priority on education, o ering a mix of excellent public and private schools that help keep the talent pipeline owing. The county is home to ve highly regarded institutions of higher education, including Marist College, Vassar College, Bard College, Dutchess Community College, and the world-renowned Culinary Institute of America.
Access to high-quality health care is another bene t of living, working, and doing business in Dutchess County. Vassar Brothers Medical Center recently broke ground on a $510 million expansion in the City of Poughkeepsie.
Opposite page: Dutchess County o ers a wealth of arts and culture, including the acclaimed Power-house Theater — the rst home of the multiple Tony Award winner "Hamilton" - and the historic Bardavon 1869 Opera House in Poughkeepsie. Below: vibrant shopping district adds to the Village of Rhinebeck's charm.
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