MINDING YOUR OWN BUSINESS
Ellenville is a growing community with more than a century of achievement in commerce, industry, and innovation. A great place to live and work, Ellenville draws from a wide talent base throughout surrounding communities in Ulster County and the Hudson Valley.
Because of its relative low cost of living—compared to other areas in the lower Hudson Valley and northern New Jersey—Ellenville is ideal for home-based businesses and employees who telecommute, with new high speed broadband and internet services being expanded to cover a wider area beyond the village itself.
Opportunities in Ellenville abound for businesses in retail, tourism and hospitality, outdoor recreation, health care, food and beverage, technology, and light manufacturing.
ELLENVILLE RISING
Grant funds for infrastructure costs are available to new and growing businesses that are creating jobs within the Village of Ellenville and the Town of Wawarsing. Call 845 340-3556 for more information.
RONDOUT VALLEY BUSINESS ASSOCIATION
The Rondout Valley Business Association is a membership-based group of businesses, organizations, and individuals dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for residents of the Rondout Valley and promoting the region as a destination for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who visit Ulster County each year.
A COMMUNITY ON THE RISE
Ellenville is experiencing a surge in local pride of place. You and your new business can be a part of it! Building upon the success of the “Restaurant Row†along Canal Street, Ellenville residents and business owners are expanding their footprint and improving the physical spaces surrounding them.
Growth and upgrades in Ellenville include:
- Recent Main Street improvement funding has led to the beautification of the downtown historic district, including new lighting, a way-finding sign program, accessible sidewalks, and street crossings, and general façade improvements.
- Parks and rail-trail improvement funds are upgrading trails, facilities, and parks within Ellenville while establishing an Inter-Municipal Parks Commission to oversee, improve, and manage the parks.
- Historic landmark buildings, such as the George and John R. Hunt Memorial Building, are being renovated and restored to their original grandeur.
- A marketing campaign, ‘Discover Ellenville’, is underway to attract visitors to Ellenville for its recreational activities, cultural attractions, events, dining, and to bring more business to the Village.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION
The village of Ellenville, New York, is approximately 90 miles northwest of New York City and 90 miles southwest of Albany. It is part of the town of Wawarsing in Ulster County and is considered to be within both the Hudson Valley and the Catskills regions.
Ellenville is located within the Rondout Valley, between the eastern base of the Catskill Mountains and the western base of the Shawangunk Ridge, which is listed by The Nature Conservancy as one of the “75 Last Great Places on Earth.”
Ellenville is:
Less than two hours by car from New York City and 90 minutes from Albany.
Served locally by the Joseph Y. Resnick Airport (Private aircraft)
28 Miles to Stewart Airport in Newburgh, NY (Commercial airlines)
33 Miles to the Mid-Hudson Bridge
33 Miles to the Newburgh-Beacon Bridge
34 Miles to the Poughkeepsie train station, served by Amtrak and Metro-North Railroad.
BUSINESS RESOURCES AND SUPPORT
Businesses in Ellenville find strong support from active organizations such as the Ellenville / Wawarsing Chamber of Commerce, the Rondout Valley Business Association, the Ulster County Regional Chamber of Commerce, and the Greater Wawarsing Local Development Corporation, which is working to create the Greater Wawarsing Community Business Lending Resource Center.
New or relocating businesses can qualify for several incentives and funding resources, including both state and local programs. These include:
Ellenville Revolving Loan Fund – Low-interest (2-4%)Â financial assistance to businesses within the boundaries of the Village of Ellenville to help create and/or retain jobs.
Ulster County Revolving Loan Funds – Fixed rate, low-interest loans, revolving lines of credit or loan guarantees.
Ulster County “Soft Landing” Development Fund – Grants and tax incentives to help developers and new businesses defray costs and create jobs.
Ulster County IDA (Industrial Development Agency) –Bonding, as well as sales, mortgage and real property tax abatements for qualified projects.
DEMOGRAPHIC STATISTICS
Ellenville has a population of 4,130, while the population of the larger town of Wawarsing is approximately 13,000. The median age of Ellenville’s residents is 34.3 years. It is a family-centric town, with 30.9% of the households containing married families with children. The median household income is $42,600, as compared to $58,934 within the surrounding county, and the national median of $53,046. The racial makeup of the village is 69.06% White, 11.67% African American, 0.48% Native American, 1.57% Asian, 0.00% Pacific Islander, 12.32% from other races, and 4.89% from two or more races. 28.40% of the population is Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Source: 2000 Census, via Berkshire Hathaway
QUALITY OF LIFE
Ellenville is an authentic, small-town community that embraces its history as part of the Hudson River Valley, as well as its place in the Rondout Valley and Catskills region. With the Shawangunk Mountains to the east and the Catskills to the northwest, this valley village enjoys natural, majestic beauty in all directions and seasons.
The Village of Ellenville government provides many integral community services, including utilities and emergency services, while the Town of Wawarsing oversees the buildings, highways, and parks departments. Village life revolves around the Ellenville Public Library & Museum, the Shadowland Stages, and the restaurants on Canal Street, the George and John R. Hunt Memorial Building, and other historic sites, such as the D&H Canal landmark and Cragsmoor Stone Church.
REAL ESTATE VALUE
In this quiet corner of Ulster County, real estate costs present an attractive comparable value to surrounding towns like New Paltz, Phoenicia, Saugerties, and Woodstock. It is one of the remaining towns in the Hudson Valley where you can find a ‘fixer-upper’ home or historic farmhouse for less than $100,000. The median sales price of homes is approximately $80,000 (as of 6/16).
Real estate is available in the form of commercial properties, vacant land, new construction, traditional residential homes, seasonal and lake community homes, hunting camps and more
SCHOOLS AND EDUCATION
There are three schools in the Ellenville Central School District, serving approximately 1,800 students from full-day kindergarten through high school. The average student /teacher ratio is 13:1.
There are two higher education institutions nearby: SUNY College at New Paltz, and Ulster County BOCES.
Founded in 1828, SUNY New Paltz is a competitive, four-year university college and part of the State University of New York system. It offers undergraduate majors in business, liberal arts and sciences, fine and performing arts and education, as well as cutting-edge programs in the STEM fields.
It regularly appears on national ranking lists, including one of the 100 Best Values in Public Colleges, according to Kiplinger’s Personal Finance magazine.
HEALTH CARE RESOURCES
Quality health care is easily accessible in Ellenville at all levels of service, including family practice, urgent care, and auxiliary practices such as dental, chiropractic, and holistic/natural medicine. Ellenville Regional Hospital is an advanced medical facility that provides quality care. This teaching hospital provides the fastest emergency department services in New York State, and is a state leader among in- and out-patient rehabilitation services. Its innovative programs are being emulated at other medical facilities, particularly those in improving rehabilitation outcomes, chronic pain protocols, and reducing prescription error rates.
