By John Jordan
MIDDLETOWN, NY—The Orange County Partnership saved its best for last, closing out its 2024 programming recently with its 38th Annual Event that featured the presentation of the Golden Shovel and Spirit of Innovation awards, as well as a look back at the Partnership’s economic impact over nearly four decades of operation and its plans for the future.
Approximately 600 business and political leaders gathered on Dec. 3 at the Barn at Villa Venezia in Middletown for the Goshen-based Partnership’s Annual Event. One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of the Alliance for Balanced Growth’s “Golden Shovel Award” to Royal Wine Corp., its owners the Herzog family, and developer GFI Partners on Royal Wine’s 650,000-square-foot bottling and distribution center built on more than 80 acres on 17M in Goshen. The new Orange County facility consolidated Royal Wine’s operations in two other states.
The Herzog family and GFI were praised by Partnership and Orange County officials for “GFI’s unwavering focus on innovation, quality, and integrity” that aligns seamlessly with Royal Wine’s dedication, creating a dynamic foundation for growth and partnership. Their “investment, collaboration, and commitment have already made a lasting mark on Orange County,” Partnership officials stated. The new Goshen plant will bring 100 new permanent jobs to the area.
The Orange County Partnership handed out its Spirit of Innovation Award to James P. Smith, founder and president of Campbell Hall-based Advance Testing Company. Smith was praised not only for the company’s impressive growth and position in the construction industry, but also for his tireless volunteer efforts in the business, civic and social arenas. Smith was a long-time director of the Orange County Partnership.
History of Success
The program also included remarks by Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus, addresses by Orange County Partnership Board Chairperson Melissa Cobuzzi and President & CEO Maureen Halahan, as well as a 2025 Market Outlook by Senior Vice President Conor Eckert.
The Orange County Partnership, founded in 1986, has assisted in a total of 873 attractions and expansion projects in 38 years, involving a total investment of more than $7 billion that generated an estimated 31,366 job creations in Orange County.
Despite the economic and political turbulence in 2024, the Partnership’s efforts fostered a total of $135 million in investment involving 370 new jobs and significant development activity. Other key data points released by the Partnership point to an impressive project pipeline. The Goshen-based agency reported 53 new leads, including 11 from international companies. The Partnership fielded a 38% increase in manufacturing leads and noted that it had participated in 13 site selector tours and 22 business retention and expansion visits.
Neuhaus, Halahan and Eckert related the opportunities that now exist in the green, advanced technology and chip sectors and that Orange County is poised to take advantage of the growth in those markets.
Halahan said that in the past few years developers have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in industrial projects in Orange County and that despite high interest rates and political uncertainty, “these developers are poised to continue to deliver projects because they trust us and they believe in our Orange County market. In 2025 we have the promise of their investment paying off, resulting in significant construction activity and job creation.”
Eckert said that the Orange County Partnership plans to “recalibrate” its economic development efforts and focus on pharma, food and beverage, clean technology and semiconductors—“sectors that move the needle for the community.”
He added, “With this focus comes more significant projects, comes more complicated construction, great jobs and more wealth in the community.” In 2024, Orange County Partnership officials traveled the country to meet with leaders in these key sectors in the hopes that new development and high-paying jobs from these industries will locate in Orange County. “We are competing on a global scale for these dynamic projects,” he said.
Eckert detailed a very impressive pipeline of potential projects that are now in various stages of site selection and approvals, including a high-tech logistics facility in the early stages of approvals in the Town of Wawayanda.
Golden Shovel Award Winners
Royal Wine Corp. has been owned and operated in the United States by the Herzog family, whose winemaking roots date back eight generations to 19th century Czechoslovakia. Founded in 1848, the Herzog family winery was renowned as the Royal wine supplier to the emperor of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Emperor Franz Joseph, eventually earning Phillip Herzog (1843-1918) the royal title of Baron. In 1948, after the Communist takeover in Czechoslovakia, Eugene Herzog, the head of the Herzog family, moved the family to the United States. Settling in New York City, he went to work for Royal Wine Corp. which was started by the Pluczenik brothers in the 1940s as a winemaker, truck driver and salesman. In 1958, Herzog was a majority stockholder and purchased the company.
Today, Royal Wine is a leader in the kosher wine and beverage industry, in quality, range of products, modern production methods, innovative packaging and marketing. All Royal products are certified kosher and are therefore prepared in adherence to the highest standards of cleanliness and purity, requiring meticulous care and pristine winemaking conditions. Royal prides itself providing the finest wines, spirits and liqueurs from all over the world with products hailing from Italy, Israel, France, Scotland, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Argentina, Canada and the United States.
GFI Partners, a real estate developer, operator and investment manager based in Boston, is the owner of the Royal Wine property and leases the land to the firm. GFI has been involved in more than 20 million square feet of real estate development. The company’s current portfolio includes more than 10 million square feet of real estate holdings.
Spirit of Innovation Award Winner
James P. Smith, Jr. started his career working as a quality control technician for an asphalt contracting and aggregate supply firm working his way up to Chief Quality Control Technician. During this time, he was able to develop his business skills and become a highly respected materials testing technician.
In 1984, he founded Advance Testing Company, Inc. with his station wagon and some credit cards. It would take a year before he was able to move the company’s entire operation out of his home and into a 1,500-square-foot building in Newburgh.
Today, Advance Testing is a construction materials testing and inspection firm with offices located in Campbell Hall, NY; Harpursville, NY; Newtown, CT; West Stockbridge, MA; and Fort Myers, FL. The company is known nationwide as an innovator and leader in construction materials testing. A testament to its growth over the years is that from its initial operations in a station wagon, the company is now headquartered and operates a state-of-the-art, accredited materials testing laboratory at its 15,000 square feet of space in Campbell Hall and employs more than 165 workers during peak periods each year.
Advance Testing provides high quality services for a variety of private and public sector project types that include airports, highways, bridges, tunnels, buildings and many others. Services include overall inspection of construction practices, as well as specific materials related testing for soils, aggregates, asphalt, concrete, masonry, fireproofing, structural steel and welding, with hundreds of test procedures performed in our accredited laboratories. Its project list includes some of the most high-profile developments in the New York region, including the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, World Trade Center reconstruction, Orange Regional Medical Center, LEGOLAND New York, Resorts Work Catskills, USMA Preparatory School, The Kartrite Indoor Water Park, and the CPV Valley Energy Center.
