Examples of how a variety of small and mid-size businesses have achieved economic success with the assistance and guidance of the Columbia Hudson Partnership.
Innovative Partnership and Cooperation among CHP, the New York Business Development Agency and First Niagara Bank Provided Funding of $720,000 to Keep Leading Biotech Company in Columbia County
American Bio Medica Corporation (Nasdaq:AMBC) of Kinderhook is a leading biotechnology company in the County that develops, manufactures and markets inexpensive, accurate, immunoassay diagnostic test kits, including some of the world's most effective on-site drugs of abuse tests. The company and its worldwide distribution network target the workplace, government, corrections, clinical and educational markets. ABMC's Rapid Drug Screen®, Rapid One®, and Rapid Tec® test for the presence or absence of drugs of abuse in urine, while OralStat6® tests for the presence or absence of drugs of abuse in saliva. ABMC was recently listed among the top ten biotechnology companies on the Deloitte & Touche 2002 Technology Fast 500, a ranking of the fastest growing companies in North America.
In July 2003 the company reported record sales for its second quarter -- with net income increasing 68% over the same quarter last year and 20% over the first quarter. The company now employs more than 100 worldwide and has purchased the building it had leased and 20 acres of surrounding land to grow its headquarters in Columbia County. This was accomplished through the cooperation of the Columbia Hudson Partnership, the NYBDA and Hudson River Bank to the tune of $720,000. In addition, as part of one of the four Empire Zone areas in the County, American Bio Medica is eligible for additional tax incentives to enable the company to expand and grow its nationally recognized business.
NancyScans
More Than Meets the Eye as High Tech Goes Rural NancyScans of Chatham was founded in Boca Raton, Florida, in 1995, by the husband and wife team of Nancy and John Olsen, who started the company in a second bedroom with one computer and a couple of 800 phone numbers. From day one, they established themselves in a business-to-business model as a nationwide provider of high-end digital imagery services to professional photographers. They also opted to specialize in a limited number of custom services and quickly became known for their introduction of "any size, any resolution" custom drum scans at guaranteed low prices.
Instead of dealing with the usual customer service representative, NancyScans’ customers were introduced to dealing directly with the color specialist responsible for their project. Service was fast and there was never a rush charge. Response was immediate. Today, photographers from Anchorage to Key Largo overnight their original images and digital files for scans, RES80 Transparency Output and KRIST'L Fine Art Archival Prints. But they send them to Chatham, not to Boca Raton, because it took Nancy and John just a short time to learn that if they wanted to be competitive, they could not remain in a high-density metropolitan area.
Besides the ability to be competitive, the Olsens recognized that Columbia County offered an unbeatable lifestyle, reasonable overhead, and financial assistance for a small business. Through the Columbia Hudson Partnership, namely a $75,000 low-interest loan from the Columbia Economic Development Corporation, they were able to quickly renovate the building they purchased to house their Digital Fulfillment Center and to bring in the infrastructure required to move data to the outside world -- lots of data all day and all night long.
John Olsen, said, "Our business is cash-intensive. There is always another piece of technology to buy or programmer to hire. Banks lend on equity. At the rate we’ve grown, we can’t satisfy most traditional banking criteria. The pace is too fast. The CEDC made funding available when it wasn’t available through conventional means." Nancy Olson said, "The loan allowed us incremental growth that was ESSENTIAL to our long-term strategy. Without it, we would have been significantly delayed in achieving our business objectives."
She added, "In four short years we’ve been given the opportunity to work for many of the world’s best photographers. The list is long, their work is brilliant. It’s a pleasure to have created a service that does their photography justice."
Today the company’s services include custom scanning, transparency output, wide format printing, and fine art archival printing. They also do software development for a number of large corporations and will soon launch a 100,000-image library of stock photos available via the Web.
Columbia County has nearly fifty country farm markets and orchards, many of them specializing in organic produce.
The Old Chatham Sheepherding Company is the largest sheep dairy farm in the United States.
Census/Demographics
The estimated population of the County is 63,668.
Hudson, once a busy port city frequented by whalers, is the Seat of Columbia County.
Arts & Culture
PS/21 - Performing Spaces for the 21st Century, is a new venue under the direction of Gwen Gould, offering classical sings under an open-air tent in Chatham. www.ps21chatham.org.
What's New
Migrant Farm Workers Get New Housing Through Innovative Program
Migrant workers on several farms in Columbia County are receiving new living quarters thanks to a unique program created by the Columbia Hudson Partnership.
