MONTICELLO — More than 300 business and community leaders gathered at Resorts World Catskills on Thursday, October 8, as the Sullivan County Partnership for Economic Development recognized two individuals whose decades of service have helped shape the county.

Sullivan County Democrat Publisher Fred Stabbert III received the Distinguished Service Award, recognizing his contributions to the Partnership, while Dr. Theresa Hamlin, president and CEO of The Center for Discovery, received the Walter A. Rhulen Award, honoring business excellence, community commitment and service to humanity.

Partnership President and CEO Marc Baez praised both recipients, recognizing Stabbert’s extensive community involvement and Hamlin’s leadership in developing The Center for Discovery into an internationally respected institution.

George Kinne, president and CEO of Jeff Bank, presented Stabbert’s award, describing him as an optimistic and dedicated leader whose contributions extend well beyond the newspaper.

“I’ve seen him navigate difficult conversations and situations with grace and confidence, never deviating from his core values,” Kinne said.

He also praised Stabbert’s ability to maintain the trust of the community while navigating the challenges of publishing an independent newspaper.

Stabbert has served on the Partnership’s board for nearly 30 years, including as chairman, and has been publisher of the Democrat for 32 years. His community involvement includes a trustee with SUNY Sullivan, Sullivan Renaissance, the New York Press Association and numerous local organizations, including Callicoon Kiwanis.

Reflecting on his family’s century-long history in the newspaper business, Stabbert spoke about the relationship between local journalism and economic development.

“Over the last hundred years, my family has had a front row seat to the economic development of the Catskills,” Stabbert said.

“In my day job at the Sullivan County Democrat, our mission is to record history. But here at the Partnership, the mission is to build it.”

Stabbert credited the Partnership’s leadership for helping shape a prosperous future for Sullivan County and shared the recognition with his family and the newspaper’s employees, whose work has sustained the publication across three generations.

“I know firsthand that a thriving community requires more than just good headlines,” he said. “It takes jobs, investment, and business leaders who refuse to give up on our potential.”

Hamlin’s recognition celebrated more than four decades of work at The Center for Discovery, which has grown into Sullivan County’s largest employer and a New York State-designated Center of Excellence.

In her acceptance speech, Hamlin traced the organization’s beginnings to 1948, when three mothers gathered on a porch in Jeffersonville seeking educational opportunities for their children, who had been excluded from public schools.

Rather than accept those limitations, the mothers sought a different approach. Their determination laid the foundation for an organization that today boasts 2,000 employees and provides specialized health care, education, research and services for children and adults with complex disabilities.

“Every single discovery led to another,” Hamlin said, describing how teachers, nurses, therapists, parents and researchers contributed to the Center’s development.

That spirit of innovation continues through the Center’s Children’s Specialty Hospital, its developing Transitional Living Community in Rock Hill and plans to expand community programming at Discovery Commons in Hurleyville.

“Extraordinary things can happen in rural communities,” Hamlin said, challenging the assumption that major innovations must originate in large cities or academic institutions.

The Center now employs nearly 2,000 people and generated an estimated $243 million in economic output in 2024, according to Hamlin. But she emphasized that its contributions extend beyond those figures.

Thousands of employees have built careers, raised families, purchased homes and supported local businesses through their work at the Center, she explained.

“That’s not just economic development,” Hamlin said. “That’s community development.”

She credited the Center’s employees, families, community partners and generations of Sullivan County residents for making its growth possible.

“Sullivan County isn’t simply where the Center happens to be located,” she said. “Sullivan County helped build the Center.”

Looking ahead, Hamlin expressed hope that the organization’s research and experience in health, nutrition and wellness could increasingly benefit the surrounding community, particularly through the development of Discovery Commons.

That emphasis on community relationships carried throughout the evening, as Partnership leaders highlighted the organization’s role in connecting businesses and supporting development.

Board Chairman Michael Zalkin described the Partnership as the “grease of the development process,” explaining that expanding a business can be difficult and the organization works to improve its chances of success.

Baez reported that the Partnership is facilitating 17 projects in various stages of development, representing approximately $1 billion in potential investment and more than 1,000 jobs. He also highlighted 5.1 percent annual job growth, which he described as the fastest in the region, and unemployment below four percent.

Kelsey Hornicek, a former Partnership board member and recipient of the 2022 Distinguished Service Award, emphasized the value of the relationships formed at events like the annual dinner.

“I don’t think people realize how much business gets done,” Hornicek said, noting that attendees frequently leave with new business meetings arranged.

Hamlin expressed a similar sentiment during the evening’s reception, welcoming the gathering of local business and community leaders.

“Progress begins with connection,” she said.

More than 140 businesses were represented at the dinner, providing an opportunity for those connections to continue beyond the awards ceremony.