About the Hudson River Valley Chapter
For more information about the Hudson River Valley Chapter, please contact Matthew McDonald.
Chapter Area
The area consist of the counties that border the Hudson River on the east and west bank. This area is called the Hudson River Valley section of New York State. The counties include Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange. We also welcome members from surrounding counties in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Chapter Mailing Address
The Hudson River Valley Chapter---ASSE
P.O. Box 1119
Carmel, NY 10512
Chapter Motto
Henry Hudson stated “Explore the Dream and Discover the Future” while sailing on his ship the Half Moon. The picture of his ship makes up the background of this page. The Westchester section dreamed of becoming a chapter and they did in 2006. The chapter will explore each dream and discover the future step by step.
Chapter Mission Statement
The Hudson River Valley ASSE chapter is an association providing the professional development and representation for those engaged in the practice of safety, health and the environment. The chapter will hold eight meetings and two social meetings on the topics that will provide education and services to the private and public sectors.
Chapter Vision Statement
The vision of the Hudson River Valley chapter is to be the premier organization and resource for those in the practice of protecting people, property and the environment, and to lead the profession globally.
Chapter Goals
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Establish, promote and recognize standards of professional practice.
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Advocate positions on regulations and legislation
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Establish relationships with OSHA Outreach programs to enhance safety and health in the region.
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Establish and maintain effective and efficient organization by reaching out to other safety, health, quality councils in the region to achieve the Society’s mission
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Gather, encourage and participate in the development of the body of knowledge relevant of the profession
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Develop and maintain mechanisms to recruit, retain and nurture membership
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Deliver the highest quality professional development opportunities to enhance competence and to position practitioners for success
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Establish and maintain a structured program to recruit and retain and nurture student members.
History of the Hudson River Valley Chapter
This may not be complete – if you were involved in the early days of the Westchester Section, please feel free to contribute your insights.
The early history of the Chapter – the Chapter began as the Westchester Section of the Metropolitan Chapter dating back to about 1980 or so, perhaps even earlier. Jim Foley, then Safety Director at the NY Power Authority was the Section Chairperson of Westchester and Liaison to Metropolitan Chapter. He and other members recognized a need to support members in the upstate counties who could not participate due to the commute to the Metropolitan meetings. Jim hosted many of the meetings ensuring quality speakers, timely and informative topics. Under his leadership the section grew expanding the membership of the Metropolitan Chapter. Leadership was then assumed by Charlie Gretzner, Dean at Mercy College in Yorktown. Meetings were hosted at Mercy College and later at Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, where Bob Russell was our host. In September 1997, Scott Harkins became Section Chair and was our leader until September of 2002.
When Bob Russell moved to a position in Orange County our meetings moved to NY Medical College where Gary Hohenstein and Bill Collesano were our hosts. Subsequent meeting venues included BAE Systems in Yonkers – where Matt McDonald the first President of the Hudson River Valley Chapter was working at the time. We now rotate our meeting sites with Westchester Community College being our primary site with auxillary sites at the Rockland County Fire Training facility, Orange County Regional Medical Center, and members’ company locations.
Starting in 2006 or perhaps a little earlier, Section Leadership, particularly, Matt McDonald, worked with the Metro Chapter Leaders and ASSE National to complete all the requirements to become a full fledged chapter. We received great support from the Metro Chapter Leadership in this endeavor and on December 14, 2006 the initial Executive Board of the Hudson River Valley Chapter was presented the chapter’s Charter.
The initial concept was, and still is, a forum for safety practitioners living or working in the suburbs north of NYC. Meeting were mostly morning meetings allowing members to stop by on their way to work versus commuting to the city and spending the better part of a day.