BUSINESS & REAL ESTATE 25

CLASSIFIEDS 26

HEALTH 22

LEISURE 23

MAHOPAC MUSINGS 16

OPINION 10

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On the web at mahopacnews.com

Thursday, July 5, 2012Vol. 3 No. 20

BY LISA MOCKEL FOR MAHOPAC NEWS

Rich D’Andrea, co-owner and vice president of Park Ford on Route 6 in Mahopac, was recently named The

Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Com-merce’s “Businessperson of the Year” at a celebration on June 26, at Sinapi’s Ceola Manor in Jefferson Valley.

Throughout the evening, D’Andrea, who previously served on the chamber’s board of directors for six years, was lauded for his achievement by fellow chamber members and local dignitaries, including state Sen. Greg Ball, Putnam County Executive Mary-Ellen Odell, Town Councilman Jonathan Schneider and Kevin Bailey, president of the Putnam County Economic Development Corporation.

Sen. Ball said that D’Andrea, an 11-year chamber member, is both a man that other men like, and who they also want to be like. Meanwhile, Council-man Schneider, co-owner of Schneider Financial Group, said D’Andrea is the type of person who commands attention from others when he is speaking and someone who other chamber board mem-bers have sought when solving a dispute.

D’Andrea, who re-sides in Yorktown, said he was pleased to be recognized by fellow business people and friends he has worked so closely with over the past several years.

“It was overwhelming,” he said in an in-terview after the celebration. “I’m usually a giver, not a taker. I was kind of in awe.”

When accepting the award, D’Andrea told his fellow chamber members that he was

simply the annual caretaker of the award, but that it belongs to every chamber mem-ber who understands what it’s like to meet a weekly payroll.

The annual “Businessperson of the Year” award is chosen by previous winners, which

include Charlie Melchner of Mahopac Mari-na, Joe Tock from the Law Offices of Joseph J. Tock, Laurie Lee Ford of Kidz Country, William and Sandy Toscani of Toscani Ac-counting, Kevin Bailey of Comcast, Grace Vinciguerra of RE/MAX Classic Realty, Lisa and Aaron Kass of Stillwater Autobody and Denis Marousek, who owned a photogra-phy business. The Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Commerce is a not-for-profit or-ganization of local business people working to benefit the Mahopac-Carmel area. With over 500 business members, the chamber provides networking and community service opportunities for local businesses.

D’Andrea began his career with the Ford Motor Company over 30 years ago, working

as a sales zone manager from 1980 to 1983. He was a general manager for a Yonkers dealership for several years before becoming an owner at Park Ford in Mahopac in 2000. He owns the business with his father-in-law, Leonard Canora Sr.

Park Ford currently employs 38 full-time workers, including several members of the D’Andrea and Canora families, mostly from Westchester and Putnam counties. They just completed a $600,000 renovation on the Route 6 dealership — an extensive project that included an indoor/outdoor facelift. Over the past two years, business has grown 15 percent, helping them to earn Ford’s 2011

Park Ford owner is named local chamber’s ‘Businessperson of the Year’

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DANIEL STOCKFIELD OF DSP GALLERY, INC.

Park Ford owner Rich D’Andrea, center, was recognized as the Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Commerce’s Businessperson of the Year by, from left, Town Councilman

Jonathan Schneider, Chamber Chairwoman Laurie Lee Ford, Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell, his wife, Donna D’Andrea, and state Sen. Greg Ball.

Rich D’Andrea holding a plaque he received for being recognized as the Greater Mahopac-Carmel Chamber of Commerce’s Businessperson of the Year.

RICH D’ANDREA

SEE D’ANDREA PAGE 5

PAGE 5MAHOPAC NEWS – Thursday, July 5, 2012

President’s Award — a top honor given to dealerships that reach or exceed sales goals while scoring high in customer satisfaction.

Community service and being a good neighbor is also a priority to D’Andrea and Park Ford. The dealership sponsors a variety of local programs and organizations, including scholarships for high school students from Mahopac and Carmel, Relay for Life, Sup-port Connection in Yorktown and the Mahopac Sports Association among others.

“We participate in anything that makes sense to be community-minded,” he said.

Getting involved with the cham-ber was important to D’Andrea from the outset. Over the years, he has earned a reputation among his peers as someone who sets a good example for other businesses, shows a sincere interest in chamber programs and activities, and stays active by chairing committees and advocating for local businesses.

“I do very well networking in-side the chamber,” he said, adding that he and most other members are always promoting the group and bringing in new members.

D’Andrea encourages new busi-nesses to get involved in the cham-ber as a way to help promote them-selves and to develop relationships with other businesses in the com-munity.

“It’s a great way to develop a good reputation quickly,” he said. “Everything I need, I buy from a chamber member if they sell it.”

D’Andrea said one of his favor-ite chamber activities is the 15-20 minute session at the end of every dinner meeting where attendees are asked to speak about a positive business experience they’ve had with another member.

“It’s just uplifting,” he said. “It helps build confidence and trust and that’s the beauty of the cham-ber.”

D’ANDREAFROM PAGE 1

BY MARY DEMPSEYOF MAHOPAC NEWS

The Town Board will hold a pub-lic hearing at 7 p.m. next Wednes-day, July 11, on the proposed $2.2 million water main replacement plan for Carmel Water District 8, which covers the Mahopac Ridge area.

The board voiced unanimous support for the project in February 2011 and issued up to $100,000 in bonds to pay for the design servic-es. The town came up with the pipe replacement plan after area resi-

dents complained about water-ser-vice problems that included brown and yellow running water.

The improvements will affect about 170 homes along a 2-1/2–mile stretch of road and include the replacement of 13,400 linear feet of piping. With state approval of the plans, the project is ready to go out to bid and requires a pub-lic hearing before the board votes on it. Awarding the bid in August would result in work on the ex-pected six-month project to begin in September.

The town is considering financ-ing options for the project, includ-ing paying for it with a 20- or 30-year bond. The homeowners in the water district would collectively pay for the pipe replacement, the total cost of which has not yet been calculated.

Although the town expected the project to begin last summer, de-lays involving finalizing the design document and state health depart-ment approval of the plans pushed back the timeline by about one year.

Public hearing on $2.2 water main replacement set for July 11

Featuring great food, games, and rides for the whole family, the Ma-hopac Volunteer Fire Department Carnival is an annual tradition that everyone in the area looks forward to. The carnival will take place from July 12-14 and 19-21.

The carnival opens at 7 p.m. Thursday, July 12, with the depart-ment’s annual Fireman’s Parade. Come watch departments from all

around the Hudson Valley compete for the Best Appearing Overall tro-phy.

On Saturday, July 21, the carni-val closes at around 11 p.m. with the car raffle drawing for a 2012 Ford Mustang convertible. Tickets are available from members or at the main Sstation, located on Route 6.

Annual Mahopac Volunteer Fire Department

carnival set for July 12

Promote Your CharitySend us a press release at mahopacnews@halstonmedia.com, or give us a call at 845-621-1115.