On Building Community in the Hudson Valley

By Jordan Koschei

FOUNDER OF CONNECT HV

I grew up in Ulster County and knew I always want to stay here. But I’m a designer, and everyone told me the same thing: if you want a real career, you need to be in NYC or SF. I chose the Hudson Valley anyway. It turned out, I wasn't alone.

ConnectHV started as my answer to a simple problem: *how do you find your people in a place as spread out as the Hudson Valley?* What started as a scrappy homegrown website has grown into monthly meetups throughout the Hudson Valley and a vibrant Slack community where ideas and opportunities flow freely, every day.

I expected maybe a dozen people to join. Instead, hundreds appeared within the first week. Artists from Kingston, filmmakers from Beacon, engineers from Poughkeepsie, all hungry for the same thing: genuine creative connection in a place they love. Serendipitous connections spark creativity.

Ideas collide when you get people from different backgrounds in one space. Innovation bubbles up spontaneously, transforming casual conversations into collaborations, businesses, and friendships. Looking for a musician in Kingston? A photographer in Dutchess County? A collaborator to launch your next big idea? They’re here, waiting to connect.

This is our moment to build something special: a creative community that's vibrant, supportive, and firmly rooted in place. The Hudson Valley's

beautiful breadth doesn't have to scatter us; it can be our greatest strength. Let's prove you can build extraordinary things without leaving the place that made you.