Orange County business leaders named Hudson Valley ‘Trailblazers’

MID-HUDSON – Orange County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Heather Bell has been named one of the Hudson Valley’s “Trailblazers” by City & State New York Magazine, for her vision, leadership, and positive impact on the region. Conor Eckert, president of the Orange County Partnership, was also named among those business leaders.

“Conor Eckert took the top job at the Orange County Partnership last year, after serving as the organization’s senior vice president, and he’s focused on future-proofing the local economy,” the periodical said.

“Heather Bell is bolstering the impact that the Orange County Chamber of Commerce makes on the regional economy,” the magazine wrote.

Among the other leaders named is L. Todd Diorio, the president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of the Hudson Valley. The magazine said Diorio  “makes sure that unionized construction workers have a say in how the Hudson Valley is developed. Diorio has negotiated over 150 project labor agreements, pushed industrial development agencies to adopt strong labor policies and advanced apprenticeship programs in counties, school districts and local governments across the region.”

The magazine’s “puts a spotlight on a section of influential figures who are active across a seven-county region” encompassing Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester counties, according to the magazine’s announcement.

Last year, under Bell’s leadership, the organization won the 2025 Chuck Steiner Memorial New York State Chamber of the Year Award from the Business Council of New York State.