Robert P. Weisz showed his characteristic aplomb Thursday night outside of the Westchester office market – namely in front of an audience of young Junior Achievement participants, their parents, and a few business leaders.

The occasion was the Junior Achievement of the Hudson Valley Inc. Spirit of Achievement Awards Dinner, held at the Marriott Westchester hotel in Greenburgh (Tarrytown address).
The president of RPW Group Inc. in Rye Brook recalled during his remarks from the dais his journey from penniless Uruguayan immigrant in the late 1970s, to furniture wholesaler, to a long career buying commercial properties, renovating them, then in most cases selling at a gain.

“This country has delivered to me, as it has to so many others, the American dream. But to my surprise, the American dream was not defined by wealth, by power, by titles. The American dream was defined by how much we give back of our time, of our resources, of our efforts to help people.

After thanking JA for teaching workplace and life skills to school-aged children, Weisz made a request to the adults in the audience: “I will ask you now to look at the kids at your tables, because those are the faces of the future, those of the leaders that we are preparing now.

“Frankly, we can’t think of a cause that is more meaningful than preparing our kids for adult life,” Weisz added.

Watching Weisz were his wife and 17-year-old son Andrew, who this fall will begin studies at Trinity College in Hartford, Conn. Not present was his daughter, a Harvard University undergrad. Weisz drew audience laughs by recalling her initial response to her dad’s JA honor: “Aren’t you too old to get a Junior Achievement award?”

Weisz was among three award winners honored by JAHV. Another was Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. – which leases 69,000 square feet at Weisz’s 1133 Westchester Ave. in White Plains.

The White Plains accounting firm Marden Harrison & Kreuter CPA’s P.C. captured the Westchester County Business Journal Overachiever of the Year Award. It was presented to a partner in the firm, Stephen Harrison, by the newspaper’s publisher Dee DelBello, the CEO of Deals & Deeds parent Westfair Business Publications.

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