Archive for the ‘Chamber Board’ Category

Memorandum of Understanding Signed for new Adirondack Business Development Partnership

Wednesday, July 13th, 2011
 

(photo by Donna Smaldone) Signors of the Adirondack Business Development Partnership Memorandum of Understanding (Front row from Left): Connie Gerarde, Chair of the Board, Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce, William Brigham, Director, Small Business Development Center, University at Albany, Ronald C. Heacock Ph.D., President, SUNY Adirondack (Back row from Left): Denise K. Brucker, Director of Continuing Education, SUNY Adirondack, Dr. Robert Golden, Dean of SUNY Plattsburgh at Queensbury, and Assistant to the President, SUNY Plattsburgh, A. Nicholas Buttino, Business Division Chair, SUNY Adirondack

At a media event held Wednesday morning on the campus of SUNY Adirondack, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed to create an Adirondack Business Development Partnership. The partnership was developed by the Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Small Business Development Center at the University at Albany, and SUNY Adirondack for the purpose of creating and facilitating an environment that supports a more dynamic regional economy that increases jobs, creates wealth, and retains and attracts talent.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our region’s economy, and SUNY Adirondack is proud to be part of an initiative that will provide valuable resources to allow businesses to develop, grow and prosper in our area,” said SUNY Adirondack President Ronald C. Heacock, Ph.D. “On a statewide level, this step further connects us to the Entrepreneurial Century component of the State University of New York’s strategic plan, which is designed to directly link education and business success.”

“This is an extremely unique partnership that has all the components of something great,” said William Brigham, Director of the Small Business Development Center, University at Albany. “A longstanding and successful Chamber of Commerce, an excellent and emerging School of Business, and one of the top 10 ranked Small Business Development Centers in the country have come together with the common goal of making businesses successful and creating jobs in the Adirondack region.”

“It is our mission to strengthen the business community in the Adirondack region,” said Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce Chair of the Board Connie Gerarde. “As the voice of business for our region, the Chamber is pleased to be partnering with SUNY Adirondack and the SBDC to provide greater leadership, small business resources, education and counseling for existing and startup businesses and entrepreneurs.”

Initiatives of the Partnership include offering individualized business counseling services, small business education, and the development of a new Business Education Council. The Partnership successfully kicked-off a valuable monthly business seminar series June 1, 2011, with the free workshop, “Marketing 101“, presented by Small Business Development Center Business Advisor Kate Baker. The June workshop was the first of three summer workshops focusing on small business development. Additional small business-oriented workshops will be held July 14, 2011, “Customer Service is Not Enough: Learn How to be Exceptional” and August 11, “What You Need to Know About Copyrights, Trademarks and Patents”. All seminars will be held 7:30am-9:00am at SUNY Adirondack in the Regional Higher Education Center Forum, Room 128, 640 Bay Road, Queensbury, NY. For more information about attending the seminars, please contact Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce Director of Marketing and Communications Donna Smaldone at 518-798-1761, ext. 229.

Posted in Chamber Board, Community, News, Small Business | No Comments »

Congressman Gibson Visits ARCC

Wednesday, April 20th, 2011

Just expressed our sincere thanks to U.S. Representative Chris Gibson for carving 90 minutes out of a very busy schedule to meet with 15 area business leaders in our Chamber conference room this afternoon. (pictured at right: Congressman Gibson greets Andy Cruikshank, CEO at Fort Hudson Health System, David Caruso, VP at Stewart’s Shops, George Ferone, Executive Director at Tribune Media Services, David Kruczlnicki, President & CEO at Glens Falls Hospital)

The dialogue was not only robust, but personal and insightful. Gas prices and energy in general, health care, broadband, jobs, economy – both locally and nationally – ignited the conversation. Congressman Gibson’s view on the recent repeal of the health care reform bill suggests that unless a sound replacement bill can be crafted, congress most likely won’t move forward. His perspective regarding the energy crisis is that we need to generate more energy here in NYS and in the country. Also, the reference to his “Irish Luck” on the proposal for researching alternative energy – including nuclear – added a comic moment to the discussion.

 

Take an inside look at some of what Congressman Gibson shared…

http://youtu.be/5HOaPueLmqk

Our business community was well represented…thanks again, Congressman!

Peter L. Aust, IOM
President & CEO, Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce

Posted in Chamber Board, Chamber Events, Chamber Members, Community, Politics | No Comments »

If a Tree Falls in the Woods…

Thursday, April 14th, 2011

The Adirondack Regional Chamber of Commerce (ARCC), like Finch Paper, appreciates the simple things – quality, value and humor. This morning’s monthly Board of Directors meeting at Tribune Media Services was void of none.


ARCC Board Member and Finch Paper’s Vice President & Chief Financial Officer John Kvocka brought Finch Paper’s Vice President and Senior Forester Roger Dziengeleski (pronounced “Jingle ES key”) to share about sustainable forestry.

To set the stage, the group enjoyed Finch’s fastest papermaking video, “From the forest floor to your computer“.

A few interesting takeaways:
* Very few paper mills still manage forests today — and Finch Paper is one of them.
* There is more than one-and-a-half times more wood standing in the forest each year than the year prior, even with all the usage from mills. (note: this includes all trees measuring 5″ in diameter and larger)
* Finch utilizes 750,000 tons of wood each year.
* 80% of the wood Finch uses comes from New York State (the rest from Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Canada).
* Regional competition pans out like this: the Pacific Northwest has the most volume per acre. The Southeast grows trees the fastest. The Northeast has the most trees.

To learn about how sustainably managed forests help mitigate climate change, read Roger’s “Finch in the Forest” blog. Among other things, he will tell you, “As a concerned citizen, I recognize that global warming is one of the most pressing questions facing our society today. As a professional forester, I take heart in knowing that forests are an important part of the answer.“

Thank you, Roger and John for the very informative presentation.

Posted in Chamber Board, Chamber Members | No Comments »

ARCC News Member Mania