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Less than two weeks ago, the Chamber hosted its largest Annual Meeting ever, with a standing-room-only crowd of over 325 people on hand at Jazzboline. The room was at capacity with business, governmental, and philanthropic leaders from across Western New York as we swore in our new officers, rolled out our Economic Development & Public Policy Agenda, and heard from Supervisor Brian Kulpa about his plans for the coming year. The energy from those in attendance was electric and served as a reminder to our membership that the Chamber is, without a doubt, an organization you can be proud to be part of. This was the Supervisor's final State of the Town address to our membership, and we thank him for his willingness to work with our Chamber through his two terms.
A key component of our annual meeting is the rollout of the Chamber's Economic Development and Public Policy Agenda. This agenda is developed through the work of our Council, whose names you can find <here>, but it would not be possible without the input from our members on a day-to-day basis. This agenda serves as a guide to advocating for our memberships on the issues that are important to creating a more business-friendly state for our current and future employers. To view our agenda, please click <here>
As we head into 2025, I was proud to report on the successes of the Chamber in 2024, including additional programming through LIFT, monthly lunch and learn events, enhancements to our Emerging Business Leader's classes, deeper engagement by our membership through the addition of new team members, and an upgrade to our facilities allowing our members to take advantage of our conference room technology for training, and meeting purposes. We continue to strengthen our relationships within our membership and are focused on being an even stronger partner for your organization.
As part of our enhanced program offerings, our women-only networking group, LIFT (Leadership and Inspiration For Trailblazers), continues to thrive. We hosted a successful ProLIFT networking event last week and are nearing a sellout LIFT Lunch Mob, taking place later this week.
LIFT Lunch Mob at The Eagle House, on Friday, February 14, at 12pm
Our 2025 Emerging Business Leader's Leadership Program participants kicked off the year with our EBL Winter ProMix at the end of January and their first class just last week. This year, we capped participation in our leadership program to promote further engagement between the class participants. However, their second class of the year is our EBL Symposium at Daemen University. The EBL Symposium is open to ALL Chamber members, and we encourage you to join us for the afternoon. There will be two sessions, one including a Foursight assessment, which will need to be completed before the class, and the other session will involve behavioral strategies for the workplace to produce better results. Our sponsors, National Grid and Daemen University, help ensure this day is affordable for our members and includes the assessment, lunch, and a reception afterward.
EBL Symposium at Daemen University Friday, March 14, from 11:30 until 4:00pm
**Please Note** The cost includes the FourSight assessment>>
Learn More about the advantages of FourSight here for you and your team!
This year, in an effort to reinvigorate some of our programming, the Chamber brought back its Lunch & Learn events at the request of our membership. Greg Hennessey from Marketing Tech presented to 30 chamber members about the benefits of marketing and how to determine what avenue of marketing would best benefit you and your company. We're together again on February 21 with presenter and chamber member Kennedy Schultz from KMS Intercultural Education, who will provide three tips to drive retention and inclusion in business. Space is limited, and lunch is provided. There is no cost to attend, but please make sure you reserve your spot today!
Lunch & Learn February 21 at 12pm
I am encouraged by the level of engagement from our membership and the feedback our team has received. This is your Chamber, and we hope to be meeting the mark on your behalf. Peter Petrella will lead our newly installed board of directors for the second year in a row, and our board takes their role of governance very seriously to ensure the long-time success of the Chamber.
I look forward to an incredible year ahead, and please remember my door is always open.