New Year, New Opportunities
Jennifer Tavares, CEcD, President & CEO
I’m sure we all realized how fast 2016 was coming around early November, when we were scheduling meetings through January, drafting annual reports, checking on Q4 financials, and working on 2016 annual work plans. Well, here we are, and whether you are enjoying some quiet days in the office or a few last days of vacation before 2016 begins, it’s a great time to think about ways to make this year fantastic for your small business or non-profit organization.
Here are a few ideas to get your new year rolling:
2016 Annual Dinner and Awards
The Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Dinner, Meeting & Community Awards will take place on Thursday, January 28, 2016. Join us for a celebratory toast in making Tompkins County the best place to live, work, and grow a business in Central NY. This event is the place to see and be seen in Tompkins County’s government, civic, and business communities. Registration is open online on tompkinschamber.org.
New Members
Serendipity Catering: Stephanie Holzbaur
950 Danby Road, Suite 20, Ithaca, New York 14850
(607) 273-2145 | serendipitycatering.biz
Event Catering
Gola Osteria: Kami Drake-Epps
115 S Quarry St., Ithaca NY 14850
(607) 273-0333 | golaosteria.com
Restaurant
Events and Features
Midstate Basement Authorities
Central New York has an abundance of lakes and streams, which can mean wet basements. Midstate Basement Authorities in Ithaca is a full service basement and foundation contractor whose services include basement waterproofing, water control systems, crawlspace encapsulation and repair, foundation repair, structural analysis and repair, and sump pumps.
Seeing a need for quality basement waterproofing and foundation repair in the region, Eric Leach and his son Robert, of R. Leach & Son Contracting, formed Midstate Basement Authorities in 2012 — a dealer for Basement Authorities, a national company that has been waterproofing basements since the 1960s. Their line includes innovative products such as Xypex, Geo Channel, Platon Drain Membranes, Gorilla wall braces, carbon fiber wall straps, Polygem injection epoxies, and more. Midstate also carries equipment and pumps by Champion Sump Pumps, Sante Fe Dehumidification Systems, and Stormpro Back-Up Pumps.
“We strive for 100% customer satisfaction with every job we do,” says Eric Leach. “We offer fast and reliable estimates for real estate transactions as well as homeowners. We analyze the home’s basement or crawlspace and provide free, no obligation repair estimates, often within a day or two if needed.”
The company has seen net sales increase by 165% over 2014, and staff has doubled in number. Leach says his goal for Midstate Basement Authorities is to continue growing and creating more employment opportunities so that the company can serve customers quickly and complete more jobs throughout the year.
Midstate Basement Authorities | 245 Cecil Malone Drive, Suite 1, Ithaca, NY 14850 | 607-387-4825 | www.midstatebasement.com
Business After Hours Real Deal 2016
Chamber Members: save $ on registration for the monthly Business After Hours events by paying in advance for all 12 BAHs in 2016, January through December.
$125 for 12 months. Regularly $144, or $12/month.
$110 after the January 2016 BAH, 11 months. Please call the office at (607) 273-7080
Forget about having to call in your reservation at the last minute and just breeze through registration. Your name badge will be waiting for you. Chamber Members only. This offer expires Wednesday, February 10, 2016. Register Now!
Announcing the 1st Annual Tompkins Connect Fabulous Five (FAB5) Awards
The Fab5 Awards celebrate the achievement of Tompkins County young professionals, ages 21-40, who are growing and excelling in their respective fields and in the community. On February 22nd, the Fab5 Young Professional Awards will be hosted at Coltivare, with each award winner receiving recognition in front of their co-workers and peers. Sponsored by Tompkins Trust Company. Read more…
Member News
In-person continuing education for LMSWs and LCSWs is finally available in Ithaca! Beginning in May 2016, Family and Children’s Service (F&CS) and the Human Services Coalition (HSC) will offer continuing education workshops approved by the New York State Education Department’s State Board for Social Work. Having a local agency with approved provider status now means that local clinicians will no longer have to travel out of town for in-person training and education sessions. This will save therapists time and money while also providing local networking opportunities. To receive notices of these and other HSC workshops go to registration@hsctc.org and sign up.
Community School of Music and Art (CSMA) in Ithaca offers Winter Classes in all artistic disciplines beginning in mid-January. Weekday, weeknight, and weekend courses for adults and for children, beginner to advanced levels. February and spring break Artsbreak programming provides arts experiences for kids ages 6 – 9. Need-based scholarships are available. www.csma-ithaca.org
Camp Earth Connection offers a half day workshop, “Designing and Operating Your Own Camp Program,” on Thursday, Feb. 11,
from 1-5 PM, at the Common Spot, 126 3/4 The Commons, Ithaca. Camp Earth Connection is available for private or group rentals. For more information email campearthconnection@gmail.com, or call (607) 844-3178. www.campearthconnection.com
The Regional Economic Development Councils of Central New York, Finger Lakes, and Southern Tier are the winners of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s $1.5 billion Upstate Revitalization Initiative Awards. The three REDCs will each receive $500 million in state funding for projects seeking to boost economic and job growth. Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce members were among the winners in the Southern Tier region, including Community Arts Partnership ($37.2k), Cornell University ($362k), Downtown Ithaca Alliance ($500k), Ithaca Neighborhood Housing Services ($516.7k), and Rev Ithaca Startup Works ($125k). Projects in the City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, Village of Groton, and Tompkins County also received awards. www.governor.ny.gov
Leslie Carrère and Kevin Reilly co-founded and launched The Treman Center in 2015. The Treman Center invites visitors to celebrate change, incubate innovation and embrace conscious leadership for a more sustainable planet. It is a creative collaborative space designed for inspiration, transformation, education, barn weddings and life celebrations. For more information, contact Leslie at events@tremancenter.com.
Save the Dates
Wed 1/13 5p ……….. January 2016 Business After Hours at YMCA
Thu 1/14 5:30p ……….. French Riviera Tour 2016: Pre-Tour Briefing
Thu 1/21 12p ……….. January 2015 Networking @ Noon, TBA
Thu 1/28/16……….. Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting & Dinner, at Ithaca College