Jennifer Tavares, CEcD, President & CEO
There are so many highlights from 2015 that our staff, board, members, and volunteers can be truly proud of. As promised, we offered many fantastic networking opportunities, forged strategic connections, and boosted our efforts to promote the business and tourism assets of Tompkins County.
We spent countless hours exploring important issues that matter to your business or organization, and advocated for projects, policies, and programs to improve our community and local economy. Despite some unique challenges, we believe more than ever that Tompkins County is a great place to visit, live, work, learn, and grow a business or family. Noteworthy accomplishments this year include:
- An updated website and increased social media presence, which will better allow us share your story with the community and other businesses
- Two new quarterly newsletters, one focusing on economic development updates for the business and non-profit community, and one sharing success stories and resources to support commercial energy efficiency upgrades
- A renewed collaboration with the Small Business Development Center, placing a part-time business counselor to the Chamber office, to serve members and start-ups
And…the Waterfront Trail is FINISHED! Thanks to Jean McPheeters, Rick Manning, and the City of Ithaca for years of hard work on this project. Behind the scenes, our work plans included a comprehensive evaluation of and improvements to Chamber and CVB operations, ensuring we are the most efficient, effective, and fiscally resilient organization we can be. We enter 2016 better positioned to serve our members, help grow our business community and address key issues, and promote and market all that Tompkins County has to offer.
Look for a new Small Business Celebration in the spring, more Business Behind the Scenes programs, new social media campaigns, expert guest bloggers, and fresh faces in key roles at the CVB and Chamber. Thank you for all you have done to support us, and we look forward to a wonderful 2016!
February 2016