{"id":433,"date":"2021-04-21T10:41:27","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T02:41:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gochambers.com\/globalupdates\/?p=433"},"modified":"2021-04-21T10:41:27","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T02:41:27","slug":"restructured-st-lawrence-county-chamber-of-commerce-reflects-on-pandemic-business-local-tourism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gochambers.com\/globalupdates\/latest-news\/restructured-st-lawrence-county-chamber-of-commerce-reflects-on-pandemic-business-local-tourism\/","title":{"rendered":"Restructured St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce reflects on pandemic business, local tourism"},"content":{"rendered":"
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CANTON \u2014 A cornerstone of local economic development, the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce is entering the second quarter of 2021 having learned from and adapted to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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During its annual presentation to the county Board of Legislators, at the top of the board\u2019s\u00a0Services Committee meeting Monday night, the St. Lawrence County Chamber briefed lawmakers on organizational changes, 2020 tourism data and outdoor exploration initiatives launching this year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reflective of canceled in-person programming, the St. Lawrence County Chamber cut two event staff positions, while Assistant Director Michael V. Besaw resigned for a new opportunity. Personnel dipped from six people to three, but a new tourism director position was created, dividing marketing and programming responsibilities across both business and tourism sectors.<\/p>\n

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Former Executive Director Brooke E. Rouse is now tourism director, and the Chamber named Benjamin R. Dixon as executive director in January. They are joined by two office staff \u2014 an insurance agent, who also coordinates membership, and an office manager.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The Chamber is considered a partner agency of the county and is partially funded through the administrator\u2019s portion of the annual budget. The county earmarked\u00a0$202,130 in Chamber funding for 2021. State and federal grant programs also supplement the organization.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cCOVID has obviously had a major impact on businesses across the county, and the Chamber is no exception,\u201d Mr. Dixon told legislators. \u201cWe had to make some difficult choices in order to remain viable and be able to deliver the critical services that the county businesses needed, probably more than ever.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Chamber efforts to support its members, especially at the outset of the health crisis last spring, focused on parsing public health guidelines related to reopening, testing and vaccination, sharing relief funding information and distributing sanitizing supplies and masks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Creative shifts \u2014 to e-commerce, social media marketing, virtual gatherings, outdoor events and increased local purchasing promotion \u2014 became crucial, Mr. Dixon said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Even as the pandemic begins to subside and surviving businesses rebound, Mr. Dixon said he hopes members \u201cwill continue to adopt new approaches to doing business.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Prior to the pandemic, the Chamber\u2019s membership stood at 412 businesses and organizations. Though 90 members dropped their affiliation in 2020, a total of 37 new members have joined, including some rejoining members. The net loss of 33 members brings the total roster to 379 as of this week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For county tourism, the pandemic painted a dramatic picture from 2020\u2019s first to second quarters, according to area lodging data shared by Mrs. Rouse.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In 2019, lodging brought $511,412 to the county, a roughly 9% increase from 2018. From Dec. 1, 2019, to Feb. 28, 2020, lodging accounted for a $78,982 boost for the county economy, a first-quarter figure \u201chigher than ever,\u201d Mrs. Rouse said. Initial shutdowns then prompted \u201ca huge dive,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The 2020 second quarter saw $47,481 in lodging, down from $115,646 in 2019. The total $389,439 recorded in 2020 reflects a near 24% decrease from 2019.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cAlthough lodging was down, outdoor recreation was up,\u201d Mrs. Rouse said, noting local outdoor exploration was likely \u201ca mental health assist.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The recreation increase was tracked in part by monitoring online traffic on the\u00a0St. Lawrence County Trails website. In-state travel and day tripping helped bring visitors from Watertown, Syracuse, Albany, Saratoga Springs and Rochester, she said, citing the trail website\u2019s traffic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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With summer approaching, Mrs. Rouse said the Chamber is anticipating older adults, now vaccinated against COVID-19, traveling more; continued popularity for outdoor activities and day trips; and increased popularity for self-guided tours and small-group tourism.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Since last year, the Chamber has developed a\u00a0waterfall guide, integrated town and village information on its website and started a new\u00a0community-led blog. The Great 8 Challenges, a three-challenge series featuring eight riverside trails, eight nature hikes and eight waterfalls, is launching in May. People who complete a challenge can earn a badge, similar to\u00a0already established outdoor recreation badge initiatives.<\/p>\n

Source: Google News<\/p>\n

#chamber of commerce #chambers #chamber news #business #<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

About Skyhigh.Vip<\/a><\/p>\n

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Several of its popular portfolio includes GO Chambers<\/a> which is the world’s largest business chamber listing providers with over 30,000 active chambers<\/a> as its members.<\/p>\n

Flexgigzz<\/a> is the Asia leading marketplace for freelancer service and together with SOHO Learning Hub<\/a> which is an online platform for short courses and both of them aims to be the number one provider in Asia. For growth industries such as E-Sport Authority <\/a> which is dedicated to providing independent media coverage to all E-Sport <\/a>News related from around the world and for the art world, there is Atelier Auction<\/a> which is an investable art auctioneer and being in the art scene for decades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CANTON \u2014 A cornerstone of local economic development, the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce is entering the second quarter of 2021 having learned from and adapted to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. During its annual presentation to the county Board of Legislators, at the top of the board\u2019s\u00a0Services Committee meeting Monday night, the St. Lawrence […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[150],"class_list":{"0":"post-433","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-latest-news","8":"tag-st-lawrence-county-chamber"},"yoast_head":"\nRestructured St. Lawrence County Chamber reflects on pandemic busines<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A cornerstone of local economic development, the St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce is entering the second quarter of 2021\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link 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