(WNY News Now) – Building stronger partnerships and embracing bold new ideas were central themes at the CHQ Chamber Annual Meeting, highlighting the power of community collaboration and regional growth.
Building partnerships, focusing on the work, and trying new things were key takeaways from the CHQ Chamber Annual Meeting Friday.
Before a full house at the White Inn in Fredonia, Chamber President & CEO Daniel Heitzenrater provided a quick overview of an ambitious schedule realized for the CHQ Chamber in the past year. His comments centered on a refocusing around the Chamber’s mission statement: to build vital connections, provide professional resources, and champion our local businesses in Chautauqua County. The CHQ Chamber undertook a major rebranding exercise in 2024, following up on the strategic plan that was adopted the previous year. One key tenet of the plan calls for building partnerships and growing collaborations.
The Chamber presented the 2024 Pam Lydic Coalition Builder Award to Amy Rohler, Executive Director of the United Way of Chautauqua County, for her work in bringing together the two United Ways in a merger agreement. In her acceptance speech, Ms. Rohler thanked the boards and the community volunteers who participated in the process, noting, “You don’t do these things alone and you don’t do them in one year.”
She added, “We need more collaboration, more partnerships, and more community building. Those are the things that will create positive change here.”
Keynote speaker Leslie Zemsky, Vice President of Larkin Development Group in Buffalo, outlined the enormous transformation her family’s company has made in a single neighborhood and pointed out it was an “unorthodox development plan.”
Larkinville, as it has come to be known was once home to the Larkin Soap Company – a firm that set the standard at the time for mail order business in the United States. The family-run company has rebuilt and rehabilitated long-vacant manufacturing and warehouse spaces and turned the neighborhood into a mixed-use space featuring offices, restaurants, retail, and residential spaces along with a number of amenities for workers and residents alike including a fitness center, daycare, cafeteria, and more. It is also home to the popular Larkin Square concert series each Wednesday during the summer months, and Food Truck Tuesdays, both of which attract thousands of people to the space.
Zemsky noted the family business has been laser-focused on that single neighborhood, taking a very personal approach to its redevelopment.
The Chamber membership elected four new members to the Board of Directors. They are Jon Davis, Ashville General Store; Dawn Espersen, Dave’s Outlet Store and Hanover Committee Chair; Kim Maras, Westfield Boatworks and Westfield Committee Chair; and Monica Simpson, Chautauqua County Partnership for Economic Growth, and Dunkirk Committee Chair. Continuing to serve in leadership roles for the board are Chair Heather Brown, The Resource Center; Vice Chair Emily Reynolds, Cornell Cooperative Extension; Treasurer John Felton, Southern Chautauqua Federal Credit Union; and Secretary Courtney Curatolo, Small Business Development Center at JCC. Other board members are Larry Fiorella, HBKS Wealth Management and Fredonia Committee Chair; Dr. Stephen Kolison, SUNY Fredonia; Robert Mazza, Mazza Chautauqua Cellars; Vicki McGraw, Elegant Edibles Catering and, Jamestown Committee Chair; Arthur Pearson, Roger Tory Peterson Institute; Brian Pender, Northlake Development and Mayville Committee Chair; and Kristofor Sellstrom, Jamestown Board of Public Utilities.
The CHQ Chamber Annual Meeting was sponsored by Brooks-TLC Hospital System/Kaleida Health, County of Chautauqua Industrial Development Agency, Jamestown Community College, LaBella Associates, Media One Radio Group, Observer, and The Post-Journal.
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