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Delaware County Chamber of Commerce
Membership Monday
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Join us for
Breakfast on March 1, 2019
Friday, March 1, 2019
8:30 to 10:00 am
Meredith Inn
4206 Turnpike Road
Delhi, NY 13753
Start your day with a little productive and profitable networking!
Our monthly first friday eat & meet breakfast is a terrific opportunity to network before your workday begins. Make new business connections, brush-up your existing contacts, meet new and old friends, and keep current on what's happening in our region.
Our guest speaker is
Joe Booan, Director of Career and Technical Education at ONC BOCES, who will speak about how programming readies students for the workforce and partnerships between the educational and business communities.
ONC BOCES provides leadership and support systems through teamwork with component district to enhance students' opportunities for a world class education.
In addition to providing adult and continuing education, ONC BOCES assists its 19 component school districts with a wide range of educational and administrative services. ONC BOCES is anchored by campuses in Milford and Grand Gorge, which provide parallel programming to a 1,660 square mile area.
Partnerships with school districts and communities help ONC BOCES to provide the best possible education for learners of all ages and abilities.
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Do You Need Employees?
Find Them at the Job and Resource Fairs on April 10 & 11
Join us for our Job and Resource Fair on Wednesday, April 10
from 11:00 am to 3:30 pm at ONC BOCES in Grand Gorge and on Thursday, April 11 at DCMO BOCES Harrold Campus in Masonville Employers will be connected to a viable workforce consisting of recent high school and college graduates as well as adults who are eager to obtain employment.
Present information about your company and job openings.
Be prepared to interview applicants, accept resumes, and offer advice about how to prepare for employment with your company.
Event promotion will be targeted to recent college and high school graduates, as well as job-seeking adults.
There is
no fee to participate, but registration is required.
The schedule for the events:
11:00 am - Lunch
11:30 am - Tours of BOCES classes and labs
12:00 noon - Meet with students from BOCES and area high schools
2:00 pm - Meet with adult job seekers
A table with two chairs will be provided. Please note that we are not able to provide electric service.
The Job and Resource Fair is sponsored Delaware County Department of Economic Development, the Delaware County Industrial Development Agency, and the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce.
To register and reserve a table for Grand Gorge on April 10 click
here. To register and reserve a table for Masonville on April 11 click
here.
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Creating a Business-friendly Environment at the Local Level
The Chamber has released its 2019 Agenda for Growth outlining 10 key, actionable items to help streamline services at the county, town and village levels that will reduce costs, enhance efficiencies and help local businesses and communities thrive.
We are working to:
- Centralize Property Assessments with the belief that uniform assessment throughout Delaware County is imperative to sustaining and growing our local economy.
- Centralize Code Enforcement to create a Delaware County-run code enforcement office for all of our villages and town so developers, business owners and residents receive consistent information and equal treatment.
- Reversal and Repeal of Delaware County's Solar Tax. The tax discourages development and jobs. The county's current plan to tax properties based on revenue rather than property value sets a precedent that could be applied to other industries in the future, further deterring new business.
- Place a Moratorium on New Permit Fees at ALL Levels of Government. Fees discourage innovation and emerging business practices, quickly slowing potential economic development.
- Make the Occupancy Tax Permanent. The tax has become a reliable way to fund tourism promotion and infrastructure without impacting county finances.
- Adhere to the 2% Property Tax Cap. Delaware County met the state mandated cap for the first time in 2018. The preliminary 2019 budget also adheres to the cap.
- Advocate for the End of the DEP Land Acquisition program. Less available developable land results in less new home construction, reduced overall economic activity, greater upward pressure on housing costs and increased migration out of the county by residents.
- Support Regional Efforts to Connect Students with Local Employers. With a historically low unemployment rate, Delaware County business owners are experiencing difficulty in filling positions, yet, the public perception persists that there are no jobs.
- Support County Planning to Create a County-wide Comprehensive Plan. A well-researched plan is the best method to set a clear path forward for the future of Delaware County.
Chamber staff continues to work to create a business-friendly environment and will let you know in the coming weeks what progress we are making on your behalf and how you can help.
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Chamber Advocates on Behalf of Municipalities, Taxpayers
The Chamber has taken the lead to advocate for restoration of proposed cuts to Aid and Incentives for Municipal Funding (AIM) in the Governor's 2019-20 draft budget on behalf of Delaware County villages, towns and businesses.
The Chamber has provided a draft resolution, created by elected officials in Masonville, to local municipalities for adoption, asking Governor Cuomo to consider the negative impacts of slashing critical funding.
In a letter sent to each village mayor and town supervisor in Delaware County Pucci said, "The Chamber recognizes that municipal budgets are tight and that, as elected officials, you are careful with the public funds entrusted to you. As business property owners pay a disproportionate share of property taxes,we believe that this ill-conceived proposal is bad public policy and will have a negative impact on our local business."
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| Chamber President Ray Pucci explains to Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther how the tax burden disproportionately shifts to businesses when budget shortfalls are identified. |
Delaware County towns and villages stand to suffer the collective loss of nearly $339,000 in the 2019-20 tax year if the funding is cut. Many of those municipalities will be forced to exceed the state-mandated two-percent tax cap if the cuts are made, passing the burden onto Delaware County business owners and other taxpayers.
The Chamber urges its members, the business community and taxpayers to write to their local elected officials, state senate and assembly representatives and to Governor Andrew Cuomo asking that the funding be restored prior to passage of a new annual state budget.
Earlier this month, Chamber President Ray Pucci participated in a press conference with Senator Jen Metzger, who represents the towns of Colchester, Walton, Masonville, Delhi and Hamden in Delaware County, calling on the Governor's office to reverse course on the proposal.
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2019 Tourism Promotion Grant Funding Available, Applications Due February 26
The next round of Delaware County Tourism grant funding is available! Review the guidelines for if you have any questions about applying for a grant funded by the Delaware County Occupancy Tax call the Delaware County Department of Economic Development at 607.832.5123.
To download the application, click HERE.
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Your Business Featured Here (FREE)!
In our effort to help all businesses succeed, we want to feature YOUR business here and on our social media channels! If you've received a "Business Feature" email request from our office with a short questionnaire, please answer the questions and submit a jpeg logo or photo that you think best depicts your business, and send to Lillian at
info@delawarecounty.org.
If you have not received an email yet, please feel free to copy and paste the below-listed questions into an email, along with a logo or photo, and we will be happy to help promote your business!
Business Name:
Location:
Contact info including mailing address, website address, email and social media information:
Hours of operation:
Number of Years in Business/Year Business Opened:
What types of services or products does your business provide?:
How many employees do you have?:
Recent or Planned Changes in Operation:
What you want your (potential) customers or clients to know:
Tell others why they should join the Delaware County Chamber of Commerce:
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