To say that 2018 was a historic year from the Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce would be an understatement.

It was our 100th year and we spent some time this year celebrating our Centennial. We kicked off the year with our Annual Dinner, on Thursday, January 25th, that attracted a record crowd of nearly 1,000 attendees. On that night, we unveiled our plans to create the Joseph Dalton Community Service Award and this first-ever award was presented to Steve "Sully" Sullivan for his inspiring leadership as a volunteer in our community. 

On June 7th, our 2018 Chair of the Board, Brian Straughter, President of Turf Hotels and a co-founder of Jakes Help from Heaven, completed a sabrage opening a bottle of champagne with a sword while 500 people gathered at the Hall of Springs. He did so on the very day and quite nearly the exact minute when our Chamber actually hosted its first ever event, oin June 7, 1918.

With the guidance provided by our Board of Directors and the work of our professional staff, our 100th year was not all fun and games. We were visible and vocal advocates for our members and the communities we promote all across Saratoga County. We were opening doors and closing deals to grow our local economy, to create new jobs, and to celebrate dreams coming true. We hosted dozens of networking events helping members to generate powerful business connections. We developed community leaders; pulled out all of the stops to bring tourists in to Saratoga County; and joined forces to support our Veterans and First Responders.

We cannot possibly record and celebrate all of our accomplishments from 2018. But below is a list 10 that we believe demonstrates how this Chamber changes things:

1. Created the Saratoga County Institute for Management in partnership with SUNY Empire State College and the Saratoga County Capital Resources Corporation to meet member demand for leadership and management training to ensure success of their current employees.
2. Partnered with the Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Skidmore College, the City of Saratoga Springs, and Caffe Lena to host our first-ever Saratoga JazzFest Friday with 30+ local venues in Schuylerville, Wilton, Round Lake, Malta and Saratoga Springs in an effort to attract visitors to the Saratoga Jazz Festival to our area for a third day to enjoy Jazz Music. Later in the Summer, we also facilitated a partnership with the City of Saratoga Springs, the Saratoga Springs City Center, the Saratoga Convention and Tourism Bureau, SPAC, and the Saratoga Auto Museum to redirect a once-in-a-lifetime parade of 80 Bugatti’s out from the Avenue of the Pines to parade down Broadway, in Saratoga Springs, which attracted thousands to the downtown and the Spa State Park.
3. Took over the organization and promotion of Saratoga County’s March Restaurant Week with 43 participating restaurants across Saratoga County. As part of the promotion, we hosted an online contest won by a local family who received gift cards to all 43 restaurants with a total value of $2400 enabling the Chamber to build a database of 5,000 people interested in dining in Saratoga County.
4. Hosted four workshops as Live Facebook broadcasts that were viewed collectively by 5,000 people featuring local experts that provide timely information on the changes to US Tax policies; new state regulations to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace; best practices in creating a healthy workplace; and successful sales strategies to help you grow your business.
5. Hosted 3 “reverse job fairs” to help connect local employers with job openings to local agencies seeking to place local people with developmental disabilities in local jobs.
6. Hosted 73 ribbon cuttings at locations across Saratoga County providing each of these community investors with a thumb drive of promotional photos captured during these celebrations and promoting them to thousands on social media and via weekly emails.
7. Successfully advocated in support of Intrada Saratoga, a new affordable housing project that is now under construction in Saratoga Springs, near the train station, schools, the hospital and a bus route. When completed, in 2019, this development will comprise 147 housing units and 10 units for youths aging out of the foster-care system meeting a critical need for workforce housing in the City.
8. The Chamber’s Veterans Business Council hosted its first-ever “Boots to Business Breakfast” featuring a special presentation on leadership by retired US Army General William Martin that attracted nearly 200 attendees to kick-off a month long celebration of Veterans Day, in November 2018.
9. Served as a visible and vocal advocate in writing, in the media, and via testimony in opposition to both the NYS Labor Department’s proposed changes to employee scheduling rules as well as changes to the state’s Tip Credit. Neither proposed administrative changes were acted upon in 2018 likely as a result of the statewide public backlash to both proposals.
10. Worked with officials in the Village of Schuylerville to draft and submit a Downtown Revitalization Grant proposal to Empire State Development that sought to at least secure state consideration for a range of pending needs within the Village. As part of this revitalization strategy, we organized a private meeting and tours with top officials at the US Environmental Protection Agency and Empire State Development to showcase the potential economic benefits that will result from the restoration of the Old Champlain Canal as a unique year-round outdoor recreational amenity within the Village of Schuylerville.