Chamber to reorganize this month; tourism director to showcase county grants
Dan McClelland
The Tupper Lake Chamber of Commerce will hold a re-organizational meeting on Thursday, March 16 at 4p.m. at Raquette River Brewing.
The aim of the meeting is to gather interested business people and community-minded residents to chart a new course for the chamber, which has been in operation here since shortly after the turn of the last century. The current aim is to develop an organization that won’t be involved in staging events or creating advertising materials or promotions. The principle aim will be to develop a membership organization that will be a strong advocate for commerce and economic development- a new voice for all things good for Tupper Lake and its economy.
The goal of that afternoon’s meeting will be to create a steering committee to guide a refocussed chamber.
The chamber’s board of directors last fall announced the planned dissolution of the organization. To that end, the 2022 town board agreed to enlarge its youth activities department into a full-blown recreation department that assumed the role of event-promoter here. The board agreed to take over all of the chamber’s half dozen or so major events each year.
After the chamber board’s vote to dissolve, long time Chamber board member and chamber treasurer Sandi Strader asked Free Press Publisher Dan McClelland, an active community volunteer for many years here, to help her re-energize the organization. The March 16 meeting is a step to that end.
Also featured at the March 16 will be a presentation by Phil Hans, the new director of Franklin County Tourism, who will outline the many new grants available for tourism and economic development now available through his county office. Since the county’s tourism office was re-formed last year to take advantage of the more than a million dollars now generated in the county each year from the new bed tax, businesses and organizations have won dozens of $5,000 and $10,000 grants to help fund improvements that will foster more business in the county and more visitors through the advancement of tourist-promotion endeavors.
His information should be particularly meaningful and helpful for all businesses here and for the leaders of all community organizations.
Those planning to attend the meeting are asked to RSVP Mr. McClelland at tupperlakefreepress@ gmail.com.