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Chamber of commerce needs fresh start

It was sad to hear the news of Executive Director Adrienne Relyea resigning from the Saranac Lake Area Chamber of Commerce. She had the vision of bringing back the chamber to its former stature — back when its members participated in putting on all manner of events, when it organized network ing meetings and breakfasts with politicians, offered health insurance, sent news releases to the outside media, distributed its Visitor Guides along the Northway and always had staff ready to answer questions from visitors who walked into its Welcome Center.

That’s a challenge in today’s economic environment, which has more competing entities, less revenue for staff and less solidarity among local businesses. But we believe the chamber can still attain its goal by rallying support and finding partnerships.

The chamber is 230 members strong — a great asset that shows this area has a robust business community that’s interested in improving circumstances. But they aren’t sure how to do so.

Municipalities presently give money to the Regional Office of Sustainable Tourism to promote tourism outside the area and help guide visitors once they’re here, but they withdrew financial support in previous years from the chamber, which used to fill those roles. The chamber could get municipal aid again, but it will have to earn it by providing services that are valuable to the community at large and not just its members.

By comparison, Tupper Lake’s chamber no longer has a director but employs a part-time events coordinator — although it’s currently looking for a new one. It keeps on plugging, though, organizing numerous annual events such as the Tinman triathlon, Warrior Run obastacle race (canceled this year but expected to return next year), Brew Ski, Phil Edwards Hockey Tournament, OkTupperFest, John Dillon Walk and downtown trick-or-treating for Halloween. Tupper’s chamber struggles, too — the town has fewer businesses than Saranac Lake, which means fewer dues-paying members, and its events sometimes lack volunteers and/or turnout — but it clearly knows what it has to. Saranac Lake’s chamber doesn’t.

To clarify its mission, Saranac Lake’s chamber leaders need to start at the grass roots. We don’t expect them to have all the answers right away, but they should start with tasks they know have to be done: Communicate constantly with business people, local customers and visitors, and then help them.

Partnerships could also be key to success. By combining forces, the chamber director could free up time to pursue new initiatives — the way the chamber in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s got corporate sponsors for the Alpo Dog Sled Races.

The North Country Chamber of Commerce in Plattsburgh, under the direction of Garry Douglas, has become a strong force. It has lobbied in Washington and Albany, hosts an annual Business Expo, offers health care, does a great job spreading the word about the importance of U.S.-Canada trade and tourism, and has created all kinds of jobs with new industrial businesses in Plattsburgh, especially at the former Air Force base. Perhaps it could partner with the Saranac Lake chamber by sharing resources and services.

More partnering with Saranac Lake’s active Downtown Advisory Board and arts groups could also bring more energy to the mix.

We believe Saranac Lake and its business community need a chamber of commerce — with staff, not just a working board — so we’d like to see a united effort to help the chamber grow. Finding a new executive director will be hard, but we know there are a lot of talented people who love this town, and we hope one of them is up for the challenge.

Sometimes we don’t see the value in things until they are gone, but at the same time, we can’t try to revive the past — we have to stride into the future with watchful eyes.

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