Remarks by Kevin Blake, President, TechMD & Chairman, Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors

Good evening, everyone, I am Kevin Blake, Chairman of the Board of the Greater Binghamton Chamber.

 It is a pleasure to serve as the Chairman of the Board at a critical time in our community.

I am proud of what we have accomplished in the past year.   Our chamber is in a strong position. Membership continues to grow with more than 80 new members in 2024.   We are grateful for their support.

The Chamber puts on more than 70 wonderful events each year including the Economic Forecast, the Thanksgiving Luncheon, the Chamber Golf Classic, the Women’s Conference, and the Hype Awards.  I’d like to thank the entire Chamber team and especially Debby Evans for her tireless efforts over these many years putting on such wonderful programs and being a great ambassador for our community.

In addition to our events, the chamber is a strong advocate for members.  Over the last few days, we helped secure $6.2 billion in the state budget to reduce the burden of unemployment insurance on small businesses.

Over the last year we partnered with the State Workers Compensation Board, Department of Labor and Empire State Development to keep our members up to date on the latest regulations and their impact on business.

The Broome Leadership Institute, our indispensable leadership program, celebrated 38 years in the community, with 24 outstanding graduates.  This BLI class raised more than $7,000 for HCA, which may be a record.  Congratulations to the graduates; we look forward to what you will bring to the community in the months and years to come.

The Chamber’s strong partnership with the Agency, under Stacey Duncan’s leadership, is bringing tangible economic benefits to our community.   In the coming months we plan to unveil an even bolder plan for the future.

It’s important to show up for events like these, and all of the unique events we put on all year. It’s important to do the face-to-face interaction that builds strong communities.  Thank you all so much for being here tonight and for all you do in the community.

I look forward to working with you in the year ahead.

  

Remarks by Stacey Duncan, President & CEO

Good evening, everyone! I hope that you’ve been enjoying tonight’s program.

A huge congratulations to our first two Award recipients, Ewelina and Inessa!! And can I just say something about our award recipients this year?

For the second year in a row, we have an amazing all-female group of women being honored this evening. Two women, who emigrated to the United States to pursue the American dream and have simply crushed it. And two women who have given selflessly: one to support individuals in their most delicate time – – as they approach the end of life; and one who has supported the Chamber’s efforts to prepare the next generation for leadership. I am truly honored to celebrate these fantastic women this evening.

We are very grateful to our Title Sponsor – Visions Federal Credit Union,  Award Presentation Sponsors, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, Security Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York and Rapid Deployable Systems!

A special “Thank You” to our new Cocktail Reception Sponsor, Innovation Associates!

We’re grateful to Décor Sponsor, TechMD—later, we’ll let you know who will go home with those fun centerpieces!

Thank you to returning Dessert Sponsor, Tri-City Hearing and please join me in thanking new Sponsors, Dave and Buster’s and Bridgewater Center for Rehabilitation and Nursing, Vestal Park and Absolut Center.

And of course, thank you to our Creative Sponsor, Idea Kraft and our Tech Team from Syracuse Technologies.

Thank you all for your support; we can’t do this without you!

I’d like to take a moment to thank our partners in government who are here this evening.

Amanda Spellicy, Regional Director for United States Senator Charles Schumer.

City of Binghamton Mayor, Jared Kraham.

Broome County District Attorney, Paul Battisti

Please join me in offering a round of applause, thank you to all for being here this evening.

And in addition, though they could not be here, we’d like to thank Governor Kathy Hochul, NYS Senator Peter Oberacker, Assemblyman Joe Angelino and Broome County Executive Jason Garnar for sending their support via proclamation.

I would like to thank our Board of Directors,  past and present for being here this evening as well as Committee Chairs and Volunteers. I’d like to thank the incredible Chamber and Agency team who make coming to work each day a true joy and lastly, I would like to thank you, our valued Members for your support – – you are for whom we are working to build a better future.

It is truly a pleasure to spend the evening with all of you, to enjoy great food and music, make good connections, and celebrate the work of the business that we do.

We have seen great success in the last year. The Agency supported more than $174 million in new investment, including the announcement of dynamic new housing at the Oakdale Commons, NYPENN Trade Center and former Davis College to name a few.  We’ve also seen the growth of industry, including our critical manufacturing sector. The expansion of Toyota Material Handling, formerly the Raymond Corporation into Broome and the recent announcement that BAE Systems will pursue state of the art aircraft electrification in Endicott signal a critical moment for our community. We currently stand at the confluence of our past and our future.

So I pose a question to you all this evening… which way do we go from here? Do we stay stuck in the ideas of who we once were or are we ready to move boldly into the future? I know that the Boards of the Leadership Alliance – the partnership between the Chamber and the Agency that I have been honored to serve for the past 5 years – believe that there is only one direction to go, and that is Forward. There simply is no other choice. And in the months ahead we will outline a plan to build more single family housing; revitalize the Huron campus into an economic engine in manufacturing, research and development to support the growth of the semiconductor and energy storage sectors;  facilitate the development of a Southern Tier workforce training center located in Greater Binghamton to support jobs of the future;  and lastly, develop the Broome Technology Park – – a one of a kind sustainable campus that will serve the community for generations by providing jobs and inviting dynamic companies from around locate in Greater Binghamton.

The greatest challenge we’ll face is the fear of change – – it is the antithesis to growth. So tonight – – let’s begin the path toward a bolder and brighter future – – together. I believe, wholeheartedly, that the best is yet to come.