Comments from the Chairman

FROM THE 2021 CHAIRMAN

I hope you and your family are having a great Summer! While Summer in the Chamber world usually is pretty quiet, your Chamber staff and board have been very busy. The work continues with our divisions and working groups implementing our strategic plan and building a future focused chamber that we can all be proud of. I appreciate all of the work by both Barbara and Mary - we are truly blessed to have them at our Chamber and do not know how they get it all done. We hosted our first Business After Hours recently at Colony Bank’s new location which was well attended by members and have since had members reach out to plan to host future ones for the next year. We are looking forward to hosting our members more as the year progresses. The highlight of the Summer was the Phoebe Medical Residency Welcome. Thank you to all the businesses who donated to the now “welcome wagons” we presented to the new residents. I remember not too long ago upon attending my first ceremony how these were nothing more than stuffed beach bags. The generosity of this community continues to always amaze me. This makes such a huge difference when these professionals are deciding on whether to stay in our community. With all that being said - please remain vigilant as we continue to work as a community, state, and nation to prevent the spread of Covid-19. As I write this, our hospital is seeing increasing numbers, and mostly all being admitted are unvaccinated. The vaccine saves lives and has been proven to do so. Please consult your primary care doctor if you have any concerns. Lastly, congratulations again to Sarah Holloway on being named the Albany Under 40 Young Professional of the Year. Sarah is an inspiring individual and we are lucky to have her in our community. Thanks you as always for the opportunity to serve the Chamber and this community.

- MATT REED