In a brief interview prior to the Chamber’s annual awards dinner Thursday at SUNY Fredonia’s Williams Center, Cobb noted that a dozen years ago, he was homeless and gripped by drug addiction. However, he’s gotten his life together to the point where he is executive director of the Mental Health Association, helping people who are often in circumstances like what he once experienced.

“It’s an acknowledgment that recovery is always possible,” Cobb said of his award. “When people look at me now, there’s not always that connection that that’s where I came from.” He said it’s important to him to make that connection to the Chautauqua County community, to emphasize that people can and do bounce back from drug addiction.

“It feels celebratory, in a way,” Cobb added about getting his award. “It’s also really surprised me, in a sense, as someone coming from a somewhat small community-based organization. While we make a big impact, to be honored by the chamber really feels kind of special.”

Cobb wore a lapel pin that said, “I love people who use drugs.” He explained, “That’s one of the pins we have at the MHA to acknowledge the work we do. When people look at that, hopefully it makes them think… What that means to us is that we support and accept unconditionally and love people who use drugs, to connect with them to help them find a path to recovery. So many people when they see this (pin), it’s a natural instinct to focus on the drug part. We actually focus on the person part to be able to connect with them and encourage recovery.”

Steven Cobb, the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce Person of the Year, poses at the Chamber’s annual awards dinner Thursday.

The MHA has 21 staff members who work across the county. The group provided services to nearly 1,000 people last year.

The Small Business Development Center at Jamestown Community College took home the Chamber’s annual Economic Development Award. Courtney Curatolo, executive director of the center, represented it at Thursday’s dinner.

“We’ve worked really hard during the pandemic and helped a lot of small businesses, so this is a great honor for us,” she said. “We have a lot of people with a lot of really great ideas and we have a lot of businesses that are expanding their businesses right now. We are busier than we’ve ever been and it’s really exciting.”

Winners of the Community Service Awards from local Chambers in the county were as follows:

¯ Dan Palmer, Dunkirk Chamber of Commerce

¯ Ian and Kyle Muldowney, Fredonia Chamber of Commerce

¯ Bill Merritt, Hanover Chamber of Commerce

¯ Tom Benson, Jamestown Chamber of Commerce

¯ Fairlee Fischer, Mayville-Chautauqua Chamber of Commerce

¯ Sue Poster, Westfield-Barcelona Chamber of Commerce.