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Chamber membership drive gets a strong start

It’s been an incredible few weeks here at the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce. Our team has been actively engaged in a variety of projects, all while working on our annual spring membership drive, and it has paid off in a huge way. To date, we have 55 new members of the Chamber of Commerce! Many of these recently joined businesses are new. For others, it may be the work we are doing to strongly promote new businesses through ribbon cuttings and grand openings, or maybe it’s our renewed commitment to promoting support for small locally owned businesses, or maybe it’s our ...

Portage Pie receives honors

The Small Business Development Center at JCC gave out three awards in Chautauqua County for National Small Business Week. Included in those honors was Portage Pie in Westfield. Pictured are Beth Reed, senior business adviser for Small Business Development Center at JCC; U.S. Rep. Nick ...

Legislature to override DEC with pesticide ban

The state Assembly is ready to take treated seeds off the market in New York — a step both the federal EPA and state DEC haven’t been ready to take. Assembly members passed the Birds and Bees Protection Act recently in a 100-49, largely party line vote. A.3226/S.1856 would prohibit, starting Jan. 1, 2026, the sale, distribution or purchase by any person within the state of corn, soybean or wheat seeds coated or treated with neonicotinoids, a class fo insecticides that have been formulated to control harmful agricultural pest infestations on many crops grown in New York. ...

Chamber launches podcast

With a continuing focus on promoting small businesses in Chautauqua County, the Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce has launched a new monthly radio show and podcast aimed at telling the stories behind local businesses. CHQ Chamber Chats is an interview-based platform designed to focus on the back stories about local businesspeople and organizations: how they got started, what drives them, and how they focus on customers, merchandise, and service. Our objective is to provide listeners with some tidbits they may not have known about local businesses, and to immerse them in the ...

Salute to small businesses!

April 30-May 6 is National Small Business Week, and we couldn’t be prouder to work with hundreds of small businesses all across Chautauqua County all the time. The Small Business Administration considers any business with fewer than 500 employees to be a small business. Here in Chautauqua County, that accounts for almost all of the more than 2,600 businesses countywide. Across the country, there are more than 33-million small businesses. Small businesses in Chautauqua County put food on our tables, provide all types of services from construction to heating to insurance, and sell us ...

Lake Shore Savings Bank names new president and CEO

Lake Shore Bancorp, Inc, the holding company for Lake Shore Savings Bank, has announced that Kim C. Liddell has been named president, chief executive officer, and director to the board. Liddell brings more than 35 years of banking experience to Lake Shore Savings, having most recently served ...